"We can do it!," ca. 1942
This poster’s simple yet powerful image of a woman war worker's strength and determination during World War II remains iconic today, both in the United States and around the world. In 1942, the Westinghouse Company's War Production Coordinating Committee hired Pittsburgh artist J. Howard Miller to create a series of posters for the war effort. His "We Can Do It!" poster was initially used only internally by Westinghouse; it resurfaced decades after the war and soon became associated with the "Rosie the Riveter" moniker.
We can do it! is from a series of posters used in various production drives instituted by the War Production Board, a United States government agency created to manage production of war materials during World War II. Included in this series are posters recruiting for the military and promoting the war effort on the home front.
We can do it! (Other title: "Rosie the Riveter"), ca. 1942–ca. 1943. National Archives Identifier: 535413/Local Identifier: 179-WP-1563. View in National Archives Catalog
View and download We can do it! in the National Archives Catalog. This poster is part of Record Group 179, Records of the War Production Board, Series: War Production Board. This series is fully digitized and available to view and download in the National Archives Catalog.
Other fully digitized series of posters from the World War II period are available in the National Archives Catalog, including World War II Posters, 1942–1945; World War II Foreign Posters, 1942–1945; and Original Artwork for World War II Posters, 1942–1945. For more information about World War II-era posters held by the Still Picture Branch, see The Unwritten Record blog post, "We Can Do It!: World War II Posters at the Still Picture Branch.”
You can explore more posters and graphic works, as well as other World War II records held by the Still Picture Branch through the National Archives Catalog, through the Special Media Records Division blog: The Unwritten Record, on History Hub, or in person at our research room in College Park, MD.