"Save Freedom Of Speech" WWII OWI #44 Home Front Poster (Small Format) by Norman Rockwell (1943)

OWI No. 44. Part of a series that Norman Rockwell created for the Saturday Evening Post, featuring the four freedoms that Americans were fighting to preserve during WWII. Features a Norman Rockwell painting of a man standing in a crowd and speaking, originally printed in the Saturday Evening Post.

Note that this series of posters, commonly referred to as "The Four Freedoms", were printed in three sizes: 20" x 28", 28" x 40", and 40" x 56", and each was printed and distributed by the Office of War Information in 1943.

In 1941, FDR declared four freedoms for all humans: Freedom of Speech, Freedom from Fear, Freedom of Worship, and Freedom from Want. Inspired by this speech, Norman Rockwell struggled to illustrate these concepts until he attended a town hall meeting and realized that everyday middle American life would make it relatable. His paintings of the four freedoms were published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1943, and were a huge success. A national tour of the paintings, sponsored by the Post and U.S. Treasury, helped sell 133 million dollars in war bonds (every purchase received a set of posters), making the posters a part of American iconography.