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Category: Posters

Special Delivery: Railway Express Agency

Posted by: Jan Grenci

Take a look at this colorful poster, designed by Robert E. Lee, a California-born painter and commercial artist who lived in New York City, and published in 1929. The company advertised on this poster, the Railway Express Agency (REA), was an American package delivery service. Operating between 1918 and 1975, they used railroads as one …

Lend U.S. Your Eyes

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

“Will you supply eyes for the Navy?”  The arresting image of a blindfolded officer at sea, lost and confused, paired with that question, make this an effective poster – the image caught my attention and made me look and read further. This World War I poster is calling for help from the general population in …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

The Wonders of the WPA Poster Collection

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

The following is a guest post by Hanna Soltys, Reference Librarian, Prints & Photographs Division. The Work Projects Administration (WPA) Poster Collection is one of the Library’s treasures. We’ve hosted many orientations in person and online about these posters, and this time we’re offering an introduction to the collection during the evening hours! On Thursday, …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Just About “Ready for Research” 

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, and Aliza Leventhal, Head, Technical Services, both of the Prints & Photographs Division. So many exciting collections are in the pipeline for routine access that it’s time for a look ahead. The Prints & Photographs Division works on about 20 “processing” projects at a time …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

The Visual Wonders of Yellowstone National Park

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

While I am usually incapable of picking favorites, I must admit I do have a favorite national park – Yellowstone. I have visited more than twenty times and I never tire of the natural wonders contained in its over 2 million acres. It was the first national park established in the United States, on March …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Focus on Eyeglasses

Posted by: Jan Grenci

My latest Flickr album focuses on depictions of eyeglasses in the collections of the Prints & Photographs Division. Many of the images in the group are photographs, but a number of posters and prints appear as well. I added two WPA (Work Projects Administration) posters to the mix. Take a look at some equally worthy …

Reading is for Everyone

Posted by: Jan Grenci

The collections of the Prints & Photographs Division include many images that depict the act of reading. When I recently prepared a Flickr album on the subject, I had a number of photographs, prints and posters to spare. Let me show you some of the posters that I didn’t use but are equally worthy of …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Red Cross Posters and Tableaux Vivants

Posted by: Jan Grenci

When looking for images of winter warmth and light for a recent Flickr album, I went off on a searching tangent and happened upon a group of photographs that piqued my interest. All the photos, from the Harris & Ewing Collection, date from 1917 (though contemporary newspaper coverage dates the event in the photos to …

House Black Caucus Shirley Chisholm. Photo by Warren K. Leffler, 1973. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.55931

Shirley Chisholm in Pictures: Unbought and Unbossed

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

Shirley Chisholm laid the groundwork for many who would follow her footsteps into national politics. As an activist who was often in the public eye, she is well represented in Prints & Photographs Division collections. Elected as a Representative for New York’s 12th congressional district in 1968, Chisholm was the first Black woman to serve …