Poster for the Harlem Better Business League: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Round red, blue and off-white poster enclosing a smaller circular vignette of an African American family with the caption "A Clerk in Negro Business at Home. The Result of Group of Economy". This unusual poster was possibly meant to be hung at one's place of business. The design of the poster is intriguing-- incorporating two circles, the smaller of which is within a square, bearing the motto "Trade on the Square" and "Buy within the Circle".

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1940
• Created by: Harlem Better Business League, American, ca. 1940
• Type: posters
• Medium: lithographic ink on paper
• Dimensions: Diameter: 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm)
• Place depicted: Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Associations and institutions
• Topic: Black Enterprise
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Urban life
• Object number: 2012.46.23
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 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.