Winter Soldiers, Selection #6: Harry Gottlieb

Harry Gottlieb, a social realist graphic artist, employed by the WPA, became a leader and active member of the Artists Union and the Artists Congress. A life-long member of the Communist Party, Gottleib created this illustration for inclusion in the 1941 book, Winter Soldiers: The Story of a Conspiracy Against Schools. The image features CCNY instructor William Canning, an ex-Communist Party member who disclosed the names of over fifty active party members to state officials.The book, published by the Committee for Defense of Public Education, tells the story of the Rapp-Coudert hearings and New York State’s efforts to rid its public schools and colleges of "subversive influences" and persons, particularly those with communist ties. Gottleib was supported under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the government-funded Federal Art Project that hired hundreds of artists. The Project was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's  New Deal during the Great Depression.

Gottlieb, Harry

Smith, Carol

1941

Smith, Carol

Copyrighted

Drawing

4972

English

Committee for Defense of Public Education