This collection came from Dr. Cornelius Darcy, a professor of History at Western Maryland College from 1963 to 1998. There is no confirmation on how this collection was assembled. A majority of the posters were produced in Maine while others came from Ohio, New York, and Illinois. McDaniel College Archives received the collection in 2002. This collection was processed and photographed by archives intern, Lacy Newhouse, during the summer of 2024.
During the early twentieth century, posters were a valuable marketing tool to spread propaganda quickly and successfully to the public. Improvements in printing techniques during the 1910s made posters easier to mass produce. Prior to the outbreak of World War I, government agencies and other organizations employed posters to communicate their messages, such as bolstering enlistment in the armed services. Propaganda posters became a formal part of the United States’ war efforts when President Woodrow Wilson established the Committee of Public Information in 1917. This was an attempt to mobilize public opinion behind the war effort. Charles Dana Gibson, the President of the Society of Illustrators, formed and led the Division of Pictorial Publicity under this Committee. The Division recruited prominent illustrators like James Montgomery Flagg, Howard Chandler Christy, and Vic Forsythe to design posters for the war effort.
The Committee of Public Information managed the propaganda and where it was posted. Displayed in public areas throughout cities and towns, the purpose behind propaganda posters was to influence public opinion and behavior in favor of the war effort. The reason why the government and other agencies used posters was because they provided the opportunity to express ideas quickly, vividly, and memorably. Posters were used to raise funds for the war, build hatred towards the enemy, and encourage enlistment. There were over 20 million American posters printed, surpassing every other nation involved in the war.
For more information about the collection, please visit the collection finding aid.
For additional information about World War I posters, please visit the following sites:
