Solidarity collection

Overview

Administrative/Biographical Note

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Polish blue-collar workers embarked on a series of mass protests against the country’s communist regime. In large measure, these early protests were a response to widespread governmental corruption and a failing economy. The government’s announcement, in December of 1970, of increases in food prices put a further strain on an already heavily burdened citizenry and set in motion a series of events that led to the formation in 1980 of the Solidarity Movement. The early actions and protests in Poland represented a milestone in the development of group cohesion and consciousness among disparate groups of Polish workers. The events laid the groundwork for the 1980 worker strikes at the Gdansk Shipyard, wherein workers, led by electrician Lech Walesa, demanded higher pay, more rights, and called for the formation of independent trade unions. The “Solidarity” trade union, which was the first nationwide workers’ organization not controlled by the Communist party, grew out of the Gdansk strikes. Solidarity eventually broadened its scope to encompass a call for relaxation of censorship, new rights for the church, the freeing of political prisoners, and improvements in the country’s health service. When martial law was declared by the Polish government in December of 1981, the Solidarity union and its affiliated organizations were banned. They remained officially illegal until early 1989 when they helped bring about semi-free elections. These elections were the first time that non-Communist Party candidates were allowed to appear on Polish ballots. Solidarity secured this concession following negotiations—known as the Round Table Talks– between the government and the Solidarity-led opposition. The elections were an overwhelming success for Solidarity and by the end of August of 1989 a Solidarity-led coalition government was in place. In December of 1990 Lech Walesa was elected President of Poland. Visual, print, and broadcast media played a significant role in the Solidarity Movement. The artwork of the Solidarity movement, particularly the posters and handouts created by the Polish Poster School (a mid-to-late twentieth century approach/school of art that combined the aesthetics of painting with the succinctness and simple metaphor of the poster) were a pivotal aspect of the Solidarity movement’s success. Posters from this school, particularly the iconic work by graphic designer Jerzy Janiszewski, who created a style of writing known as Solidaric that features a red and white Polish flag growing up from the “n” in the word “Solidarnosc,” (intended to represent individual people united in a common cause) as well as the work of Tomasz Sarnecki, whose poster featuring an image of Gary Cooper from the 1952 film “High Noon” and the phrase “High Noon, June 4, 1989,” along with the work of many other artists comprise a powerful part of Solidarity’s legacy and were critical to the movement’s success. Just as visual media played an important role in Solidarity’s eventual overthrow of Poland’s communist regime, print and other news media also were fundamental to the movement’s accomplishments. In addition to Solidarity’s own newspaper, Solidarnosic (which was initially printed on presses in the Gdansk shipyard), by the mid-1980s the movement produced over 500 underground publications and broadcast political messages over pirate radio stations including Solidarity Radio. Well into the late 1980s, English and Polish Language newspapers, such as The Warsaw Voice and Gazeta Wyborcza (The Election Gazette) which were printed and distributed in Poland, were important and vital means for informing, inspiring, and empowering Solidarity’s members and the Polish citizenry as a whole.

Scope & Content

The Solidarity collection includes political memorabilia and newspapers from the Polish Solidarity movement senate and parliamentary campaigns of 1989 and is 7.5 linear feet. The collection consists chiefly of posters and newspapers, but also includes handouts and printed ephemera from the monumental 1989 elections. The collection is divided into six series, primarily based on format. Series I contains nearly 200 posters, and is divided into two sub-series. The posters in sub-series I.A. are largely materials related to the Solidarity movement as a whole. In addition, this sub-series contains posters designed to encourage citizens to vote in the 1989 elections. The posters vary in size and style, some exemplifying the Polish Poster School (a mid to late twentieth century approach that combined the aesthetics of painting with the succinctness and simple metaphor of the poster). The posters in sub-series I.B. depict individual senate and parliamentary candidates. These posters are uniform in style and color and all include a photograph of the candidates posing with Lech Walesa. Series II includes Solidarity-themed political cartoons. The series is comprised of (10) 14 ¼” x 10 ¼” black and white posters printed on white cardstock drawn by the artist Chodovowski and a large collection of 8 ½ x 11 cartoons by Agnieszka I. Adi. Series III is comprised of editions of Polish newspapers published during 1988 and 1989 and contains two sub-series. Sub-series II.A. contains issues of the English-language paper, The Warsaw Voice. Sub-series II.B. is made up of copies of the Polish-language paper Gazeta Wyborcza as well as single issues of Tygodnik Solidarnosc, Samorzadna, Rzeczpospolita, Zwrotnica, and Niespodzianka Dziekujemy, all of which are Polish-language newspapers. Series IV includes election-related handouts, instructional voting materials, and individual candidate materials. The material in this series ranges in size from 6” x 8 ½” to 8 ½” x 11” and is housed in three folders according to category (political handouts, instructional voting materials, and handouts for individual senate candidates). The bulk of Series V is housed in a single folder that contains a variety of Solidarity-themed postage stamps, stickers, postcards, handouts. In addition, this series includes a white plastic shopping bag with the word “Solidarnosc” (Solidarity) printed in red, which is in a separate folder. Series V also contains a hand-written, over-sized Solidarity candidate speaking engagement scheduling calendar, which tracked events leading up to the Spring 1989 elections that is housed with the political posters in the map drawers. The material in Series VI is contained in one folder and relates to a 1990 exhibit of the Solidarity materials in the UMBC Library Gallery entitled, “Solidarity and The Polish Elections.”

The Solidarity collection has been divided into six series: Series I. Posters Political and campaign posters Senate candidate campaign posters Series II. Political cartoons Series III. Periodicals The Warsaw Voice Polish language newspapers Series IV. Handouts Series V. Ephemera Series VI. Exhibit materials

Provenance Information

Includes accession MSS 1989-01. The Solidarity collection came to UMBC’s Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery Special Collections as a gift from the Solidarity Central Committee, by way of UMBC History Professor Colin B. Burke. Professor Burke gathered the materials while ‘on the ground’ in Warsaw, Poland during the Polish soft revolution. He was able to safely get the materials out of the country, and subsequently donated them to UMBC. All of the materials arrived in a single accession in August of 1989.

The Solidarity collection was donated in 1989 and remained unprocessed until the Fall of 2012 when processing was undertaken by graduate student Theresa Donnelly under the supervision of Special Collections Librarian Susan Graham. Processing was completed and a finding aid written by Theresa Donnelly in February, 2013.

Access & Use

No restrictions.

Reproductions allowed for research purposes. Copyright maintained by the creator.

Subject Headings

• Burke Colin B. 1936-
• Poland
• Labor unions
• Walesa, Lech, 1943-

Series Description & Container List

Expand all | Collapse all

Series I. Posters

Sub-series I.A. Political and campaign posters

Sub-series I.B. Senate candidate campaign posters

Series II. Political cartoons

Series III. Periodicals

Sub-series III.A. The Warsaw Voice

Sub-series III.B. Polish language newspapers

Series IV. Handouts

Series V. Ephemera

Series VI. Exhibit materials

Oversized