In addition to the posters at McKissick, a complementary exhibit showing the range of other World War I materials in the collection will be mounted at Thomas Cooper Library, including letters, diaries, sheet music, literature, military handbooks, and memorabilia.

"The American, English, French, Italian and German posters deal with different aspects of the war and were selected to show the varying national styles of recruitment as well as home-front topics," said Patrick Scott, associate university librarian for special collections and professor of English. "These include such issues as women's jobs during the war, fund-raising and bond issues, and the causes of the war."

The poster exhibit is designed to provide an introduction to different aspects of the war's impact and to the artists who worked on the posters.

"At the library, we've been most concerned with what the posters show about history, and now McKissick Museum is excited about the posters as art history," said Scott, noting that the posters represent a large variety of European and American artists, particularly in lithographs.

The collection was begun in 1999 by Matthew J. Bruccoli, Emily Brown Jefferies Professor of English, in honor of his father, who fought with the U.S. Army in France. The elder Bruccoli was wounded and had eight campaign bars on his battle medal.

When he established the collection, Bruccoli wrote of how his father would take him as a small boy to Armistice Day parades with his father's battle medal pinned to his jacket.

"The Boss taught me these rules he had learned in France: 'Always give to the Salvation Army. They were very good to the soldiers. And never light three cigarettes on a match.' He fiercely loved America, and he was proud to have been wounded in the war."

Following its McKissick run, Cooper Library plans to take the exhibit on tour to other University campuses throughout the state.

09/03