Description
As the war progressed, French and American officials emphasized the unique relationship between the two countries, citing Frances support during the American Revolution. It was Americas turn to help France, the argument went, and many relief organizations were formed to assist the French people. In March 1917, Anne Morgan, daughter of the banking tycoon J. P. Morgan, established the Comit Amricain pour les Rgions Dvastes de France to help rebuild northeastern France. Whole villages lay in ruins, homes destroyed, and the vast, agriculturally rich fields of the region were decimated by shell craters, trenches, and war debris. The primary purpose of the Committee was to assist war refugees returning to this wasteland. Over the course of the next several years, the Committees volunteers, largely female, worked to restore the land, plant fields, build homes, schools, and libraries, and care for the sick and wounded. This poster, one of a series of posters produced in France to publicize the Committees work, shows an American woman comforting a French widow and pointing to a newly built house. While ruins lie in the background, spring blossoms grow out of a ravaged tree in the foreground. The Committees publicity emphasized rebirth and hope. A fund-raising advertisement for the organization in the Boston Herald assured donors that your money will convert no mans land into some mans land.
Details
- Work Date:
- 1917
- Dimensions:
- 47¼ x 31⅝ inches
- Medium:
- color lithograph
- Credit Line:
- Gift of Bartlett H. Hayes, 1985