Stay Out for Freedom Day Poster

This flyer was created to advertise the protest against the Boston School Committee due to the segregation of junior high and high schools in Boston. The protest took place in Roxbury, Massachusetts at St. Mark's Social Center where students and parents were informed to attend school at the social center for the day rather than at the public schools they were enrolled in. The poster advertises a meeting about Stay Out for Freedom Day 2 days prior at the Charles Street A.M.E. Church.

 Created in June 1963, the lack of graphics and imperfect printing suggests the sense of urgency that the creators could have felt when producing the piece. The variations of print styles and often handwritten type corrections display a need for immediacy lacking the time for polishing or refinement and highlight the commitment to addressing school segregation. 

In the context of this archive, this poster adds to the deep history of handmade printouts, fliers, and posters. No image, iconography, or design enhances the information other than the use of simple typographical hierarchical techniques like underlining, text size, and boxes. The words are what make the poster significant and would suggest that this event would not be the last of its kind. This claim is further evident by the types of places where the pre-meeting and protest are taking place. The St. Mark's Social Center and Charles Street A.M.E. Church hosting the pre-meeting and protest give context for this event being a community-supported demonstration with a list of other clergymen and community leaders provided at the bottom of the poster to further support this claim.  

The folded creases evident in the digitized file suggest that this was a handout that could have been in closed proximity: a pocket or bookbag for example. These details emphasize this sense of a grassroots effort backed by the people of the Boston community. It was events, protests, and graphics like these that were on the ground advocating for change within the global Civil Rights Movement. This design shows a local approach to create a demonstrated protest in 1960s Boston, Massachusetts.