New Deal Art: "Monitor and Merrimac"

Above: "Monitor and Merrimac," a wood engraving on paper by Charles Ernest Pont (1898-1971), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1939. Did you know that Memorial Day has its roots in the Civil War? See, "A Historical Perspective of Memorial Day," NPR, May 30, 2005. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

New Deal Art: "Preaching to the Fishes"

Above: "Preaching to the Fishes," a wood engraving on paper by Fritz Eichenberg (1901-1990), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1937. In a 1964 oral history interview, Eichenberg recalled the troubles of the Great Depression and his start in the WPA: "I made the rounds and I was received by most people with kindness but they said, 'We are all in trouble now. We can't take any chances. We can't give you any work'... [and then a friend asked] 'Have you tried the WPA?'... I went there with a few of my wooden engravings, or prints and asked him what I could do... He said, 'Oh, this is marvelous work. Go ahead and do what you want to do.' It was that simple... I got box wood, which is very hard to get - the WPA had kind of a supply room and everything we needed. You had to say what you needed, and you got it. They bought the tools. They bought the gravers and they sharpened the gravers and you took your material home with you. You just picked it up there -- beautiful wood blocks, any size." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

New Deal Art: San Francisco lithographs by David P. Chun

The following are lithographs by David P. Chun (1898-1989), created while he was in the art programs of the New Deal, ca. 1935-1943. They depict life, places, and scenery in San Francisco. 

Above: "San Francisco Pier 43." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the University of Arizona Museum of Art & Archive of Visual Arts.

Above: "Alcatraz Island." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Gibbes Museum of Art/Carolina Art Institute.

Above: "Embarcadero." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the University of Arizona Museum of Art & Archive of Visual Arts.

Above: "S.F. China Town." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Above: "San Francisco Wharf." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the University of Arizona Museum of Art & Archive of Visual Arts.

Above: "Lake of Nation and Pacific House" [at Treasure Island, Golden Gate International Exposition]. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the University of Arizona Museum of Art & Archive of Visual Arts.

New Deal Workplace Safety

"All works projects shall be conducted in accordance with safe working conditions, and every effort shall be made for the prevention of accidents."

--President Franklin Roosevelt, 1935, Executive Order No. 7046

Above: A safety trophy awarded to the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A first aid vehicle for WPA workers on a project in Mobile, Alabama, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A nurse checks a WPA worker at the Delta National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana, 1937. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA poster promoting workplace safety. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The New Deal helped improve workplace safety in America. Here are just a few examples:

Public Works Administration (PWA): Reporting on its oversight of the thousands of large construction projects it funded, the PWA noted that, "Failure of contractors and owners to maintain proper safety devices for workers has also been subject to investigation," and gave an example of workers getting the bends because a contractor tried to save money by using faulty decompression chambers. (America Builds: The Record of PWA, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939, p. 88.)

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC): A member of the CCC recalled decades later: "There was an intensive safety program in the CCCs. We were taught how to carry and use tools safely in all phases of our work. The forester in charge of our safety program did an excellent job in making us safety conscious in the way we worked and lived. This safety training has never left me. This was over 45 years ago when most businesses had not recognized the value of safety programs." (Perry H. Merrill, Roosevelt's Forest Army: A History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, Montpelier, VT, 1981, p. 56.)

Civil Works Administration (CWA): "With four million employees on its rolls working on a hundred different types of projects, the Civil Works Administration was early forced to follow the example of other large employers of labor and set up an extensive Safety Program... As it developed finally, this program proved to be the most extensive ever undertaken in the United States... More than one thousand eight hundred safety directors gave their full time to the work..." (Henry Alsberg (ed.), America Fights the Depression: A Photographic Record of the Civil Works Administration, New York: Coward-McCann, 1934, p. 16.) 

Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA, or ERA): "The ERA safety program continued the methods initiated by the CWA, which had established a record low accident-frequency rate for construction work... Those responsible for safety were empowered to remove workers from any project on which unsafe conditions persisted. Safe practice rules were brought vividly to the attention of the workers through safety bulletins. Goggles, safety-belts, first-aid materials and other safety supplies were specified for various projects, and checked by inspection. Thousands of foremen and workers were given training in first aid through the cooperation of the American Red Cross, the U.S.Bureau of Mines, and similar  organizations." (The Emergency Work Relief Program of the F.E.R.A., April 1, 1934  - July 1, 1935, p. 15.)

Works Progress Administration (WPA): "The WPA safety program reached all projects and activities by means of an intensive and continuous education campaign which was intended to stimulate interest in accident prevention at each level of supervision and among the project workers themselves. Conferences and meetings were held to instruct supervisors and foremen in safe methods and safety procedures, and workers were taught safe practices by their foremen on the jobs. Appropriate safety posters were prepared and distributed for display on all work projects, and a Nation-wide safety contest was conducted to stimulate and measure improvements in accident trends." (Federal Works Agency, Final on the WPA Program, 1935-43, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946, p. 75.)

National Youth Administration (NYA): With respect to resident work centers (where unemployed youth could train, work, and live together), "Safety regulations were rigorous, and no resident project could be 

started until the physical facilities had been inspected and approved by a representative of the State safety consultant of the WPA. These embraced water supply, sewage and sanitation, and structural condition 

of buildings." (Federal Security Agency, War Manpower Commission, Final Report of the National Youth Administration, Fiscal Years, 1936-1943, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1944, p. 182.)

WPA Broomball

Above: The description for this photograph, ca. 1935-1943, reads: "Broomball is popular with girls at Nicollet Field [Minneapolis, Minnesota], where Henry Sampson and Mrs. Martha Bates are the WPA Supervisors. In this picture, Shirley Elvig has taken a tumble in the midst of a play with Jean McDonald and Elizabeth Evans." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Another scene from the WPA Broomball game. During the New Deal era, the WPA helped run thousands of adult recreation projects for men and women. Wouldn't it be great if we did the same thing today, especially considering the tremendous problems of obesity and type 2 diabetes that America is struggling with today? (See the CDC's notes about both at "Adult Obesity Facts"). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Broomball seems to be a fairly popular sport today, and USA Broomball describes the history of the game: "While the history of broomball is rather vague, a few main facts have been widely reported. Broomball as we know it was first played in Canada in the early 1900's by street car workers using a small soccer ball and corn brooms. The sport evolved and was brought down to the United States. The first games were reportedly played in Minnesota, the birthplace of USA Broomball, beginning in the 1930's. Leagues, however did not blossom until the 1960's..." 

USA Broomball also describes how the game is played today: "Broomball is a winter sport played in ice arenas and community parks throughout the country. It is a game very similar to hockey in its formation and rules, but also incorporates some soccer strategies. The game is played on a hockey rink with two teams consisting of six players on each side (a goalie, two defensemen and three forwards). Similar to hockey and soccer, the object of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team. A player uses a stick (a shaft with a molded broom-shaped head) to maneuver a six-inch diameter ball up and down the ice. Instead of skates, players wear spongy-soled shoes to gain traction when running on the slippery surface."

Notice that the game began to gain popularity in the United States "beginning in the 1930s." Could the WPA have played a vital role in the establishment of this new sport?

"But it seems pretty clear that we must plan for, and help to bring about, an expanded economy which will result in more security, in more employment, in more recreation..."

--President Franklin Roosevelt, "Excerpts from the Press Conference, December 28, 1943" 

New Deal Bridge Art (5/5): "The Bridge" (plus, the New Deal's 200,000+ bridge projects)

Above: "The Bridge," an oil painting by Raymond Breinin (1908-2000), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1937. According to his obituary in the Chicago Tribune, Breinin "was known for painting with a dark, brooding palate during the Great Depression, a time when contemporary work from many American artists evoked optimistic images... Breinin didn't set his hand to major works until the advent of the the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. But once involved in the program, he began making a name for himself... He died while painting a theater curtain being drawn back from a stage. On the curtain is the image of a prince on horseback; in the background, the play is beginning ("Painter Raymond Breinin," April 8, 2000). Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: Some of the bridges built during the New Deal were large, like the Triborough Bridge in New York City; others were small, like the bridge you see above, near Frostburg, Maryland. During the 1930s, an enormous investment in bridges was made. Here are the approximate number of bridge projects for the major New Deal work & construction programs, between 1933 and 1943: PWA - 388 (usually, very large bridge projects); CCC - 57,424; CWA - 7,000; FERA Work Division - 16,590; WPA - 124,011; NYA - 9,973. This totals a little over 215,000 bridge projects. Some were horse bridges, or foot bridges, or vehicle bridges. Some were new constructions, or repairs, or improvements. Some were overlaps where, for example, a project begun by the CWA was completed by the FERA Work Division. But one thing was consistent: a commitment to American infrastructure - a commitment that, unfortunately, has been replaced in the modern era with endless & fruitless military adventures, as well as gigantic & wasteful tax cuts for the rich. So, is it any wonder that our bridges have consistently scored poorly on the report cards of the American Society of Civil Engineers? Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.

New Deal Bridge Art (4/5): Manhattan Bridge(s)

 

Above: "Manhattan Bridge," a gelatin silver print photograph by Berenice Abbott (1898-1991), created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project (FAP), 1936. According to the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, "In February of 1935, Abbott sent a [photography] proposal to the FAP, a division of the Works Progress Administration that financially assisted certain art projects... Finally in September she received funding for her Changing New York project. She was approved $145 per month, total artistic freedom and was given a 1930 Ford Roadster" (Abbot most likely made her proposal in conjunction with a museum, school, or government agency; or perhaps a history, art, or civic organization). Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: "Manhattan Bridge," a lithograph by Louis Lozowick (1892-1973), created while he was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project, 1934. Lozowick's "preferred medium was lithography. He made nearly 300 prints, using this method. 'He was making prints when they weren't popular,' Mrs. Lozowick said. 'He liked the bold and powerful black and white effects of the lithograph'" ("The Urban Legacy of Louis Lozowick," New York Times, November 15, 1981). Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Bridge Art (3/5): Harlem Bridges

Above: "Bridges Over Harlem River," a lithograph by Moses Oley (1898-1978), created while he was in one of the New Deal art programs, ca. 1934-1943. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: "Harlem River Bridges," a screenprint by Elizabeth Olds (1896-1991), created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project. According to her Wikipedia biography, "From 1935 until the early 1940s, Olds was a nonrelief employee for the Works Progress Administration-Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP) in the Graphic Arts Division in New York, where she helped younger artists in the silkscreen unit." Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Bridge Art (2/5): "Bridge Over River"

Above: "Bridge Over River," a watercolor by Dong Kingman (1911-2000), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1936. A biography of Kingman can be found on Wikipedia. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Bridge Art (1/5): "Ogden Avenue Viaduct"

Above: "Ogden Avenue Viaduct," a gouache painting by Aaron Bohrod (1907-1992), created while he was in the WPA's art program, 1939. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Shellfish Art (5/5): "Blue Crabs"

Above: "Blue Crabs," a drypoint by George Constant (1892-1978), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1939. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: "Chris's Carry Out," a gelatin silver print photograph by Elinor Cahn, 1978. This was part of a project called the East Baltimore Documentary Survey. For long time, steamed blue crabs have been a delicacy in Maryland. They are usually sprinkled with Old Bay (or similar) seasoning, and salt, and then steamed over water and vinegar. When I was a kid, in the 1970s and 80s, my family went crabbing many times on the Chesapeake Bay, near the Chester River. We'd often come back with a bounty of crabs, like the ones you see above. In recent decades, crabs have suffered from over-fishing and pollution. However, in its 2016 report card for the Chesapeake Bay, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science highlighted the blue crab's revival - a revival that resulted, in part, from common sense regulations to protect pregnant female crabs. Looks like "big bad government" isn't always so bad after all. Imagine that. (See, for example, "Chesapeake Bay female crabs at their most plentiful since at least 1990," Baltimore Sun, April 19, 2017). Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

New Deal Shellfish Art (4/5): "Oyster Shuckers"

Above: "Oyster Shuckers," an oil painting by Catherine M. Howell (1892-1975), created while she was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project, ca. 1933-1934. Did you know that WPA workers planted 8,000,000 bushels of oysters between 1935 and 1943? Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Shellfish Art (3/5): "Lobsterman"

Above: "Lobsterman," a watercolor painting by George Shellhase (1895-1988), created while he was in the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts (ca. 1940). Shellhase's New York Times obituary reads, "Mr. Shellhase was born in Philadelphia. He briefly attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Art Students League in New York. His affectionate and gently comic illustrations of American life appeared in publications like the Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, The New Yorker and The New York Times." Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Shellfish Art (2/5): "Clams"

Above: "Clams," a drypoint by George Constant (1892-1978). According to information provided by the Newark Museum (see area titled, "Labels/Stamp"), Constant created this while in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1938. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Shellfish Art (1/5): "Shrimp Shacks"

Above: "Shrimp Shacks," a wood engraving on paper by Charles Surendorf (1906-1979), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1939. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Farm-to-Market Roads, courtesy of the New Deal

Above: The description for this WPA photograph, ca. 1935-1943, reads: "Night shots of Farm-to-Market Road Proj. in Pottawattamie County [Iowa] - This project worked four, six-hour shifts a day in order to clear and grade as many miles as possible before the winter frost set in. Machinery was furnished by the county." Though the WPA sometimes discouraged the use of machinery--in order to employ the maximum number of unemployed men--various photographic records of the WPA show that there were also plenty of projects that did utilize machinery. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

During the New Deal, there were major initiatives to build Farm-to-Market roads. For example, by the middle of 1939, WPA workers had engaged in over 3,000 projects involving "Farm-to-market and other secondary road projects" (Report on Progress of the WPA Program, June 30, 1939 edition, p. 16). Also, before the WPA, workers in the Federal Emergency Relief Administration created 41,000 miles of new Farm-to-Market roads and repaired or improved another 194,000 miles (The Emergency Work Relief Program of the F.E.R.A.: April 1, 1934-July 1, 1935, 1936, p. 39). 

Farm-to-Market road projects were intended to (a) provide job opportunities for unemployed rural Americans, (b) help farmers get their produce and goods to market, and (c) get more nutritious food flowing to various parts of the country. In other words, the roads were intended not only to improve the economy, but also to quickly provide for the common good. New Deal policymakers thought this would be a great thing to do, especially since the U.S. Constitution both promotes and provides for the general welfare (preamble and Article I Section 8, respectively).

Above: A WPA poster promoting healthy eating. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Such a massive project as Farm-to-Market roads would be impossible to do today. You see, our public policy calculus is quite different now. Instead of looking to the Constitution for guidance, we more frequently look towards the super-wealthy for approval. Many Americans cast their sad, lazy eyes towards the billionaire class and ask: "Is this okay, sir? Is it okay if we do something for the common good?" And if someone like Charles Koch or Betsy DeVos says, "No, I want more money. Give me a tax break," then that's what we do. Make no mistake about it, over the past many decades we've subverted government (i.e., "We the People") to the will of the super-wealthy. This is why, for example, you see the White House administration now littered with sociopath billionaires and Goldman Sachs alumni. 

Hopefully--someday in the not-too-distant future--Americans will wake up, and stop lazily relying on millionaires and billionaires to manage and supervise their lives. I'm not holding my breath for this to happen... but I am hoping.

A New Deal for Fort Raleigh

Above: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is located on Roanoke Island, near Manteo, North Carolina. It's the birthplace of Virginia Dare, the first English person born in the New World. Photo by Brent McKee, 2013.

Above: Every year at Fort Raleigh's outdoor theater, the Lost Colony play is performed. It began in the 1930s, with the assistance of the WPA's Federal Theatre Project. Photo by Brent McKee, 2016.

Above: President Roosevelt attended a 1937 performance of the Lost Colony. Photo by Brent McKee, 2016.

Above: In the mid-1930s, WPA and CCC workers (and perhaps also workers of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration) did extensive work at the park, in an attempt to re-create the colony. Photo taken ca. 1936, courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: The description for this photo, ca. 1936, reads, "Entrance to Fort Raleigh, Roanoke Island, North Carolina." Note the WPA work sign in front of the right pillar. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Residence of Sir John White, Roanoke Island, N.C." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Fort Raleigh restoration - Block House - with monument to Virginia Dare in foreground. Taken 9/15/36." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "The Chapel, Fort Raleigh, Roanoke Island, N.C." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Inside the chapel. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Fort Raleigh State Park, Roanoke Island." Note that Fort Raleigh was a "State Park" at the time of the WPA and CCC work. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA project information card for some of the Fort Raleigh work. Found at the National Archives.

Above: Another WPA information card for a project that, unfortunately, was never carried through. It reads, "At Fort Raleigh, Dare County. Build three Elizabethan period ships to be in appearance and rigging, as exact a full-scale duplication of the originals employed by Sir Walter Raleigh in the colonization of Roanoke Island as available historical data make it possible. Also as faithful in details of construction as historical data and available (?) make it possible. These ships to supplement the Fort Raliegh work of historical restoration. State Historical Commission owned property. The County Board of Commissioners of Dare County have full authority from the State Historical Commission to proceed with this project." As you can see from the left-hand side of the card, the project appears to have received full WPA approval. My guess is that local funds did not materialize as expected. The WPA usually required about 20% of total funding to be provided by the local government. In this case, Dare County may have been unable to produce the funds or perhaps decided they wanted to put the money towards other projects instead.

New Deal Tree Art (5/5): "Old Willows"

Above: "Old Willows," a color lithograph by Louis Lozowick (1892-1973), created while he was in the WPA's art program, 1940. Notice the car in the background. It looks an awful lot like a Volkswagen Beetle. The VW Beetle was first produced in 1938 and was introduced into the United States in 1949. This could possibly mean that the scene above is in Germany, or that Lozowick actually made this artwork after the New Deal, and it has been misidentified as a WPA project. There could be other explanations too. For example, perhaps Lozowick simply wanted to paint a Beetle under some Willow trees and he didn't have a particular location in mind; or perhaps it isn't a Beetle at all, but a similar-looking vehicle. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.