70 years after FDR's 'Four Freedoms' speech, Norman Rockwell's iconic images still inspire
"Freedom From Fear" shows a couple tucking children into bed, while the man holds a newspaper with a headline that speaks of war.
[...] perhaps the most recognizable image of the four, "Freedom From Want" shows an older woman placing a roasted turkey on a dining room table before a gathering of happy and eager faces.
The Filipino-American author and poet Carlos Bulosan wrote an essay to go with "Freedom From Want" that expressed the iconic American ideal: "It is the dignity of the individual to live in a society of free men, where the spirit of understanding and belief exist; of understanding that all men are equal; that all men, whatever their color, race, religion or estate, should be given equal opportunity to serve themselves and each other according to their needs and abilities."
"For Rockwell, the Four Freedoms presented an opportunity to make a larger statement," said Stephanie Plunkett, the deputy director and chief curator of the Norman Rockwell Museum.
After publication in The Saturday Evening Post, the images toured 16 U.S. cities as propaganda for the war effort, with prints given to people as a premium for buying war bonds.
What's new this year is that the museum, inspired by the meaning of the "Four Freedoms," plans a series of town hall-style discussions that will cover current hot-button issues of health care; safe, affordable food; and immigration.