Capital Punishment
Artist
Peg Averill
Publisher
War Resisters League
United States, founded 1923
Date1978
Dimensions20 1/2 x 16 3/4 in. (52.1 x 42.5 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.7834
DescriptionThis is one of a series of posters by political activist and artist Peg Averill for the War Resisters League (WRL). Her vivid, sketchy image of a Black man hanging in a noose and a white man strapped to an electric chair, points to the systemic racism and economic bias of the U.S. justice system, and calls for an end to capital punishment. Averill was active in the antiwar and social- justice movements of the sixties and seventies, contributing significantly to the WRL’s work with protest art of this kind. She was also involved with the National Organization for Women (NOW) in addition to other political organizations and publications. On View
Not on view
