This exhibit will be on display from January 7 through January 30, 2020 during regular library hours. This is a unique opportunity for people in the area to see posters like this.

The Exhibit:

More than two dozen “Ban the Bomb” posters from the Stephen Lewis collection will be on display which protest development, testing, retention and use of nuclear weapons.
They include one in French, advocating no nuclear testing in Polynesia. Lewis hopes that his exhibit will remind people of the dangers and horrors of nuclear testing and usage. He believes “an educated public is the best deterrent to the continued possession and testing of nuclear weapons”. 

The Significance of Posters:

Organizations in many countries use posters to communicate ideas and messages to their audience. Posters are sometimes used as billboards and are pasted on walls, fences, and poles all over a city. Unions sometimes hang posters in work places to warn of dangers, educate about benefits or inspire actions. Posters sometimes use mainly the written word to communicate a message. Other times they rely on creative art to communicate the idea. It is an art form that is easily accessible to many people. The art goes to the people rather than the people having to go to a museum. It is a communication tool that is less frequently used by unions in the United States. As commercial advertising calls for more consumption, a political poster calls for more action.

For 15 years, Lewis, a retired trade union activist, has hung poster exhibits at public libraries, galleries and other community venues like Boston City Hall.
For the last eight years, he has exhibited three shows each month. He assembles them around themes, among them women’s rights, worker safety, strikes and politics. These posters are from his collection of more than 8100 posters, which have been exhibited at a number of public libraries in Massachusetts and two of the state Heritage parks. He has presented at the annual conference of the National Council on Public History, and on some cable television programs. Stephen Lewis can be reached by email at lewisposters@gmail.com or at Facebook under labor/progressive political posters. The posters/photos were contributed by friends, collected at conferences, visits to some of the organizations, and from connections made through the internet.