And Babies
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''And babies'' (December 26, 1969) is an iconic
anti-Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War began in 1965 with demonstrations against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War, United States in the war. Over the next several years, these demonstrations grew ...
poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...
. It is a famous example of "propaganda art" from the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, that uses a color photograph of the My Lai massacre taken by U.S. combat photographer Ronald L. Haeberle on March 16, 1968. It shows about a dozen dead and partly naked South Vietnamese women and babies in contorted positions stacked together on a dirt road, killed by U.S. forces. The picture is overlaid in semi-transparent blood-red lettering that asks along the top "Q. And babies?", and at the bottom answers "A. And babies." The quote is from a
Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. Known for his investigative journalism, he interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade car ...
CBS News television interview with U.S. soldier Paul Meadlo, who participated in the massacre. The lettering was sourced from ''The New York Times'', which printed a transcript of the Meadlo interview the day after. According to cultural historian M. Paul Holsinger, ''And babies'' was "easily the most successful poster to vent the outrage that so many felt about the conflict in Southeast Asia."


History

In 1969, the Art Workers Coalition (AWC), a group of
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artists who opposed the war, used Haeberle's shocking photograph of the My Lai massacre, along with a disturbing quote from the Wallace/Meadlo television interview, to create a poster titled ''And babies''. It was produced by AWC members Irving Petlin,
Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and re ...
and Frazer Dougherty along with
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
members Arthur Drexler and Elizabeth Shaw. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) had promised to fund and circulate the poster, but after seeing the 2 by 3 foot poster, pulled financing for the project at the last minute. MoMA's Board of Trustees included
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...
and
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(head of CBS), who reportedly "hit the ceiling" on seeing the proofs of the poster. Both were "firm supporters" of the war effort and backed the Nixon administration. It is unclear if they pulled out for political reasons (as pro-war supporters), or simply to avoid a scandal (personally and/or for MoMA), but the official reason, stated in a press release, was that the poster was outside the "function" of the museum. discuss the creation of the poster. Nevertheless, under the sole sponsorship of the AWC, 50,000 posters were printed by New York City's lithographers union. On December 26, 1969, a grassroots network of volunteer artists, students and peace activists began circulating it worldwide. Many newspapers and television shows re-printed images of the poster, consumer poster versions soon followed, and it was carried in protest marches around the world, all further increasing its viewership. In a further protest of MoMA's decision to pull out of the project, copies of the poster were carried by members of the AWC into the MoMA and unfurled in front of Picasso's painting ''
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'' – on loan to MoMA at the time from the Rockefeller family, the painting depicts the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon innocent civilians. One member of the group was
Tony Shafrazi Tony Shafrazi (born May 8, 1943) is an American art dealer, gallery owner, and artist. He is the owner of the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York City who deals in artwork by artists such as Francis Bacon, Keith Haring, and David LaChapelle. Earl ...
, who returned in 1974 to spray paint the ''Guernica'' with the words "KILL LIES ALL" in blood red paint, protesting about
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
's pardon of William Calley for the latter's actions during the My Lai massacre. Although the photograph was shot almost two years prior to the production of the poster, Haeberle had not released it until late 1969. It was a color photograph taken on his personal camera, which he did not turn over to the military, unlike the black and white photographs he took on a military camera. Haeberle sold the color photographs to ''
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'' magazine where they were first seen nationally in the December 5, 1969, issue. When the poster came out a few weeks later, in late December 1969, the image was still quite shocking and new to most viewers but already becoming a defining image of the My Lai massacre and U.S. war crimes in Vietnam. The message of the poster was that American soldiers were killing babies in Vietnam, and therefore that the war was immoral. According to cultural historian M. Paul Holsinger, ''And babies'' was "easily the most successful poster to vent the outrage that so many felt about the conflict in Southeast Asia. Copies are still frequently seen in retrospectives dealing with the popular culture of the Vietnam War era or in collections of art from the period." According to historian Matthew Israel, "My Lai became the representative incident of war crimes in Vietnam. It sparked a great deal of antiwar protest, including efforts by artists, the best-known of which was the ''And babies'' poster." The poster was included in two major MoMA exhibitions:
Kynaston McShine Kynaston Leigh Gerard McShine (February 20, 1935 – January 8, 2018) was a Trinidadian born curator and public speaker. His visions about contemporary art made lasting contributions to the lives of countless artists and colleagues at the Museum ...
's 1970 exhibition of conceptual art, ''Information''; and Betsy Jones' 1971 ''The Artist as Adversary''. During the 1972 Nixon reelection campaign, the poster was revived with the text replaced with "Four More Years?" in blood red. The British punk band Discharge wrote the song "Q: And Children? A: And Children" on the album '' Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing'' (1982).


Further reading

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References

{{Reflist Vietnam War propaganda Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War Political posters 1969 works 1969 in art Quotations from art Anti-war works Mỹ Lai massacre Reactions to the Vietnam War Children killed in wars Infanticide