Below are a few excerpts featured from the collection picked for their design and unique appearance that adds to the collection's depth. Please click on an image for larger inspection. Click three separate times to view full document.
Page 31, Osawatomie (No. 3, Autumn 1975)
This page of Osawatomie (No. 3, Autumn 1975) features "Pucho," the cartoon dog featured in Mella, an anti-dictatorship publication from 1958. Pucho’s inclusion in Osawatomie hints at the interconnectedness of radical writers, publishers, and artists, who shared ideas and inspirations. Pucho holds a banner with a message in bothEnglish and Spanish, suggesting a widespread, multilingual audience.
Page 6, Vigilance; The Price of Liberty (1963)
The following two-page spread in the NATO document, Vigilance; The Price of Liberty (1963), shows a very professionally designed, printed, and colored globe map and a list of (at the time) current NATO member states. The spread also shows a few highlighted text boxes with different text styles (emphasized lettering, bolding, and text styling) as well as eye-catching, minimalistically-colored illustrations. From this spread alone, one can note the degree of sophistication, polish, and budget that couldn't normally be found from a smaller locally-published piece.
Page 11, The Little Black Book 1978-79 (Edition No. 5, 1978/79)
These two pages from The Little Black Book 1978-79 (Edition No. 5, 1978/79) feature a spread where Continental Societies, Inc., a women-led organization focused on outreach to disadvantaged youth, is discussed on the left and, to the right, there is a full page advertisement for bourbon. The juxtaposition of the smiling, dapper Black man holding the bottle of bourbon and the disadvantaged youth discussed on the opposite page showcases the range of topics that this magazine covered and its appeal to a large audience. This issue of The Little Black Book 1978-79 welcomes members of the Black community to read about anything and everything rather than focus solely on current events.
Page 36, Osawatomie (No. 2, Summer 1975)
This selection featured in Osawatomie (No. 2, Summer 1975) depicts a call to action at the very end of this magazine issue, asking for readers to "Support the Indian Resistance" The rougher, hand-written style of the text on the top half of the page describes the murders, police repression, and FBI investigations perpetrated against members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), ending with a call to participate in protests as an "appeal to solidarity" with AIM. The bottom half of the page shows an illustration of an AIM member holding a rifle, a striking way to draw attention to the page and to show determination and resistance in the face of struggle.
Get It Together! An Open Letter to Black High School Students (May 23, 1971)
This flyer, printed on eye-catching yellow paper, draws in the eye with its catchy bolded heading "GET IT TOGETHER!" The photo of Angela Davis, passionately yelling into a microphone, frames the heading almost as a direct demand: Angela Davis wants you to get it together!
Page 21, Children in the Land of Socialism (1939)
This image is featured in Children in the Land of Socialism (1939),a book published by the Soviet government to discuss the youth’s lives in the Soviet Union. The photo depicts the standard of childhood happiness in the Soviet Union. A young boy sits in a classroom concentrating as he tinkers with a model boat and students in the background study their classwork. The caption "Happy childhood" conveys a normalized idea of a more studious childhood where kids completed what was expected of them for a promising future — in contrast with the poverty stricken childhoods of the former tsarist Russian regime.
Osawatomie (No. 3, Autumn 1975)
This is the cover of Osawatomie (No. 3, Autumn 1975). Its striking handmade, collage-like appearance is reminiscent of radical zines, giving the cover a very personal, DIY look. Its gridded layout reflects the geometry of prison bars and reflects the criticisms of the prison system contained within the magazine.
Old Jim Crow Has Got To Go! (May 1941)
The cover of Old Jim Crow Has Got To Go!, an essay by Henry Winston published as a pamphlet for mass consumption, displays a prominent "raised fist" in the foreground, a famous symbol with a long history of involvement with radical movements and political solidarity. The background is scattered with text of policies and actions to fight against (for example, "low wages" and "segregation in the army"), as well as torn edges near the center that give the effect of the large title and fist having "broken through."
Sign of our Times (circa 1950s-60s)
The cover of a cartoon page titled Sign of our Times (circa 1950s-60s) features various one-panel cartoons focused around labor. Rather than relying on flashy titles or long passages, this piece uniquely uses images to send a message. These panels focus on how limited resources and poor working conditions create economic inequality and depression. Using a generally comical outlet to convey serious and somewhat depressing messages showcases the variety of methods people turned to when criticizing the government and societal structure in order to catch people’s attention.
