Next of kin has been notified... Your work will save lives
Dark painted scene of a woman with a hand to her mouth and a child pressed against her shoulder, a Navy Department letter and telegram lying on the table in front of them, with a line of script across the picture and a bold caption below. The fear-appeal shows the family of a serviceman after a casualty notice and ties war-plant output to preventing that outcome. The script line reads 'next of kin has been notified' followed by an ellipsis.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- War Production Board, War Production Drive Headquarters (A-28); painted by Xavier Gonzalez
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Labor, War and the military
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
War Production Board, War Production Drive Headquarters (A-28); painted by Xavier Gonzalez. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1403 (NAID 515067).
Text on the object
next of kin has been notified... YOUR WORK WILL SAVE LIVES [on the letters:] NAVY DEPARTMENT; remaining text [illegible] [signature:] Xavier Gonzalez WAR PRODUCTION BOARD War Production Drive Headquarters WASHINGTON, D. C. A-28 [imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1942—O—502101
