Pvt. Joe Louis Says (1942)

A color poster featuring a black and white photographic image of a Joe Louis as a soldier, against a blue background. Black text above and below the image reads: Pvt. Joe Louis says_ / "We're going to do our part / …and we'll win because / we're on God's side". U.S. Government Printing Office 1942. GPO Jacket No. 460989. Graphics Division Office of Facts and Figures.
Champion boxer Joe Louis became a national hero when he defeated German boxer Max Schmeling in a celebrated 1938 match. In January 1942, Louis volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army. Later that year, he said of the war: “We’ll win, because we’re on God’s side.” His remarks were widely reported in the media and later used in this 1942 poster.

The Army recognized Louis’s value as a spokesman for military service and placed him in its Special Services Division. He traveled widely staging boxing exhibitions for military audiences and helped publicize a recruitment campaign aimed at African Americans.

MO 2005.13.20.9.1