Open AccessAlonzo Earl Foringer’s Greatest Mother in the World: The New Jersey Roots of the Most Famous Poster of World War I
Author(s) -
Nicholas P. Ciotola
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
new jersey studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2374-0647
DOI - 10.14713/njs.v3i2.88
Subject(s) - centennial , slogan , world war ii , first world war , extant taxon , spanish civil war , appeal , art history , history , journalism , media studies , art , visual arts , political science , sociology , law , ancient history , politics , archaeology , evolutionary biology , biology
Despite renewed interest in the illustrated posters of World War I brought about by the commemoration of the war’s centennial, few extant works in either the academic or public history sectors offer comprehensive explorations of individual posters. This article provides a microhistory of The Greatest Mother in the World (1918), an impactful lithographic poster designed by New Jersey muralist Alonzo Earl Foringer and inspired by a slogan from a Princeton graduate turned advertising executive named Courtland Smith. Printed and distributed in the millions, Foringer’s poster reached a level of mass appeal unsurpassed by any other piece of American visual propaganda produced in the war years. A detailed look at the background and impact of this important poster explores a lesser-known and understudied aspect of World War I history, while also affording an interdisciplinary research model that can be utilized for future studies of additional posters and their place in American visual culture.