Political Posters

The “All Of Us Or None” (AOUON) archive project was started by Free Speech Movement activist Michael Rossman in 1977 to gather and document posters of modern progressive movements in the United States. Though some early works are included, its focus is on the domestic political poster renaissance that began in 1965 and continues to this day. When Rossman died May 12, 2008 his family donated the collection to the Oakland Museum of California. More …

The Archive gathered posters from all streams of progressive activity — from movements of protest, liberation, and affirmative action, trade union and community struggles, to electoral and environmental organizing, community services, and visionary manifestos. It is strongest in work from the San Francisco Bay Area, but its scope is national: approximately one-quarter of its holdings come from out of state, primarily New York City, Boston, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. These are complemented by a representation of international work. The collection consists of approximately 24,500 distinct titles.

The collection includes examples from well-known graphic artists including Malaquías Montoya, Emory Douglas, Rachael Romero, Rupert Garcia, Yolanda Lopez, Favianna Rodriguez, Carlos Cortez, Nancy Hom, Juan Fuentes, and Jos Sances, as well as material from seminal collective workshops such as La Raza Silkscreen, the Royal Chicano Air Force, Japantown Art and Media, Kearny Street Workshop, and Inkworks Press. Perhaps more important, the depth and breadth of the collection reveals the contribution of numerous lesser known or even anonymous artists whose cumulative impact on this democratic public art form has yet to be properly understood.

The cataloging of the AOUON Archive was made possible by a generous grant from the Stephen M. Silberstein Foundation.

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The Moral Majority is Watching You Late 20th Early 21st Century Poster with a background of black and white diagonal stripes. Text at top in white reads: The Moral Majority is Watching You. At center is one half of an eyeglass, with a photograph of a roomful...	Untitled Late 20th Early 21st Century Square poster with several silhouettles of people along the bottom, their arms stretched up over their heads. Above thme is a vertical rectangle with black border. Interior of rectangle is a...
Untitled Late 20th Early 21st Century Square poster with a simple yellow frown face. Background is white.	Some Big Things Count Too! Kelly Freas, artist Late 20th Early 21st Century Poster with illustrations of an Apollo missile taking off at right. To the left are illustrations of the Vehicle Assembly Building adn the Crawler/Transporter. Text talks about them.
Engineering Careers Late 20th Early 21st Century Poster advertising an engineer recruitment day. Illlustration at right is a space shuttle launching. The rest of the poster is black text on a light blue background about the recruitment day and...	May the Force Be With You 1977 Poster for an activities fair in 1977 on a campus (not listed). Entire poster is dark blue with white text. Text in center mimics the opening credits for the Star Wars film, with text...
We still have a choice? Kelly Freas, artist 1971 Poster with illustration of an Apollo missile spaceship docked, with many clothes lines across the bottom of the poster. The background is colorful swirling stars in a night sky. Text reads: "We...	It takes ALL the little SYSTEMS to make the big ones GO! Think about it... Kelly Freas, artist 1971 Poster with an illlustration of a United States Apollo missile spaceship lifting off, with fire and black clouds beneath it. Text to the left reads: "It takes ALL the little SYSTEMS to make the...
The 60s in Amerika A. Warrick, artist Late 20th Early 21st Century Poster advertising sociology classes at UC Davis about the 1960s. Illustration at top half shows bombs being dropped from a plane, Richard Nixon, Che Guevara, Martin Luther King, Jr., a peace sign...	Who Says Amerians Are Getting Soft? Late 20th Early 21st Century Poster with a pixalated image of two men with tongues touching. Image has a border of eagles with outstretched wings, stars, and American flags. At bottom right is a forearm with a hand in "thumbs...
Untitled Late 20th Early 21st Century Poster is a two-page spread from Berkeley Barb newspaper. Image is a reproduction of a paintin of a nude woman sitting and holding a champagne glass. Artist signature at bottom right is "Jack Kray...	Wanted Late 20th Early 21st Century Poster with a central photographic image of Jim Morrison (vocalist for The Doors), with the texted "WANTED" above, and text below "In the county of Dade / For: Lewd and lascivious behavior in...
Untitled Late 20th Early 21st Century Poster with detailed pen and ink illustration with various couples having sexual intercourse, and buffalo, cattle, and horses in the background. Some of the figures appear to be Native American....	Untitled 1996 Poster with write-in spaces for hosting a record release party for the band Cycomotogoat. Front of poster has the names of astrological signs with illustrations of a couple in various sexual...
The Eighth Annual Exotic-Erotic Ball 1987 Poster advertising the Eight Annual Exotic Erotic Ball in San Francisco in 1987. Poster has a central image of a woman in a bikini with a stuffed animal leopard over her shoulders. Text is in pink...	Women of the World Unite! Screw Magazine, publisher 1970 Two-page spread from Screw Magazine. Image is a color photograph of a nude woman standing over a nude man who is lying on the floor under her. They are in a living room.
Apollo 12 Paul Kagan, copyright holder 1969 Poster from a two-page spread in the Berkeley Tribe newspaper. Image is portions of one or two nude bodies in white, purple, and black. At top left is a crescent view of the moon.	Epithalamium Michael Rossman 1969 Poster with black and white line drawing of eight nude women, that hair blending into the tip of a penis. A poem is superimposed on the penis. Near the top, the word "Epithalamium" appears in the...
It may not be much but it's all we've got. Late 20th Early 21st Century Poster about joing the Peace Corps. Small globe at center. The rest of the poster is black with white text at top and bottom.	Future Worlds Conference Festival Rainbow Advertising, publisher Late 20th Early 21st Century Poster for the Future Worlds Conference Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Image of the eart from space at center, with a large yellow question mark above it. To the left and right of image is text...
Who Owes Whom? Friendship Press, publisher 1983 Poster with a South-North (Peters projection) map of the world. Below is four paragraphs of text about debt, Northism, and asking the question, "Who should pay the debt?"	The Peace Corps Experience 1981 Poster for an exhibition about the Peace Corps at the San Jose Museum of Art. Poster has white background and five black and white photographs: cattle in grass, baobab tree, figure in costume with...
Smile Richard Guindon, artist Late 20th Early 21st Century Poster with black and white line drawings. At center, the work "smile" appears with a three-legged fiture with a camera as a head chasing a naked woman with long hair. Drawing around include a...	Consume Circa 1970 Black and white poster with the dictionary definition of the word "consume" superimposed on a map of North America. The land mass is in white, ocean is black. Poster has a white border...