Civilians (Poster)

Sidney H. Riesenberg

1918

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Page with drawing of soldiers and English text across top and bottom, with Star of David on left side of page. — This poster was published by the Jewish Welfare Board in the United States just prior to the armistice bringing World War I to a halt. The message was to elicit support from Jewish civilians for the Jewish soldiers serving in the American army. The graphics of this period are often very striking, as in this dramatic example, which is somewhat reminiscent of the famous American image of “Uncle Sam Needs You!” The Jewish Welfare Board, the sponsoring institution for this broadside, was one of many Jewish charitable and self-help organizations that were created around this time. Such groups were founded both to help the many needy among the mass of immigrants in the thirty-year period prior to the war and to assist the many Jews suffering in Europe from the results of discrimination and war.

Credits

Courtesy Gross Family Trust Collection.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 7.

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Creator Bio

Born in Chicago, Sidney H. Riesenberg studied oil painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1905, he moved to Yonkers, New York, where he began his career as an illustrator and graphic artist. Riesenberg created posters for government agencies during World War I—his recruitment notices for branches of the United States Armed Forces and his advertisements of the Treasury Department’s Liberty Bonds are among his best-known works. In addition, Riesenberg produced a poster for the National Jewish Welfare Board, an organization formed shortly after the United States entered the war to support Jewish troops.

Details

Public Access

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