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.

View results as Grid View results as List Browse Full Collection Advanced Search

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Late 20th Early 21st Century This horizontally-oriented poster titled "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" contains four columns of blue text in sections numbered 1 through 30. "United Nations" is in the bottom center of...	Chile: Vencera Will Win Vaincra Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL), Rolando Cordoba This horizontally-oriented poster includes 3 red, white and blue Chilean flags lined up horizontally. There are swastikas in front of them and the swastikas become increasingly broken and...
Come To The UN Late 20th Early 21st Century This poster is filled with a photograph of the United Nations building - a skyscraper on Manhattan - at night. The building and surrounding city are lit up and the red lights from the cars on a...	Sandino Y Fonseca 1980 This poster has an illustration of two men''s heads in the center of the page. One has glasses and the other wears a hat. There are people performing carious jobs on top of a book below...
El Arte Nace Del Pueblo Late 20th Early 21st Century This poster is made up of a black and white image of a group of people dancing. "El Arte Nace Del Pueblo" is in red along the top edge along with "Pucara - Cantata de la escuela Sta. Maria de...	Nicaragua Late 20th Early 21st Century This poster is a photograph of 3 people crouching on the ground among some trees. They have round, white packets in their hands. They are wearing human-like masks." Nicaragua / Un pais que se...
Peace 1985 This white poster is filled with red and blue text spelling "Peace" in many languages. The red letters connect vertically to spell "Mockba" vertically and "Mup" horizontally. "1985" is in red at...	Pan Late 20th Early 21st Century This poster is made up of a green speech bubble with the letters "P / A / N" in orange inside. It is against a dark blue background that ends irregularly at a blue background 2/3 of the way down...
Lenin Late 20th Early 21st Century This red and white poster is composed of an image of Vladimir Lenin''s head in the bottom half of the page and large text in the top half reading "Lenin / Centenary / Rally Films / Camden Town...	Vietman Late 20th Early 21st Century This poster features an image of a person wearing wide, cone-shaped hat, carrying a rifle on their back, and leaning over with a shovel in front. There is a large silhouette of the figure filling...
Palestina Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL), Victor Manuel Navarrete This orange poster features a black and white image of a man holding a rifle pointed at the sky in one hand and making a peace sign in the other hand. He has tree roots growing out of his feet...	Untitled (Che Guevara) 1983 This poster is an illustration of Che Guevara wearing a blue cap with a star on it and a green jacket. She has a beard and moustache and is gazing down and to his right.
Zimbabwe Lazaro Abreu, Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL) This yellow poster titled "Zimbabwe" in large, red text at the top of the page features a black and white illustration of a Zimbabwean man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and carrying a...	Chile Late 20th Early 21st Century This white poster titled "Chile" in the top left is made up of a blue, red, and white image of the Chilean flag with a face and fists incorporated into it. The flag extends from the poster''s...
Nagara Gawa Day Late 20th Early 21st Century This blue poster promotes "Nagara Gawa / Day" with an image of a green fish in the center of the page and a map of several rivers entangled with roads in the bottom right corner. Text in the...	Praise of Dialectics Late 20th Early 21st Century This poster features a poem titled "Praise of Dialectics" by "Bertold Brecht". There is a black and white photograph of a group of men carrying a sign reading "Jarrow / Crusade" in the bottom...
World conference on Human Rights 1993 This poster commemorates the "June 1993" "World / Conference / on / Human / Rights" in "Vienna, Austria". There is a blue and yellow image of the Earth in the center of a colorful frame filling...	creating the spirit of peace Late 20th Early 21st Century This white poster titled "UNESCO / creating / the spirit / of peace" features photographs of UNESCO missions and text explaining them in the bottom 2/3 of the page.
Keep The Flame Alive 1991 This blue poster features red, orange, yellow, and light blue accents and Arabic text in the central area of the poster above and below an image of the earth. "Keep The Flame Alive" is printed in...	United Nations 1995 This poster celebrates the 50th anniversary of the existence of the United Nations. "United / Nations" appears vertically in slightly lighter blue than the background color. "United / For A /...
Rotterdam 1995 This blue and white poster titled "Rotterdam / 1 October 1995" features a photograph of a nude male holding onto hanging chains and looking up. White text at the bottom of the page reads "Used By...	Abortatzeko Eskubidea Late 20th Early 21st Century This pink and purple poster promotes abortion rights in Basque. Purple text at the top reads "por una maternidad / libre y deseada / Abortatzeko / Eskubidea". There are mirror-image outlines of...
South Pacific Motor Club Late 20th Early 21st Century This poster is a black and white photograph of a shirtless man leaning on a post with his back to the camera. The roofline of the Sydney opera house is in the background. A black logo in the top...	Alegria de julia Late 20th Early 21st Century This poster titled "alegria de Julio / viva el xvii aniversario" has a row of purple and blue buildings at the bottom with multi-colored lines and dots filling the poster above.