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Object Timeline

1950

  • Work on this object began.

2001

  • We acquired this object.

2011

2015

2024

  • You found it!

Book Cover, The Nature of Our Freedom by Leon R. Yankwich

This is a Book cover. It was graphic design by Alvin Lustig. It is dated 1950 and we acquired it in 2001. Its medium is lithograph on thin glossy paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

It is credited Gift of Susan Lustig Peck.

  • Book Cover, Amerika, 1947
  • offset lithograph in navy and purple ink on white shiny wove paper.
  • Gift of Tamar Cohen and Dave Slatoff.
  • 1993-31-165-6

Its dimensions are

H x W: 23.5 x 54cm (9 1/4 x 21 1/4in.)

It is signed

Signature printed, upper center: lustig.

It is inscribed

Printed in black ink, front cover upper right: The Nature/Of Our/Freedom; lower left: Leon R. Yankwich. Printed vertically in black ink, side cover: The Nature Of Our Freedom LEON R. YANKWICH. Printed in black ink, inside flap of front cover: $3.00/THE/NATURE OF/OUR FREEDOM/by/Judge Leon R. Yankwich/written specially at the publisher’s re-/quest, is the product of more than a/quarter of a century writing and/thinking on the Constitution./Judge Yankwich considers the/greatness of the Constitution to lie in its/adaptability to the expanding needs of/a growing nation. In this book, he em-/phasizes the fundamental ideals which/underlie the Constitution – Freedom and/Equality – traces their origin and their/expression in the Constitution as writ-/ten, showing the influence which the/Constitution has had, and still has, upon/the evolution and development of Amer-/ican ways, habits, and customs./An opponent of totalitarianism of/any type, right or left, whether it calls/itself Fascism, Communism, Nazism or/Falangism, Judge Yankwich has stressed/in this volume the importance of indiv-/idual rights which totalitarianism de-/nies./THE NATURE OF OUR FREEDOM/demonstrates how such a belief can be/reconciled with progressive liberalism/which seeks to accomplish the common/good, and which, ever since the May-/Flower Compact, has characterized Amer-/ican aims./BEHIND IT ALL LIES AN UNBOUNDEN/FAITH IN THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AND/ITS FUTURE./Watling and Company/Research Publishing Company/Los Angeles 13, California/Photograph of wooden eagle figurehead courtesy/of Mariner’s Museum, Newport News, Virginia. Printed in black ink, inside flap of back cover: The Author, Judge Leon A. Yank-/wich, has had an unusual career as a law-/yer, teacher of law, writer and judge./After a successful period as a practicing/lawyer, with began with his admission/to the Bar before attaining his majority,/he was appointed Judge of the Superior/Court of Los Angeles County Califor-/nia, in 1927 by Governor C. C. Young./Thereafter, he was twice elected to that/office, in 1928 and 1934, and in 1935/was appointed a Judge of The United/States District Court by President Frank-/lin D. Roosevelt, a position which he/has held ever since./Throughout his entire career, in ad-/dition to opinions which have gained/him national recognition, he has written/articles and books on a wide variety of/topics./In 1928, in a child custody case, he/spoke the now famous words, “There/are no illegitimate children; only illegi-/timate parents.”/His writing, while scholarly, has/unusual clarity and simplicity, due in/part to his long association with the/press. EDITOR AND PUBLISHER when re-/cently speaking of his latest book, “It’s/Libel or Contempt if You Print It,” (1950), called it “blessedly clear.”

Cite this object as

Book Cover, The Nature of Our Freedom by Leon R. Yankwich; Graphic design by Alvin Lustig (American, 1915–1955); USA; lithograph on thin glossy paper; H x W: 23.5 x 54cm (9 1/4 x 21 1/4in.); Gift of Susan Lustig Peck; 2001-29-32

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18694813/ |title=Book Cover, The Nature of Our Freedom by Leon R. Yankwich |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=19 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>