Recruitment poster with the 5 Sullivan brothers
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 28.000 inches (71.12 cm) | Width: 22.000 inches (55.88 cm)
Creator(s)
- United States Office of War Information (Distributor)
- United States Government Printing Office (Printer)
Biographical History
The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was created on June 13, 1942, to centralize and control the content and production of government information and propaganda about the war. It coordinated the release of war news for domestic use, and using posters along with radio broadcasts, worked to promote patriotism, warn about foreign spies, and recruit women into war work. The office also established an overseas branch, which launched a large-scale information and propaganda campaign abroad. The government appealed to the public through popular culture and more than a quarter of a billion dollars' worth of advertising was donated during the first three years of the National Defense Savings Program. Victory in Europe was declared on May 8, 1945, and in Japan on September 2, 1945. The OWI ceased operation in September.
Archival History
The poster was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1988 by David and Zelda Silberman.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of David and Zelda Silberman
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
US recruitment poster with a photograph of the five Sullivan brothers, sailors on the U.S.S. Juneau, in 1942. The ship was on its way from New Caledonia to Guadalcanal in the South Pacific when, on the morning of November 13, 1942, it was struck by a Japanese torpedo. All 5 brothers were killed in the attack. It became a national story and a rallying point for the war effort. The poster was issued by the Office of War information which was created in June 1942 to manage the war on the Home Front by disseminating ideas, propaganda, and information about the war effort. The OWI’s goal was to place posters in the street-level windows of every store, office, and restaurant in every city and town across the United States.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Offset color lithographic poster with a black and white photographic image of 5 smiling men in U.S. Navy peacoats and berets standing around a ship's hatch. It is superimposed on a background of a red and white service flag with 5 blue stars above. The title is across the top and there is a caption below the image. It was folded in quarters for mailing convenience.
back, top left, pencil : Gerevac?o Peru?a
Corporate Bodies
- United States. Navy
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--United States--Posters--Specimens.
- World War, 1939-1945--Recruitment and enlistment--Posters--Specimens.
- Patriotism--United States--Posters--Specimens.
- War posters, American.
- Sailors--United States--Pictorial works.
Genre
- Object
- Posters