Mr. President, Mr. Lyndon Baines Johnson...

Jesse Howard, artist

1885–1983

Mr. President, Mr. Lyndon Baines Johnson..., early 1970s

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: paint; wood

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 25 x 163.5 cm
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 9 13/16 x 64 3/8 in

Credit line: Gift of Kohler Foundation, Inc. in collaboration with the Kansas City Art Institute

Accession number: 2017.0050

Not on display

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Soon after Jesse Howard purchased 20 acres for a home in Fulton, Missouri, he began using the space to express his religious, political, and philosophical convictions. He posted signs covered with neat, hand-lettered text. Unfortunately, Howard’s neighbors were not pleased with his contributions to public debate. From the late 1940s until the 1970s,“Sorehead Hill,” as Howard called his home, was frequently vandalized and he was repeatedly harassed for his unconventional means of exercising free thought and speech. In 1952, some of his neighbors went so far as to circulate a petition demanding that he be committed to a mental institution. Despite this, Howard remained determined to express himself, and he was eventually rewarded with favorable attention from art scholars, collectors, dealers, and curators.