By: Olivia Zisman, Shirley Klein Rare Book and Manuscript Fellow

Working in Special Collections and Archives as a graduate fellow over the past academic year, I’ve been processing a unique collection of political posters, and am thrilled to share the finding aid here. The collection is now open for research or use in class. 

The posters are printed in a range of printmaking techniques including screen printing, block printing, lithography, and other offset printing techniques, inviting the viewer in with vibrant colors, crisp graphics, and bold text. One of the joys of processing this collection was getting to spend time with these eye-catching, inspiring materials and learn from the items themselves.  

Delving briefly into the history of political posters, the function of political posters has been to communicate quickly and directly. Displayed impermanently in public spaces, political posters meld words and images to poignantly convey their messages. By World War II, governments, political parties, and unions were using political posters as a dominant form of communication. Post war, the political poster transformed into a communication method used in political protest by much smaller political entities, collectives, and individuals across the globe. Used as tools for community organizing, to express political and social discontent, and fight for social change, political posters offer unique insights into histories of struggles that may not have been permanently documented in any other way. 

The majority of the items in the collection were produced in the 1960s-1970s and fall under the broad category of social issue posters, although several bumper stickers, circulars, and postcards are also included in the collection. You can get a sense of the wide range of subjects covered in the collection by the images included in this blog post! In the process of arranging this diverse group of materials, I was particularly drawn to one bumper sticker bearing the United Farmworkers logo and the slogan “BOYCOTT GRAPES”. Using the information on the bumper sticker itself as a jumping off point for my brief research, I discovered the 1965-1970 Delano Grape Strike and Boycott and its place in the history of labor organizing. I would invite anyone interested to dive into the collection and discover their own research interests via our digital collections (it should be noted that only a small portion of the political posters collection is available digitally), or by emailing qc.archives@qc.cuny.edu to make an appointment to visit the collection in person. 

Processing this collection has been a wonderful learning experience and a true pleasure and I want to give a big thank you to QC SCA and the QC Library for their support throughout my fellowship.