War and Speech: Propaganda, Patriotism and Dissent in the Great War

War and Speech: Propaganda, Patriotism, and Dissent in the Great War explores, through the MSU Museum’s extensive World War I poster and militaria collections, the new ways in which Americans understood civic duty and used civic speech. At the same time, women, African Americans, Native Americans, and immigrants—not all of whom were full participants in the American body politic—were encouraged to enlist in the cause.

Propaganda posters produced by the United States government, by commercial lithographers, and by average citizens created a new, modern way of signifying patriotism and the American people. War and Speech provides a window to that moment, framing Americans' ideas about nation and citizenship in this critical historic era.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website