Hunger, circa 1918

Item — Folder: 7

Identifier: A1999-081-010

Scope and Contents

Sketched woman with children, with the message that continues: "For three years America has fought starvation in Belgium. Will you Eat less - wheat meat - fats and sugar that we may still send food in ship loads?

Dates

Creation: circa 1918

Creator

Raleigh, Henry (Henry Patrick), 1880-1945 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Full Extent

1 item/s : Lithograph on paper ; overall: 29 x 21 in

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Exhibition Label

Object labels, "'Americans, Do Your Bit': World War I in Posters" Opened 3 June 2017

Hunger, 1917 Henry Patrick Raleigh (1880-1944) Gift of Diana Korzenik and Andrew S. Dibner, A99/81/10

From 1914 to the beginning of 1917, the United States did not take a side in the European conflict. Americans did, however, participate in humanitarian and charitable efforts related to the war. Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), head of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, led the effort to raise money to feed the occupied and blockaded country. As an American, and therefore neutral, Hoover was able to negotiate with both Germany and England to send several tons of food (worth over $880 million at the time) to hungry Belgians. By the time the U. S. Food Administration published this poster, American citizens were familiar with Belgium's plight and the food shortages throughout war-torn Europe.