My Lai Massacre

Artist Ronald Haeberle (American, born about 1941)

DateMarch 16, 1968, published 1969

Mediumwire photo

Dimensionssheet: 18.1 × 22 cm (7 1/8 × 8 11/16 in.)

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineGift of Howard G. Davis, III A.K.A. David Davis

Terms

Object number2011.143

Label TextOn March 16, 1968, the Army Charlie Company entered the village of My Lai. Though not threatened, the Americans removed civilians from their homes and systematically slaughtered them all. A village memorial names 504 victims. Haeberle’s disturbing photograph of the massacre aftermath sparked bitter debate at home, and galvanized the antiwar movement. Twenty-six of the fifty members of Charlie Company were criminally charged. Only Lieutenant William Calley was convicted; he received a life sentence but served just forty-two months under house arrest. Haeberle was stationed in Vietnam in 1968 where he served as a combat photographer in the U.S. Army. On the morning of May 16, 1968, American soldiers opened fire on the hamlet of My Lai, leveling the village, raping women, and killing hundreds of unarmed civilians. By using his personal Nikon camera instead of his Army-issued Leica, Haeberle documented an atrocity that otherwise would have likely remained hidden from the public. His photographs were published in Cleveland's newspaper, the Plain Dealer, over a year later. A loose affiliation of artists, writers, and museum employees, the Art Workers’ Coalition (AWC) initially formed to address inequity in museums, but ultimately responded to broader concerns of social injustice. Four More Years? is the second iteration of an AWC propaganda poster based on Haeberle’s photograph. The text refers to Nixon’s reelection campaign slogan, “Four More Years.” The poster subverted the catchphrase, asking instead whether Americans really wanted four more years in Vietnam.

On View

Not on view