[ORGANIZED LABOR - GRAPHICS] AFL-CIO

Pair of Original Photo Portraits of Samuel Gompers and John L. Lewis, ca 1950s

N.p. Two round ply-board placards, each 36" diameter with original photographic portraits mounted recto and verso, with printed captions in plate. Grommets at upper extremities for hanging. Images rubbed, with surface scratches and small losses, some surface soiling, still Very Good. An extraordinary survival.

A pair of exceptional original photographic portraits of John L. Lewis, first President of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and Samuel Gompers, first President of the American Federation of Labor. Photographer and date are unspecified, so it is impossible to pinpoint these placards' provenance, but they were presumably intended for display either at an early AFL-CIO event or as a permanent decoration in an AFL-CIO union hall (a scan of public images of the early AFL-CIO conventions turns up no apparent matches). As the AFL-CIO merger took place in 1955, we tentatively assume a post-1955 date, though the style and typeface appear earlier and we can imagine any number of scenarios in which such placards might have been displayed together prior to the merger. In any event, a unique example of labor-movement iconography, especially desirable given their extraordinary size and format.

Price: $3,500.00

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