“That Liberty Shall Not Perish from the Earth – Buy Liberty Bonds.” In the autumn of 1918 Joseph Pennell gave Americans a nightmare to look at: New York attacked from the air and sea, the city in flames, and the Statue of Liberty standing headless in the burning harbor. It remains one of the most startling posters of the First World War.
What the poster shows
Seen from above and across the water, the Statue of Liberty is damaged, her head and torch gone. Behind her the Manhattan skyline burns in a single sheet of orange fire, bombers fly through the smoke, and submarines move through the harbor below. The scene was never meant as reportage. It was an imagined consequence of defeat, designed to make a distant European war feel immediate to people at home.
The title and the Fourth Liberty Loan
The headline adapts the closing words of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth, and ties them directly to buying Liberty Bonds. The Fourth Liberty Loan ran from September 28 to October 19, 1918, seeking about $6 billion from the public, and was the largest of the wartime bond drives.
Joseph Pennell
Joseph Pennell (1857 to 1926) was a Philadelphia-born illustrator and printmaker who spent most of his career in Europe before returning to the United States in 1917. According to his own account, the idea came to him on the train home from a meeting of the government’s poster committee: New York bombed, burning and blown up by an enemy. The poster was printed as a two-colour lithograph, and surviving copies carry the names of more than one printer, including Ketterlinus of Philadelphia.
The restored edition
Our edition was restored from the Library of Congress scan of an original 1918 print. Stains, fading and paper wear were repaired and Pennell’s fiery orange and dark lithographic drawing brought back, keeping his energetic line rather than smoothing it into a modern illustration. Drag the before and after slider on the product page to compare.
The restored poster is available as a paper print in three sizes or framed in black, white or natural wood, printed to order in the USA.
Frequently asked questions
Who made the That Liberty Shall Not Perish poster?
It was drawn by American artist Joseph Pennell (1857 to 1926) for the Fourth Liberty Loan in 1918.
What does the poster show?
An imagined enemy attack on New York: the Statue of Liberty is broken and headless, the city burns, and bombers and submarines surround the harbor.
Where does the title come from?
It adapts the last line of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which ends with the hope that government of, by and for the people shall not perish from the earth.
When was the Fourth Liberty Loan?
The Fourth Liberty Loan campaign ran from September 28 to October 19, 1918 and sought about $6 billion to finance the American war effort.
How big was the original poster?
Original copies measure about 40 x 30 inches. Our restored edition is available up to 23.4 x 33.1 inches as a paper print and 23 x 33 inches framed.
Historical sources
- Library of Congress: That liberty shall not perish from the earth
- Norman Rockwell Museum, Rockwell Center: That Liberty Shall Not Perish From the Earth
- Naval History and Heritage Command: That Liberty Shall Not Perish from the Earth
- Federal Reserve History: Liberty Bonds
- Temple University Digital Collections: poster record