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October 2 - 27, 2008
Central Library
600 Soledad

About the Exhibit

The San Antonio Public Library and the San Antonio Public Library Foundation will commemorate the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day with an exhibit of original World War I posters not seen on public display since 1933.

Bequeathed to the library by eclectic collector Harry Hertzberg, the collection includes forty framed vintage posters designed by leading artists of the day to assist in the war effort. The U.S. Office of Public Information formed a committee chaired by renowned illustrator Charles Dana Gibson to create a line of posters to mobilize the American public on behalf of the war. Members of the committee included Haskill Coffin, Howard Chandler Christy, and the creator of “Uncle Sam Wants You,” James Montgomery Flagg.

These unique lithographs feature famous images of patriotic themes and messages, including several created for international groups interested in supporting the war by cultivating recent immigrants and new American citizens. The words and text used, as well as the powerful imagery, convey the sense of urgency as well as the mass marketing effect of advertising a war for the first time in modern history. These works provide a fascinating window into the era and the beginnings of the American effort in support of the war known variously as the “Great War,” “the war to end all wars,“ and “the war to make the world safe for democracy.”

The exhibit is free and open to the public during regular library operating hours

Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

One hour of free parking is available in the Central Library parking garage with a validated ticket. For more information, the public may call 207-2500.

Following its premiere at the San Antonio Public Library, the exhibit will travel to:

To request the exhibit, please contact curator Allison Hays Lane, olanagroup@aol.com, or (210) 805-9945.

The Winds and Words of War is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Stumberg Foundation, the Tobin Endowment, the City of San Antonio Veteran’s Affairs Commission, the San Antonio Public Library, and the San Antonio Public Library Foundation.