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Celebrate People's History

Location
1st Floor Rotunda
Special Collections Lobby

Duration
-

Silhouette of a person using a wheelchair with an upraised fist and the text ADAPT at the top
ADAPT, 2006 by Jennifer Cartwright
#35 in the Celebrate People’s History Poster Series

Created as a way to spread the histories of underdogs and lesser-known narratives, the Celebrate People’s History poster series is an ongoing project curated by Josh MacPhee and the Pittsburgh-based Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative since 1998.

Posters are contributed to the collection by intersectional artists from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, who are using styles with origins in grassroots activist movements from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Printed in an inexpensive offset format, these posters were initially distributed on street corners or pasted to the sides of buildings. When selecting the subject matter for each poster, MacPhee asks that artists find “events, groups, and people who have moved forward the collective struggle of humanity to create a more equitable and just world.”

With almost 200 posters in the collection, William & Mary Libraries can only display a portion of the stories told. View the entire Celebrate People’s History series and learn more about the artists on the Justseeds website.


Poster Selection: Eve-Marie Chia, History Department M.A. Student and Special Collections Graduate Apprentice

Installation: Jennie Davy, Exhibits and Artifacts Curator; and Eve-Marie Chia

Collection Cataloging: Kate McCallister, Cataloging & Metadata Librarian (Check out Kate's hard work cataloging each poster in the library catalog!)