3/1/2023 0 Comments I am the captain of my soulIn 1913, at a conference in New York, several organizations dedicated to fighting prostitution and venereal disease joined together to form the American Social Hygiene Association (ASHA). The social stigma attached to these diseases prevented most people from discussing or addressing means of treatment. At the beginning of the twentieth century venereal disease was a prevalent concern for social health organizations. The posters produced by the Social Hygiene Division were a breakthrough in preventive medicine - previous to the war, venereal diseases were rarely discussed, and there were limited medical resources in the United States for the treatment of those suffering from them. This poster was reproduced from 'Everybody's Magazine'. , In the midst of the helmets of German soldiers scattered at his feet, the young man is laughing and carefree. An American bald eagle, wings unfurled, hovers behind his shoulders. The left side of the poster is dominated by a black and white illustration of a young soldier standing in front a scene of buildings that have been shelled. Titled 'Invictus', the poem traverses the bleak and difficult trials of life, and answers them with the stirring lines 'I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul.' How this poem relates to venereal disease is unclear, but it certainly echoes the terror and fear that soldiers experienced on the front: 'In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced, nor cried aloud Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed.' Perhaps it is an acknowledgement that for many soldiers, visiting a prostitute in the midst of the war was a common response to the horror that surrounded them. This poster quotes a poem by nineteenth century British poet, William Ernest Henley. First World War venereal disease prevention poster, presumably the sixteenth page of a book that has been torn out.
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