Dates: 1939-1946. Size: 10 linear feet in 5 boxes and 82 oversize folders, includes 675 posters, 82 oversize folders 42 artworks, 1 artifact, 2 scrapbooks. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. The WWII Collection brings together posters, cartoons and ephemera related to the war effort. The bulk of the collection is comprised of posters created in the U.S. between 1938 and 1946, but also includes several posters from Canada, France, Great Britain, Netherlands and New Zealand. These range from recruitment calls from the various branches of the military to home front initiatives by the Civilian Production Administration, the Office of War Information and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. A considerable number of posters were created by renowned artists such as Thomas Hart Benton, James Montgomery Flagg, Norman Rockwell, Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) and Ben Shahn. The ephemera items consist of a range of artifacts, handbills, pamphlets and scrapbooks. The folio of 42 prints “Anti-Nazi cartoons,” was produced as a limited edition by Moscow, VOKS, 1943. [Finding aid]
