poster - international solidarity - "free all political prisoners"

About the Exhibition

International Solidarity:
Highlights from the Ken Lawrence Collection

Curated by Benjamin Mitchell

International Solidarity explores the visual culture of political protest in the late 20th-century. In particular, the exhibition focuses on posters made by citizens or governments of one country in solidarity with the issues of another country. The objective of the exhibition is to provoke thought about international solidarity in our own time. Many of the issues referenced in the posters and pins on display, including human and civil rights, immigration, and independence movements, are still of concern to many today. The poster and buttons on display are facsimiles of originals that are almost all from the Ken Lawrence Collection in the Special Collections Library at Penn State University.

Benjamin Mitchell is a Senior at University Park working on a dual degree in Classics & Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Art History. This exhibition is a collaborative effort between Special Collections and The Search Bar, where Benjamin works as a Peer Research Consultant. After graduation in Spring 2020, he plans to pursue an advanced degree in Library Science with a focus in Special Collections.

Downloadable and printable pamphlet designed by Maggie Welch, Stelts-Filippelli Intern in Special Collections: International Solidarity Pamphlet

Special thanks to the Digitization team for this project: Wendy Adams, Michael Hoyt, Bethann Rea

A description of the Ken Lawrence Collection and an inventory can be found here:
https://www.libraries.psu.edu/findingaids/6312.htm

For more political posters at Penn State Libraries, see the digitized Thomas Benson Collection: https://libraries.psu.edu/about/collections/thomas-w-benson-political-protest-collection

An interview with Ken Lawrence for the Voices of Labor Oral History Project at Georgia State University Library is available here:
https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/digital/collection/voicelabor/id/28/

Questions? Contact Clara Drummond, Curator and Exhibitions Coordinator, cjd86@psu.edu