Officer's shower sign printed by the United States Department of the Army: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An officer’s showers sign printed by the United States Department of the Army. The sign is printed on a piece of white rectangular Bristol board. Large, black, centered text at the top reads [SHOWERS]. Smaller black text printed below reads [White Officers] on the left, and [Colored Officers] on the right with downward and diagonally oriented arrows below pointing in left and right directions. Along the bottom edge of the sign is even smaller black text that reads [DEPT. OF THE ARMY] on the left, and [FORM # 11734], on the right. At the bottom center is a small, black, printed image of the Great Seal of the United States: a bald eagle with its wings displayed, holding a bundle arrows in its left talon and an olive branch in its right talon. In its beak, the eagle clutches a blank scroll. Over the eagle’s head there is a cluster of thirteen five-pointed stars surrounded by a ring of circular clouds. A vertically striped shield covers the eagle's breast. The seal is framed by a thin circle. The back of the sign is plain and white.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1947-1954
• Printed by: United States Department of the Army, American, founded 1947
• Used by: United States Army, American, founded 1775
• Owned by: Gwendolyn Collins, American
• Type: signs
• Medium: ink on bristol board
• Dimensions: H x W: 4 3/4 × 11 in. (12.1 × 28 cm)
• Place made: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Military
• Topic: Segregation
• Topic: U.S. History, 1945-1953
• Object number: 2021.84
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Brian Turner from the Collection of John E. Collins
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.