u/FanofDueProcess

Walking is a crime in Alabama, Write Attorney General Brownell, Demand Federal Protection of Civil Rights. It was issued by the Florence Fair Employment Practices Committee during the Civil Rights Movement.

This image was produced during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, when people were being arrested for peaceful protest actions. Local Black ministers and pastors served as the primary organizers and community leaders. They were routinely arrested on conspiracy and illegal boycotting charges for leading peaceful demonstrations.

Image by French Illustrator and Art Deco Designer Paul Iribe during World War I. It's title references the Bible story of Salome dancing for the severed head of John the Baptist. The skeleton is "Death Personified" dancing for the bloody severed head of Kaiser Wilhelm II, The German Emperor.

Commonly known as the "rose garden" poster, this 1971 USMC tagline was inspired by the Lynn Anderson country song of the same name.

This campaign leaned into grit, discipline and the harsher realities of military training. It purposely contrasted with the lifestyle angle that was used by other military branches at the end of Vietnam. This was also the first time the legendary tagline "The Marines are Looking for a Few Good Men" was used. It remained a core recruiting slogan for decades.

The drill instructor is Sgt. Charles "Chuck" Taliano Jr. The photo was taken from an earlier training manual in 1968. It was later adopted as a primary visual for this campaign.

"Some boast of being friends to government;

I am a friend to righteous government founded upon the principles of reason and justice;

but I glory is publicly avowing my eternal hatred of tyranny"

Quote by founding father, John Hancock. It is from his speech given on the fourth anniversary of the Boston Massacre (1774).

The PBC was an educational organization that used the 1976 Bicentennial to promote social and economic change

Originally intended as a poster for a VD campaign, the photographer ran the picture in the newspaper for a caption contest and the "Expose Yourself to Art" poster was born. The poster became a cult phenomenon and sold more than 250,000 copies.

Bud Clark (the flasher) went on to be elected mayor of Portland in 1984, serving two terms. He was known as the populist "people's mayor" building the Oregon Convention Center during a recession among other achievements. In a 2016 interview, Clark remarked that the poster is "probably the first thing they remember" when he is recognized.

"The Corps is you. Without your experience, without your talents and without your dedication, it could not exist. Your future, your decision...stay ARMY."

US Women's Army Corps (WAC) poster targeted at female soldiers for retention. The woman featured is Pallas Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, handicraft and practical warfare. She is also the official symbol and label insignia for the WAC.

Illustration by Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling (Des Moines Register) to commemorate the attack on Pearl Harbor a year earlier.

It features Uncle Sam cradling a fallen soldier, and the resulting deployment of the entire nation's military power.

On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked the US military base at Pearl Harbor resulting in the tragic death of 2,404 Americans, including military personnel and civilians. This was the first time the US had been attacked by a foreign power or home soil since the War of 1812. The event resulted in US officially entering World War 2.

Poster by Harlem Renaissance artist Ernest Chrichlow used to encourage civic participation by black voters. He created this specific lithograph to directly assist grassroots voter registration campaigns in the American South.

The song "We Shall Overcome" can be traced to black 19th century folk and gospel music, it was used politically during the labor movement (1945) and the Civil Rights anthem (1950s-60s) including renditions by Pete Seeger and Joan Baez during the March on Washington.

Uncle Sam looks disgusted as legislators bow down to worship the hog representing "greed" and his trough "Wall Street."

The title "senatorial courtesy" satirically references an unwritten political custom where the President would consult with senators before appointing someone to a federal job in their home state. If the local senator dislikes the nominee other senators block the appointment out of "courtesy" to their colleague.

The cartoon is a critique of their shifting alliances from each other to corporate greed and financial interests.

Herbert Block (aka Herblock) argues that having rigid ideologies be the sole political focus (anti communism and such) is a slippery slope that can lead to aligning with dangerous undemocratic ideas.

Poster by James Jansson and David B. Sommers (1972, Advocate Press) for legalizing the cultivation and use of marijuana.

Issued by the US Dept of Health, Education and Welfare to raise awareness about the growing dangers of industrial emissions and urban air pollution. Distributed prior to the first Earth Day in 1970 and the passage of the landmark Clean Air Act of 1970.

El Teatro Campesino served as the cultural and educational wing of the United Farm Workers (UFW) union to advance civil rights and advocate for social justice. Founded in 1965 during the Delano grape strike, it sought to educate and mobilize the workers. They performed short, satirical plays to communicate union objectives with farmworkers who could not read or write.

ETC borrowed the artwork from renowned Mexican printmaker Jose Guadalupe Posada (1911).

Image showing a wheel of cheese representing "Public Office", rats as corrupt politicians carving chunks of cheese "graft", and a large black cat as "The Recall."

During the early 20th Century, citizens increasing fought back against deep rooted corporate monopolies, political machines, and widespread corruption. To combat this, reformers introduced democracy tools to hold elected officials accountable. The cartoon celebrates the "The Recall" as the ultimate mechanism to break the safety net.

In 1950, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, a highly controversial federal law that mandated all escaped enslaved people had to be returned to their owners, even if they were captured in free states where slavery was illegal. This version overrode state protections, forcing Northerners who were previously indifferent to actively participate in slave catching or face federal imprisonment. This direct overreach cause massive backlash and galvanized the abolitionist movement.

The law aggressively used the full weight of the federal government to protect the institution of slavery, deeply infuriating the North and pushing the nation closer to the eventual Civil War.

This 1984 poster was put out by the "Committee of Arrangements" made up of Wisconsin abolitionists and "Free Soil" advocates. The goal was to organize a mass mobilization to defend state sovereignty against federal power. It explicitly invokes the Writ of Habeas Corpus and the Right of Trial by Jury to contest Federal slave-catching powers.

Issued by the National Citizens Political Action Committee. During World War II (1944) Republican candidate challenged incumbent Democratic president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Dewey opposed the Green-Lucas bill that aimed to create a simple uniform ballot for service members stationed overseas. The compromise Soldier Voting Act was heavily weakened making overseas voting highly bureaucratic and complex. The soldiers were forced to rely on the voting rules of their individual home state.

Published by the United Automobile Workers (UAW) fair practices department. During the civil rights movement the UAW (under the leadership of Walter Reuther, close friend of Dr MLK) was deeply involved in promoting civil rights, racial equality and fair employment practices. He built the UAW into one of the most progressive and influential unions in US history.

Designed to encourage the first generation of 18-21 year olds to participate in the democratic process following the 1971 ratification of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age. The poster features a barefoot person in blue jeans with a guitar, symbolizing the youth and counter-culture of the early 1970s.

Poster for the Summer Olympics by legendary graphic designer, Saul Bass. Bass was a pioneer in graphic design, best know for doing the intro and posters for Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo."

The artist, Shirley Boccaccio ("Virtue Hathaway") was a prominent figure in the 2nd wave women's liberation movement. The poster reflects an anti-authoritarian sentiment, specifically protesting the "pink collar" jobs and traditional gender roles that women were relegated to.