The WPA and Gandhi

(WPA poster, image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

Conservatives in Congress--both Republican and Democrat--weren't too keen on the WPA art programs. They thought that WPA books were a communist plot, and that WPA theatre was a dangerous mixing of the races (both on stage and in the audience). No doubt the above poster rankled some feathers in Congress, as it might have been seen as challenging western superiority and western colonialism. Think I'm exaggerating about congressional hysteria and foolishness? Read about the Dies Commission sometime.