Jim Crow in Uniform

Civil rights activists often turned to "portable" images—buttons, decals, brochures, and other artifacts—to disseminate persuasive messages throughout the culture at large. These objects represented a range of political causes, from the campaign materials of black politicians to the broadsides of civil rights organizations. The disposable nature of these works often inspired adventurous, spirited, and artful use of graphic design in print campaigns, especially in pamphlets and posters, such as this social–realist cover, for a booklet about racism in the U.S. military, Jim Crow in Uniform (1940).