Conditions Governing Use:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Conditions Governing Access:

Collection is open to all researchers.

Preferred Citation:

George Withers World War II Posters, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

Acc. 2013.272 was received by Special Collections from the donor on 11/19/2013.

Processing Information:

Acc. 2013.272 accessioned and minimally processed by Steven Bookman, University Archives Specialist, in November 2013.

Biographical Information:

George Withers was born on December 21, 1911 in Wichita, Kansas, the son of George Withers, Sr. His father was a cattleman which caused the family to move several times. Withers received a football scholarship to the University of Kansas. While in his senior year at Kansas, George Withers received a scholarship to study art at New York's Art Students League, and later worked as an illustrator with such companies as AT&T and Ford Motor Company.

He joined the Army Air Corp. illustrating aircraft and weapons systems. After a brief stay in England and Scotland, Withers joined the European Theater of Operations in Paris, France. His work was featured in Stars and Stripes , Army Talks , Overseas Women , and other military publications. He died on February 6, 1959.

Scope and Contents

Posters featuring works illustrated by George Withers while an artist at the European Theater of Operations in Paris, France during World War II. Includes the first page of a letter home to his wife Virginia, Victory in Europe (V-E) Day in Paris, liberated Paris in the summer of 1945, and the Cirque de Paris. There are also two commercial illustrations by George Withers which include a movie poster and a drawing of Walt Whitman's birthplace on Long Island.

Related Material

Additional papers of George Withers can be found at Old Dominion University at .

Information about related materials is available at http://guides.swem.wm.edu/armedconflicts

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• France--Description and travel--20th century
• Posters
• V-E Day, 1945--France
• World War, 1939-1945--European Front
• World War, 1939-1945--Pictoral works