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They exemplify what a college professor calls “the two Franklin Roosevelts.”
An exhibit of political posters on display this month at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Criss Library features prints of Norman Rockwell’s famous “Four Freedom” paintings, drawn from a Roosevelt speech.
To the left of the Rockwell posters is an original Japanese-American internment proclamation, calling for persons of “Japanese ancestry” to report to internment camps.
“This is one of the worst episodes in American history,” professor emeritus Sam Walker said of the internment. “Say what you will about Richard Nixon or George Bush. Roosevelt, the great liberal Democrat, is the only president whoever put Americans in concentration camps.” The exhibit is full of interesting and sometimes incendiary items.
They include:
Ÿ A rare poster from Memphis produced after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination that says: “Honor King, End Racism.”
Ÿ A famous anti-Nazi poster from 1943 that was designed by a high school student.
Ÿ A “Kennedy for President” poster in Polish.
Ÿ A poster promoting Omaha’s Howard Buffett for Congress.
The materials are from Walker’s private collection. He’s a professor emeritus with UNO’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. The featured works range from the World War I era to Vietnam and beyond.
“I went into my attic, and I found stuff I forgot I had,” Walker said.
Some of the items, such as Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” posters, were essential, Walker said.
“When I got down to the smaller items, well, I’m still tweaking and making some choices.”
The show will feature approximately 90 items, including small handbills, LP covers and even a Lyndon Johnson comic-book biography.
Walker said the collection, which he has been amassing for 25 years, should appeal to political history buffs.
“There’s a lot of stuff on presidents, a lot of stuff on civil rights,” he said.
Civil rights-era items include a postcard urging people to join the Ku Klux Klan and a handbill urging people to register to vote.
An opening reception for the exhibit will be held Sunday. The exhibit will be on display through March 11.
Contact the writer:
444-1074, john.keenan@owh.com
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