WPA hemp, fennel, catnip, and horehound

Above: This photo was taken in Concord, New Hampshire, October 1936. The description reads: "Medicinal Plant Project... Fred W. Baker, Supervisor - started December 1935 by WPA to study the possibilities of New Hampshire farmers raising medicinal plants for commercial sale and adding to his income. Thirty-two varieties of herbs have been grown such as digitalis, peppermint, sage, horehound, basil, capnip [also called catnip or catmint], sweet marjoram, hemp, fennel, lavender, etc. The project has already sold all of the digitalis grown to the United Drug Co. and other firms have bought all the other plants produced. Many of these plants can be grown by the farmer with success on at present sub-marginal land." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Another photo from the WPA medicinal plant project in New Hampshire. According to various Internet sources, the plants that were grown on this project have many proven or suspected benefits - either naturally or after some type of processing. For example, digitalis is used for heart medicine, peppermint for muscle pain, sage for digestive problems, horehound for sore throats, basil for kidney problems, catnip to calm anxiety (or, conversely, to make your cat act funny), sweet marjoram for sprains and bruises, hemp for lowering cholesterol, fennel for bloating and constipation, and lavender for improved healing of wounds. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Another photo from the WPA medicinal plant project, this one reads: "A farmer who has become sufficiently interested in this project to start raising herbs himself on his own land for market, is shown asking advice from the Project Director, Frederick W. Baker, left. He is showing Mr. Baker the result from his digitalis crop." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

New Deal Dance Art (10/10): Tamiris

Above: No discussion on the history and art of dance, New Deal or otherwise, would be complete without the inclusion of Helen Tamiris. A pioneer of modern dance, the energy behind the New Deal's Federal Dance Project, and a Broadway success, Tamiris was more than a dancer, she was a force for social justice, as the New York Times pointed out when she passed away: "As the nineteen-thirties unfolded, Miss Tamiris's dancing and choreography showed a strong social and political involvement. The despair of the unemployed, the plight of the Southern negro and the horrors of war all found in expression in her work." Tamiris herself said, "The validity of modern dance is rooted in its ability to express modern problems and, further, to make modern audiences want to do something about them" ("Helen Tamiris, Dancer, Is Dead," New York Times, August 5, 1966). Photo courtesy of the Daniel Nagrin Theatre, Film & Dance Foundation, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: A WPA poster, promoting Adelante, a dance play based on the Spanish Civil War. Adelante was authored and choreographed by Helen Tamiris, and ran in New York City from April 20 to May 6, 1939. Image courtesy of George Mason University, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: A WPA poster, promoting, Salut Au Monde, another dance production by Helen Tamiris. It ran in New York City from July 23 to August 5, 1936. Based on the wide-ranging poem by Walt Whitman, WPA Theatre Director Hallie Flanagan described it as appropriate "as the first offering of Tamiris and her fiery cohorts" (Hallie Flanagan, Arena, 1940, p. 76). Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: A WPA poster, promoting Tamiris's most successful WPA production, How Long Brethren. How Long Brethren ran in New York City for eight months, from May 6, 1937 to January 15, 1938. One newspaper critic wrote, "In How Long Brethren Tamiris has accomplished the finest composition of her career... the most thrilling episode, 'Let's Go to De Buryin',' with its frenzied emotional climax heightened by Tamiris' superb dancing, aroused the audience to a state of high excitement" (Flanagan, Arena, p. 199). During one performance, "the reaction was so whole-hearted and spontaneous that the show was interrupted many times by applause and shouts so loud the dancers could not hear the orchestra or the chorus in the pit" (Christena L. Schlundt, Tamiris: A Chronical of Her Dance Career, 1927-1955, 1972, see pp. 46 and 52). Image courtesy of George Mason University, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: Helen Tamiris performing in How Long Brethren, ca. 1937. I've read Tamiris's dancing described as beautiful, powerful, wild, and even frightening. Next to Harry Hopkins, she's the New Dealer I'd like to meet the most. Her style, very action-oriented, and her philosophy, the very embodiment of the New Deal, are fascinating. A biographer once wrote of Tamiris, "She alone of all the major dancers working in the Thirties gave up her career, her [dance] group, almost her very self for the sense of purpose she felt in the [WPA's Dance] Project" (Schlundt, Tamiris, p. 40). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

New Deal Dance Art (9/10): "Burlesque Characters"

Above: "Burlesque Characters," a lithograph by Lloyd William Wulf (1913-1965), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1938. According to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Wulf was known "for his late 1930's work on the California Federal Art Project in the San Francisco area" and specialized in "paintings, drawings, and prints on human characters in spatial settings... burlesque clowns, and carnival settings." According to Wikipedia, Burlesque shows "were popular from the 1860s to the 1940s, [performed] in cabarets and clubs, as well as theatres, and featured bawdy comedy and female striptease." Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

New Deal Dance Art (8/10): "The President's Birthday Ball"

Above: A WPA poster, promoting a charity dance, ca. 1936-1939. The description for the poster reads, "Poster for The President Hotel's birthday ball 'so we may dance again' to raise funds in support of the fight to cure infantile paralysis." The poster was created in New York, and the "President Hotel" probably refers to the President Hotel that was in Atlantic City from 1926-1979 (note the words "on the boardwalk"). Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

New Deal Dance Art (7/10): "Little Corn Dancer"

Above: "Little Corn Dancer," an artwork by Herman Ilfeld Bacharach (1899-1976), created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration, Julie Redwine, and the Free Library of Philadelphia.

According to his obituary in the Las Vegas Optic (August 13, 1976), Bacharach was born in 1899, into a family of "pioneer merchants" in Las Vegas. He graduated from art school at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), and became "an artist of note." He was "especially interested in Indian ceremonials, dances and their depiction by Indian artists." Bacharach also illustrated children's books and designed costumes for the Ziegfeld Follies. During World War II, he served in the Air Force. 

A 2002 article on New Mexico State University's website offers a somewhat different biography of Bacharach, for example, reporting that he graduated from New Mexico Normal University and attended UPenn, "where he apparently left after about a year. His parents believed he was in dental school, while Bacharach was pursuing a career in art... As an artist he achieved no fame... Upon the death of his father, Herman returned to Las Vegas to help with the family business, Bacharach Bros., and never returned to the East and his artistic career again." However, the Las Vegas Optic published at least two other articles about Bacharach that would seem to dispute parts of this account: an article about a first place art award he won while attending UPenn (April 16, 1921) and another article announcing his return to UPenn's "fine arts department" after a visit home to Las Vegas (September 10, 1921). It seems unlikely that his parents were unaware of his art studies and ambitions - at least, not for very long.

Considering the various sources, it seems Bacharach was probably a fairly accomplished and successful artist but, for one reason or another (more stable income? the desire to preserve a legacy?), chose to focus on the family business after World War II.

New Deal Dance Art (6/10): "Cambodian Dancer"

Above: "Cambodian Dancer," a lithograph by Alexander King (1900-1965), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1937. It's unclear whether this is the same Alexander King who was described by TIME magazine as "an ex-illustrator, ex-cartoonist, ex-adman, ex-editor, ex-playwright, ex-dope addict... ex-painter," or a "Little known printmaker who worked on the NYC-WPA" (Paramour Fine Arts). A document on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia states "Alexander King lived a bizarre life made up of multiple marriages, morphine addiction, art theft and forgery. Apparently, he experienced some lucid moments in the late 1930s that allowed him to participate in the Federal Art Project printmaking program in New York City." A biography on askART states that Alexander King (1900-1965) was "Described as a... morphine addict, failing playwright and painter... a man of iconoclastic observations and caustic humor... he became an art thief, stealing fifty prints from the Metropolitan Museum. He was jailed twice, and married four times. He wrote a book, 'Rich Man, Poor Man, Freud and Fruit,' and died one day after appearing on 'The Today Show' to publicize it." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

New Deal Dance Art (5/10): "Russian Sailor Dance"

Above: "Russian Sailor Dance," a color woodcut print by Antonina Mancuso, created while she was in the WPA, ca. 1939-1940. Hardly any definitive information on Mancuso exists on the Internet or in newspaper archives (but see below). I did comes across a Find A Grave entry for an "Antonina Mancuso" (1909-1994), but it's not clear whether this is the same person. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Kelvin Smith Library, Case Western Reserve University.

Above: This image is on the website of the Internet Archive here. It is a 1940 entry form to display artwork at the Cleveland Museum of Art., and lists "Russian Sailor Dance." It is written in Mancuso's own writing - note how the prominent "T" in "Antonina" is the same as we see at the bottom of the artwork above. Note also that, for price, she lists "N.F.S.", presumably "Not For Sale," which was probably due to a WPA restriction on artists selling their publicly-funded artworks. Nevertheless, showing the art in an exhibition could obviously help an artist get noticed; and, indeed, there were exhibitions specifically for WPA artists to show off their work, as well as exhibitions for children who created art in WPA art classes (see examples below).

Above: A WPA poster, promoting an exhibit of art created in the WPA's Federal Art Project. This type of exhibit could help artists, like Mancuso, get noticed and perhaps even get offers of paid art work outside the WPA. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: A WPA poster, promoting an exhibit of artwork created by children in WPA art classes. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

New Deal Dance Art (4/10): "The Ballet School" and "Ballet Fedre"

Above: "The Ballet School," a painting by Gwyneth King (1908-1985), created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1936. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Weatherspoon Art Museum.

Above: A WPA poster, promoting the WPA production, Ballet Fedre. Ballet Fedre was performed in Chicago from January 27 to February 19, 1938 (Hallie Flanagan, Arena, 1940, p. 386). Perhaps its popularity allowed it to run beyond the date you see on the poster above. One of the authors of the play, Berta Ochsner, wrote another ballet, Fugitive From Rhythm, "in which a young farmer who applied for work on [a] W.P.A. agricultural project was assigned by mistake to a percussion ballet" (Arena, p. 139). Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

New Deal Dance Art (3/10): Swing Dancing

Above: "Swingtime," an aquatint and etching by Charles L. Sallee, Jr. (1911-2006) created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Sallee was an African American artist and, according to the blog of the Sandusky Library (Ohio), he served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II (as a draftsman and cartographer, designing "roads and escape routes"), and then went on to enjoy "a long career as an interior designer." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Kelvin Smith Library, Case Western Reserve University.

Above: "Jitterbug Swing," a color woodcut print by David Burke, created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. I wasn't able to find much information on David Burke on the Internet or in newspaper archives but, interestingly, it seems that one of his woodcuts from the 1930s, quite possibly a New Deal artwork, is listed as stolen on the FBI's National Stolen Art File ("Fishing Port Landscape with View of Back Bay"). Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: "Evolution of Swing," a lithograph by Raymond Steth (1917-1997), created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1939. This artwork highlights the origins of (or major influence on) swing dance: Africa and slavery. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: A WPA poster, advertising the WPA dance production Swing Parade. Swing Parade was performed in San Francisco from April 15 through June 30, 1937 (Hallie Flanagan, Arena, 1940, p. 391). Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: A WPA poster, advertising the WPA dance production Swing Mikado. Swing Mikado was a very popular federal theatre production and played in several venues across the nation. In New York, it became so popular that some private sector Broadway producers became jealous and upset (see, Susan Quinn, Furious Improvisation, 2008, pp. 270-271). Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

New Deal Dance Art (2/10): "Cowboy Dance"

Above: "Cowboy Dance," a mural study by Jenne Magafan (1916-1952), created for the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts, 1941. On October 20, 1952, at only 35 years of age, Magafan died of a cerebral hemorrhage in New York. She had been an accomplished artist, for example, painting a mural for the Beverly Hills Hotel, and painting another mural that was displayed in the White House. Her twin sister, Ethel (1916-1993), was also an artist, and also participated in New Deal artwork projects. Like their physical appearance, their artwork was very similar, with one newspaper noting that "the works of the Magafan twins were so much alike that it took a practiced eye to detect the difference" (see "Jenne Magafan, Noted Artist, Dies At Albany," The Times Record (Troy, New York), October 21, 1952, and "Jenne Magafan Dies In New York State," Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1952). Just two months before she passed away, Jenne was with her sister Ethel in Europe, both of them studying and traveling on Fulbright Awards ("Village Notes," The Kingston Daily Freemen (Kingston, New York), August 15, 1952). Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Dance Art (1/10): "Eagle Dance"

Above: "Eagle Dance," a painting by R.W.R. Taylor, created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1939. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and Mike Ramos.

WPA Bocci

Above: A game of Bocci in Northern California, ca. 1935-1943, part of the WPA's recreation program. Bocci (or Bocce) is sort of cross between bowling and horseshoes. During the New Deal, the WPA offered many opportunities for people to get off their sofas and get into games, sports, dances, art classes, and more. It was great for physical fitness and great for socializing. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Bocci," a lithograph by Harold Anchel (1912-1980), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1939. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, used here for educational, non-commercial purposes.

New Deal Beach Art (5/5): "Dunes Near Lighthouse"

Above: "Dunes Near Lighthouse," an oil painting by Mary DeNeale Morgan (1868-1948), created while she was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1942. Morgan was a prolific California artist and her work is held at several prestigious institutions. Her paintings and sketches have been exhibited for over a hundred years (see, e.g., "Berkeley Art Exhibit To Open," Oakland Tribune, November 15, 1908, and "In Brief," The Californian, February 13, 2009 (announcing an exhibit of Morgan's art at the Pacific Grove Library). Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and Neil Greentree Photography.

New Deal Beach Art (4/5): "Low Tide"

Above: "Low Tide," a watercolor painting by Avery F. Johnson (1906-1990), created while he was in the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts, ca. 1938-1939. Johnson specialized in watercolors and was a member of the American Watercolor Society. According to his obituary, he supervised "the Treasury Department art projects in Key West and the Virgin Islands" and then served in "the Office of War Information in North Africa and Italy during World War II." After the war, "He taught at the North New Jersey School of Industrial Art and the Montclair Museum for many years" ("Avery Fischer Johnson, artist," Daily Record (Morristown, New Jersey), July 13, 1990. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Beach Art (3/5): "The Beach"

Above: "The Beach," a lithograph by Aline Fruhauf (1907-1978), created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1936. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Above: Fruhauf specialized in caricature work and, according to an article on the Georgetown University Library's website, "joined the graphics division of the Federally funded Works Progress Administration (WPA), which further honed her lithographic skills. More importantly, the WPA experience enabled her to meet and mingle with many of the emerging New York artists whom she caricatured in a new series of lithographs entitled Artists at Work, exhibited at the ACA [American Contemporary Art] Gallery in 1938. Her subjects included Stuart Davis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Max Weber, and Raphael Soyer, among others." The lithograph above is titled "Mural Painter at Work" (also created while she was in the WPA) and the woman in the lithograph is probably a self-caricature of Fruhauf. Compare the long neck, glasses, and prominent eye brows to Fruhauf's self-portrait on the Georgetown University website here. Image above courtesy of the General Services Administration and the University of Arizona Museum of Art & Archive of Visual Arts.

New Deal Beach Art (2/5): "Beach Scene" by Wilford Huntington

Above: "Beach Scene," a watercolor painting by Wilford Huntington, created while he was in the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts, 1940. During the New Deal, there were many projects to protect and improve beaches. For example, in the November 9, 1935 edition of the Orlando Sentinel, it was reported that WPA workers were repairing and fortifying an area of Daytona Beach that had been eroded away by a storm in 1932. The project included building a bulkhead, moving sand, and planting grasses and shrubs ("New Bulkhead Protects Beach: WPA Improves Strip At Daytona," p. 9). Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Beach Art (1/5): A beach scene by Saul Kovner

Above: A lithograph of a beach scene, created in 1941 by WPA artist Saul Kovner (1904-1981). According to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Kovner was born in Russia and "After his training at the National Academy of Design [in New York City], Kovner maintained a studio near Central Park, creating paintings and drawings of the city and its people. He later moved to California and exhibited widely on the West Coast." Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.