A Response to War: Violet Oakley’s World War II Triptychs

Although she subscribed to the Quaker tenant of pacifism, Violet Oakley also felt the need to support her country in time of war. During World War I she and other artists donated their services by designing Liberty Bond posters. During World War II she was one of more than twenty artists who painted portable triptych altar pieces for the Armed Services. Between 1942 and 1945, Oakley was commissioned by The Citizens Committee for the Army and Navy, Inc., established by a group of concerned civilians, to paint twenty-four altar triptychs for use on warships and in chapels on military bases.