The American Library of Congress has disclosed a vast amount of its treasures on its website, including an amazing archive of designs from the past. Some of these still have a remarkably strong communicative power and simplicity that could be very useful in current society.

The design of the website could have been a lot better. But search and scroll through it and get totally lost in the content. There’s so much to see and learn about the old days. You’ll find awkward, wise, very funny, and highly uncomfortable images on posters, photographs and book covers.

Take, for example, the Work Projects Administration (WPA) posters collection. Or fill in any designer’s name in the Artist Posters section.

The archives show the history of the USA in countless images. You can search by themes like the civil war, abandoned mines, child labour and many more. What it all tells us is that while much has changed in the US, people elsewhere on the planet still struggle with some of the uncomfortable issues that we in the West have left behind us.

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