"You Won't Let Me Starve, Will You?" (Little Shushan from Armenia)
A circular photographic portrait of a small girl sits under the headline 'You Won't Let Me Starve, Will You?' beside a scroll in her imagined voice, naming her as Shushan from Armenia whose home was destroyed and whose parents are gone. A donation scale of 17 cents a day, $5 a month or $60 a year is addressed to a Sunday school, with a treasurer's New York address for contributions. The tell is the single child speaking in the first person for thousands, paired with a price per life saved.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1918
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- NGO
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Fundraise
- Themes
- Home front, Religion
- Event
- World War I
- Regime
- Wilson administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 4 (U.S. Food Administration), World War I Posters (NAID 512439), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- NARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief. National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-305.
Text on the object
"You Won't Let Me Starve, Will You?" I am little Shushan, from Armenia My home has been destroyed Father was taken away Mother starved because she gave me all the food I am so hungry and cold Thousands of other children are hungry and cold, too The Opportunity for Our Sunday School 17 cents a day- $5.00 a month- $60.00 a year will save a life! Make contributions to American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief Cleveland H. Dodge, Treasurer, One Madison Avenue, New York
NARA's title spells 'Comittee' and 'Destroyed'; the sheet prints 'Committee' and 'destroyed'. The poster's own spelling is used.
