Inquiry: Rachel Hall: WANTED! THE OUTLAW IN AMERICAN VISUAL CULTURE

When we think of a “Wanted: Dead or Alive”” poster, we think of a crudely printed notice nailed to a tree in the Old West picturing some dangerous desperado. The truth is that the first “Wanted” notices didn’t come into existence till World War I. That’s just some of what you will learn on tonight’s Inquiry when we speak with RACHEL HALL, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Louisiana State University. In her new book WANTED! THE OUTLAW IN AMERICAN VISUAL CULTURE, Professor Hall traces the origins of the “Wanted” poster to colonial period execution sermons, broadside crime reports and the coming of the Rogues Gallery as entertainment.   But how were the general public supposed to use these pictures of criminal activity? Tune in tonight and find out.