WILLY G. SESSER (DATES UNKNOWN)

ILLINOIS / 1818 CENTENNIAL 1918. 1918.

41x27 1/2 inches, 104x69 3/4 cm. Illinois Litho. Co., Chicago.
Condition A-: minor repaired tears, creases and darkening at edges; small replaced losses at edges.

Sesser was a teacher at Detroit's School of Applied Art who is known to have designed one poster during the First World War and several posters for the North German Lloyd shipping company in 1914. Sesser beat out over 80 artists in a competition to design a Centennial poster for Illinois. His "design became familiar to the people of the State as the Centennial poster. The Centennial Commission reproduced it in color and in various sizes, from the full-size poster down to the "sticker" size to be used on letters and packages and widely distributed" (Blue Book of the State Of Illinois, 1919-1920, p. 320). The Official Report of the Centennial Commission explains the design, "A Pioneer with a flint-lock musket. Kneels in reverence to the United States Flag. The present State House of Illinois is in the background showing the progress of the century. Above the head of the pioneer appears the dates '1818-1918' and twenty stars, representing the twenty states admitted before Illinois. On a line below in the center, the new star, Illinois, appears" (Ibid. p. 416). The words at the bottom are from a song written by Civil War veteran Charles Chamberlin, composed as part of Chicago's bid to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition (where it was ultimately held). In 1925, seven years after the state's Centennial, the song was made the official Illinois state song. Rare.