On the eve of World War I, President (and former Governor of New Jersey) Woodrow Wilson faced the diff icult task of transforming the American people into a pro-war populace will ing to make supreme sacrifices for the country. Replete with patriotic imag es and rhetoric, posters used the power of illustration art to raise money for the war effort and induce a changing American mindset towards war.
Whereas posters formed a chief source of propaganda on the home fr ont, military flags served a similar purpose on the battlefront. Once overs eas, the American Expeditionary Force used the patriotic form of the flag – a crucial military tool for centuries – in order to instill identity and p ride in regiment, army, and country. The flag, therefore, constituted anoth er highly-visual, motivational device – a device that, like printed posters , functioned to reinforce American commitment to the cause of war.
Th ese “embattled emblems” represent two large bodies of material culture held by the New Jersey State Museum. Timed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the American intervention in World War I, this exhibition pr esents a unique opportunity to showcase two lesser-known State Museum colle ctions rarely seen by the public.
For more information, visit http://www.state.nj.us/state/museum / or contact Nicholas Ciotola, Curator of Cultural History, at Nicholas.ciotola@sos.nj.gov.< /p>
On the eve of World War I, President (and former Governor of New Jersey) Woodrow Wilson faced the diff icult task of transforming the American people into a pro-war populace will ing to make supreme sacrifices for the country. Replete with patriotic imag es and rhetoric, posters used the power of illustration art to raise money for the war effort and induce a changing American mindset towards war.
Whereas posters formed a chief source of propaganda on the home fr ont, military flags served a similar purpose on the battlefront. Once overs eas, the American Expeditionary Force used the patriotic form of the flag – a crucial military tool for centuries – in order to instill identity and p ride in regiment, army, and country. The flag, therefore, constituted anoth er highly-visual, motivational device – a device that, like printed posters , functioned to reinforce American commitment to the cause of war.
Th ese “embattled emblems” represent two large bodies of material culture held by the New Jersey State Museum. Timed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the American intervention in World War I, this exhibition pr esents a unique opportunity to showcase two lesser-known State Museum colle ctions rarely seen by the public.
For more information, visit http://www.state.nj.us/state/museum / or contact Nicholas Ciotola, Curator of Cultural History, at Nicholas.ciotola@sos.nj.gov.< /p>
