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United States of America

Congressional Record
PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 78th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION

Artists for Victory

SPEECH
OF
HON. ROBERT F. WAGNER
OF NEW YORK
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 9, 1943

Mr. WAGNER. Mr. President, I have been greatly impressed by the splendid voluntary contribution of the artists of America in dedicating their talents in our united effort for victory.

At the outbreak of the war, 20 art societies formed an organization, known as Artists For Victory, Inc., for the purpose of doing what they could, in their own field, to assist the country in its war effort. Artists for Victory has since grown to 28 societies, comprising a membership of over 10,000 artists from all parts of the country. All these artists are imbued with a spirit of patriotism and a sincere desire to use their talents for the winning of the war.

As you all know, the war morale is being impressed upon the public with appeals and exhortations via radio, the press, the movies, and other channels. Effective as these means are, they leave little lasting impression. Since the conduct of the war is affected by our fears and passions, our bravery and devotion, our loyalty and courage, and by our sacrifices, the graphic visualization of the themes of the war--to impress them continuously upon our hearts and minds--is a necessary factor in civilian morale. Graphic presentation is in fact a war weapon.

Artists for Victory has effectively demonstrated this in its national war poster competition, out of which 300 posters were selected for exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington from January 17 to February 17. In this exhibition the war slogans which have been resounding throughout the country were given form and color. Artists from practically every State in the Union took part in the great undertaking of making the issues of the war clearly and simply understandable. In this effort fully half a million dollars' worth of art production was created by the artists. They devoted over 100,000 man-hours to this work, which they gave unselfishly and without thought of personal gain.

The themes selected for the posters are based on the President's first war message on the state of the Union, made to Congress on January 6, 1942. They deal effectively with important issues on the home front, such as Production, War Bonds, The Nature of the Enemy, Loose Talk, Deliver Us From Evil, Slave World or Free World, The People Are on the March, and Sacrifice.

The program of Artists for Victory includes distribution and dissemination of these vital messages in the widest possible ways. Its object is also to assist the Federal, State, and local governments in the prosecution of the war and, to that end, it commits the entire artistic profession to the united will to victory. Artists for Victory embraces the fields of the graphic arts, painting, sculpture, mural painting, architecture, landscape architecture, decoration, and all the kindred arts and crafts. On the Board are Hobart Nichols, president of the National Academy of Design, who is president of Artists for Victory, Inc.; John Taylor Arms, etcher; A. F. Brinkerhoff, landscape architect; Arthur Crisp and Hugo Gellert, mural painters; Irwin D. Hoffman, painter and etcher; Julian Clarence Levi, architect; Paul Manship, sculptor; and J. Scott Williams, painter, as well as other distinguished men of arts.

Under these auspices and with the cooperation of numerous Government agencies and private industry, the results obtained are placing Artists for Victory in a position of growing responsibility in relation to the war.

With support from private industry, Artists for Victory was able to set up the national war poster competition, to mobilize the artists of the country for the purpose of obtaining inspirational fighting posters on the vital issues of the war. The artists who participated in the competitions were not motivated by any prize considerations but responded spontaneously out of a deep desire to help our country in this perilous period. Up to now, 18 posters have been reproduced, 13 of which are being used by Government agencies such as Office of War Information, War Production Board, the Treasury Department, and the Office of Inter-American Affairs. Additional posters were issued by R. Hoe & Co., of New York who also underwrote the expenses of the war poster competition and awarded prizes to four artists aggregating $1,200. The Council for Democracy, of New York, offered four more prizes and the I. B. M. Corporation another prize-a total of $2,700 in awards. Copies of these posters are being distributed and shown in many places throughout the country.

President Roosevelt has lauded the patriotic spirit that dominated the efforts of Artists for Victory, Inc., and its artists, in a letter addressed to the president of the organization, as follows:

The White House,
Washington, November 16, 1942.

Dear Mr. Nichols: I have seen the report by Artists for Victory on its national war-poster competition. It is proof of what can be done by groups whose ordinary occupations might seem far removed from war. More than 2,000 war posters were produced by the artists of the country, not as a chore they were asked to do but as a voluntary, spontaneous contribution to the war. The very name of your organization is symbolic of the determination of every man and woman in every activity of life throughout the Nation to enlist in the cause to which our country is dedicated.

Very sincerely yours,
Franklin D. Roosevelt.

It is gratifying for me to note that letters expressing enthusiastic interest in this patriotic exhibition have been received from many Senators and Congressmen by Artists for Victory, among whom are Senators John H. Bankhead, Sheridan Downey, George D. Aiken, Warren Austin, James M. Mead, Harry S. Truman, Congressmen J. Hardin Peterson, James P. McGranery, John Sparkman, and many others.

The program of Artists for Victory is national in scope. Fully 100,000,000 impressions of the war posters have already appeared in magazines, newspapers, and periodicals- such as Life, the New York Times, trade, and art publications, etc. The United States Treasury Department is sponsoring a traveling exhibit of the posters which were shown at the National Gallery. This exhibit will be sent on tour to key cities throughout the country. Through this exhibit local War bond committees can dramatize the sale of War bonds and stamps. 

The program of industrial cooperation is being continued through the printing in full color of 50 selected posters from the competition as war-poster labels available in perforated sheets. These labels will, it is expected, reach almost every man, woman, and child in the country with their powerful patriotic messages concerning the issues of the war. In this effort Artists for Victory has secured the cooperation of Ever-Ready Label Corporation, of New York, which will print and distribute 5,000,000 of these war labels immediately. Artists for Victory expect that over a billion copies of these labels will be distributed throughout the country- through banks, retail stores, war-industry plants, schools, and many patriotic committees and organizations.

All sections, all factions, and all creeds are thus being welded together in a full awareness of the dangers that threaten the American way of life. The wide distribution of these war labels will, in addition, keep our people aware of the ideals for which we entered the war- ideals which might not otherwise be forgotten in the stress of the strug[[cut off]]

Artists for Victory is making valuable [[cut off]] [[con]]tributions to the country's war effor[[t]] [[cut off]] it contemplates as full a participatio[[cut off]] solution of the cultural and socia[[cut off]] of the peace.

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