During the First World War posters were the easiest form of propaganda to spread. Posters like this one depicting the woman called the Daughter of Liberty. She is a symbol of American motherhood, trying to protect countries that were having trouble during the war. She is often depicted with any combination of the American flag, a shield, and an eagle. Any of those items may be missing, but the general idea is the same, that is she is the Daughter of Liberty out to speak for those too weak to speak for themselves. That is exactly what this poster was trying to do, show the American people that there were other places that needed the help of Americans.
The Daughter of Liberty, also known as “Columbia” is depicted protecting a child with her sword over her head (Volik). She is on defense of the child at her feet. Draped around her other arm is the American flag and her shield is behind her to the right. All these symbols make for a very dramatic and striking poster over all. Columbia and the child stand out so clearly because the background is such a dark grey besides the shield in the upper right. The artist who created the poster was named Douglas Volik. Volik created the art as commissioned by the American Committee for Relief in the Near East (ACRNE). Then they submitted the art for printing as a poster to the American Lithographic C.O. in New York. These posters usually were in popular public areas of cities hung up by the committee with permission either from the city or business owners they wanted to place a poster at.
The text at the bottom of the poster puts the message into a simple phrase, “They shall not perish” and a request, “Campaign for $30,000.00”. The only other text on the poster is the name of the organization running the campaign, the “American Committee for Relief in the Near East” and the names of the countries this campaign was presumably going to be helping, “Armenia – Greece – Syria – Persia.” This poster was telling its audience that those four countries needed help, specifically the help of America. Telling the audience that Americans would be the one to save the day and keep those countries from falling in the war to the power of other countries. Which is why the child is representing those countries. It is not only a child, but a little girl; she is meant to look innocent and incapable of defending herself.
The intended audience of the poster was clearly the American people, more specifically women than men. The women would identify with the motherly protection of Columbia for the child. Women would have connected with the strong female protecting the innocent child more than men would have. This poster was produced in 1918, this would have been around the same time as women’s suffrage movements were active in politics looking for equality between the genders, this message to encourage women with a strong female symbol on the poster would add to the effect of the poster on women. Women are also often used to humanize a country in different traditional dress or carrying the country’s flag, symbols or objects that represent that country all show up in artwork like this.
A copy of this poster is available in the Collection of World War I Era and Related Posters, circa 1917-1919. SCRB Collection 17. Special Collections and Rare Books, Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota.
Douglas Volik, 1918, for the American Committee for the Near East, American Lithographic C.O., New York.