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Off to War

Over one million black men and women served in the military during the second World War. Artist William Henry Johnson's images of the war often pictured soldiers in training camps, but this piece shows a family separating as a soldier departs for the war. The influence of modern abstraction and of the New Negro Movement, in which African-American creativity and identity are less constrained by the models of traditional western art, can be seen here.

External Link: www.loc.gov

Source | William Henry Johnson, Off to War, ca. 1942, silkscreen, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm171.html.
Creator | William Henry Johnson
Item Type | Poster/Print
Cite This document | William Henry Johnson, “Off to War,” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed April 25, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1179.

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