| Original caption: “China First to Fight! United China Relief – Participating in National War Fund.” Poster illustrator Martha Sawyers (November 18, 1902 – February 11, 1986) and her husband William Reusswig (July 22, 1902 – June 22, 1978) evacuated Peiping (today Beijing) in 1937 just ahead of the city’s fall to the Japanese. In January 1941, after protracted negotiations, 8 major Chinese relief organizations merged their individual identities to form United China Relief. This allowed them to pool resources, reduce duplicated efforts, and maximize fundraising. “China First to Fight!” accompanied a 13-minute film documenting actual scenes of relief work in China. In 1942, the American public contributed 9,000,000 dollars (approximately $177,582,073 in 2025), and the film demonstrated where the money went. The poster was widely disseminated. Posters for China relief often showed entire families at risk of war. This poster was unusual in that few posters were illustrated by women artists. She created other posters and illustrations depicting Chinese people under threat due to the Sino-Japanese War. She made war bond posters in 1944. Sawyers, from Victoria, Texas, illustrated many magazine covers in the 1930s and 1940s. She was a war correspondent during World War II, illustrating the battlefields. She was interviewed by Norman Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) in 1946. She published 2 books about her travels in the 1960s. Her work was exhibited in galleries worldwide. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1539.jpg |
| Image Size | 26.86 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 10009 x 15544 |
| Photographer | Martha Sawyers |
| Photographer Title | Office of Emergency Management |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | July 1, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | New York |
| State or Province | New York |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-44-PA-119 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database