{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O111091"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O111091/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O111091","accessionNumber":"E.35-2004","objectType":"Poster","titles":[{"title":"Private Joe Louis says...","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"The African-American boxer Joe Louis (1914-1981) became a reluctant political symbol during the Second World War. His record of boxing victories against white opponents had long made him a hero in the black community, which suffered daily injustices in racially segregated America. His symbolic role in wartime politics began with his fight against the German Max Schmeling in 1936. Joe Louis was defeated, much to the delight of Hitler's Third Reich. In 1938, Schmeling and Louis had a rematch in New York. Given the heightened political and racial tensions of the war, Schmeling became the Nazi German symbol of Aryan strength while Louis came to represent all of America - black and white alike. Schmeling was knocked-out and Louis was victorious. Prefiguring the Allied victory to come in 1945, Louis' win boosted American morale across racial divides.\r\n\r\nAside from the momentous 1938 match, Joe Louis, known as the \"Brown Bomber\" in the boxing ring, also served his country in the U.S. Army during 1942, the year to which this poster dates.\r\nThe poster's slogan expresses the unapologetically self-assured stance of the American military, boasting as it does that the Allied forces are guaranteed victorious.","physicalDescription":"Black and white photographic image of African-American boxer Joe in a soldier's uniform, advancing in attack. Black on white text. Blue background.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Office of Facts and Figures","id":"A14433"},"association":{"text":"issued by","id":"x36339"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Offset lithograph","categories":[{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"},{"text":"Propaganda","id":"THES48902"},{"text":"Black History","id":"THES48989"},{"text":"Posters","id":"THES252963"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLC (VA)","id":"THES49171"},"free":"","case":"3G","shelf":"DR1","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"poster","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"United States","id":"x29333"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1942","earliest":"1942-01-01","latest":"1942-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"101.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"72.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Private Joe Louis Says-/ \"We're going to do our part/ ...and we'll win because/ we're on God's side\"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"World War II American propaganda poster issued by Office of Facts and Figures, U.S. Government Printing Office. USA, 1942.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"The American Billboard 100 Years by James Howard Fraser. New York: Harry N. Abrams. 1991."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"\"The Censored War: American Visual Experience during World War Two\" by George H. Roeder, Jr. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. 1993."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"United States","id":"x29333"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Louis, Joe","id":"N4750"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[{"text":"World War II","id":"V16"}],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"soldier","id":"AAT185678"},{"text":"bayonet","id":"AAT36990"},{"text":"boxing","id":"x31523"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"nationalism","id":"AAT55530"},{"text":"heroism","id":"x35599"},{"text":"propaganda","id":"AAT55539"},{"text":"war","id":"x35624"},{"text":"politics","id":"AAT55537"},{"text":"race","id":"AAT256475"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.35-2004"],"accessionNumberNum":"35","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":2004,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Leslie Schreyer Loan Number","id":"THES50220"},"number":"LS.350"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2005-04-12","availableToBook":false}}