New Deal Art, "Robert Louis Stevenson," and the WPA's celebration of poetry

Above: "Robert Louis Stevenson," a lithograph by Douglas Crane, while Crane was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1937. Robert Louis Stevenson is perhaps most-remembered for some of his novels, like Treasure Island, but his book of poetry, A Child's Garden of Verses, has been widely published too, loved by many generations. Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Above: California author Lauren Coodley (Upton Sinclair: California Socialist, Celebrity Intellectual; Napa Valley Chronicles; California: A Multicultural Documentary History; and others) has long enjoyed the poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson, and recently published her own book of poetry, The Same River Twice (Sugartown Publishing, 2018). In her poem, "Aunt Evelyn," about a lively and unconventional relative, Coodley writes: "I never asked enough questions, never paid enough attention, never expressed my affection, If you are anywhere, hear me now at last." This reminded me of one of my great-grandaunts, who had a tremendous amount of family history knowledge, and enjoyed telling it, but she passed away long before I was old enough to appreciate family history. I have a lot of questions for her now, but too late. Image above scanned from a personal copy.

Above: "The Poet," a lithograph by William Samuel Schwartz (1896-1977), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1937. The WPA's Federal Writers' Project (FWP) gave many struggling journalists, novelists, poets, etc. jobs during the tough times of the 1930s. They wrote and published well over 1,000 books, pamphlets, magazine articles, and more. And poems written by FWP writers were included in the 1937 WPA book, American Stuff: An Anthology of Prose and Verse. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Above: Quite a few WPA writers had the opportunity to have their poetry included in the July 1938 edition of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. A review of the issue noted: "The poems were chosen with evident care, and while a number of poets are concerned with current problems and issues, and belong to the left wing, both politically and poetically, the emphasis has been placed on literary value, rather than timeliness... The issue has attracted widespread attention, as exhibiting, and in America's foremost magazine of verse, the grade of work being turned out by poets on the WPA" ("New Books Passed in Review," The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 7, 1938). Image courtesy of the Poetry Foundation, used here for educational, non-commercial purposes (follow the link to visit their site and also read the poetry of the WPA writers).

Author and WPA worker Elizabeth Marion, and the value of local writers and historians

Above: The description for this photograph, taken in Spokane, Washington, ca. 1938-1941, reads: "Miss Elizabeth Marion, material clerk in the WPA who through WPA employment was able to continue her studies as a writer. Her first novel, The Shadows Gather 'Round Me, has been accepted by Thomas Y. Crowell Publishing Company. Her second novel still in the writing has already been contracted for by the same company." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

In addition to The Shadows Gather 'Round Me, Elizabeth Marion (1916-1993) wrote at least three other novels, The Day Will Come (1939), Ellen Spring (1941), and The Keys to the House (1944). These books seem very scarce today, but see reviews for the latter two here and here. It seems Marion eventually grew frustrated at a lack of publishing opportunities and ended up working as the managing editor of the Standard-Register newspaper in Rockford, Washington. She wrote op-eds for the newspaper and also met the man she would marry, Eugene D. Saunders (see "Guide to the Elizabeth Marion Saunders Papers 1933-1989," [which includes local history materials] Washington State University).

Elizabeth Marion was friends with Ruby El Hult, a well-known author, researcher, and local historian in Spokane and other Northwest areas (see, "Ruby McAndrew," Seattle Times, March 1, 2008). They and others formed a friendship based on writing, local history, and a love for books, and probably also progressive-minded politics. In 1980, Marion and El Hult published some of their correspondence in The Cockalorum Chronicles: New Words Between Old Friends (see "Guide to the Ruby El Hult Papers 1899-1994," Washington State University).

The life story of Elizabeth Marion is a great example of how the WPA helped struggling Americans sustain their skills and training, and maintain their hope. Marion was obviously dealing with some degree of financial stress during the '30s, so the WPA gave her a job and a modest income. This helped support her as she honed her writing skills - writing skills that later allowed her to support herself as an author and editor. Other writers-in-need received more direct help, finding jobs in the WPA's Federal Writers' Project (FWP) (it's possible Marion did some work for the FWP too, but I didn't run across any information on that).

The importance of local writers and historians like Marion and El Hult

Above: Napa Valley Chronicles, by California author Lauren Coodley (The History Press, 2013). Local histories catch and recall things that more broad histories do not, such as recollections and photos of long ago businesses, as well as the founders, employees, and customers of those businesses. Napa Valley Chronicles is a great source of information and remembrance for residents of the area - and also a good example for others interested in writing their own local histories. Image scanned from personal copy.

Above: Another great local history is Hidden History of the Outer Banks, by North Carolina author Sarah Downing (another 2013 publication from The History Press). The last section of the book is titled, "Remembering the Laundromats." More general histories are unlikely to cover such a topic and, at first thought, laundromats might not seem interesting enough to write about. However, in the hands of skilled writers like Downing and Coodley, such normal routines of life become interesting recollections and observations on what we do and how we interact with others. Image scanned from personal copy.

Above: An exhibit for the WPA's Federal Writers' Project, Washington, DC, 1938. The WPA published quite a few local histories, for example, Berkeley: The First Seventy-Five Years; Cherokee County History [Iowa]; and Sudbury: A Brief History of the Town [Massachusetts]. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

New Deal Bird Art (10/10): "Pelican"

Above: "Pelican," a sculpture by Bue Kee (1893-1985), created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1940. Kee's nephew, Dr. Dan Kee, professor emeritus at California State University, Fullerton, notes that his uncle Bue was "severely hearing impaired and never finished grade school. He loved everything pertaining to art. As a young man he attended the Portland Art School and was involved with the Timberline WPA Project at Mount Hood. He worked in oil, watercolor, pastel, ceramic and photography." Image courtesy of the Portland Art Museum.

New Deal Bird Art (9/10): "Birds of the World"

Above: A WPA poster, promoting the WPA book, Birds of the World (1938). Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

 

Above: Birds of the World has many photographs - like this eagle, photographed at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., by Ralph De Sola, editor of the WPA's Federal Writers' Project in New York City. De Sola was a bit of a strange character. It seems he was born in 1908 (and died around 1993), attended Columbia and Swarthmore colleges in the mid-to-late 1920s, and "ran a zoological garden in Florida, but the depression broke him" ("Washington," Eau Claire Leader (Eau Claire, Wisconsin), May 12, 1939). He had been a member of the Communist Party, but left around 1937 and became an anti-communist finger-pointer. In 1950 he was involved in the highly publicized senate confirmation hearings of Anna Rosenberg. He joined with Senator Joe McCarthy and prominent anti-Semitic figures in falsely casting Rosenberg as a communist. Their efforts failed and she became Assistant Secretary of Defense (see, e.g., "'Great Conspiracy' Failed in Objective," News-Journal (Mansfield, Ohio), January 5, 1951; and also Stuart Svonkin, Jews Against Prejudice, Columbia University Press, 1999, p. 119). An ex-wife of De Sola had also testified at the hearings, and painted her former husband as an "unstable, frustrated writer who resented the fact that he had to earn his living in jobs he considered demeaning, a man who could persuade himself to believe passionately in that which he wanted--or needed--to believe in" (Stephen E. Atkins, Encyclopedia of Right-Wing Extremism in Modern American History, ABC-CLIO, 2011, p. 125). Well, if nothing else, at least De Sola got Birds of the World right! Photo from Birds of the World, Chicago: Albert Whitman & Co., 1949 edition, used here for educational, non-commercial purposes.

Above: Another De Sola photo. In addition to lots of photographs, Birds of the World is full of interesting information (some of which is probably dated of course). Photo from Birds of the World, Chicago: Albert Whitman & Co., 1949 edition, used here for educational, non-commercial purposes.

Above: The WPA's Federal Art Project provided illustrations for Birds of the World, like this Hummingbird. Image from Birds of the World, Chicago: Albert Whitman & Co., 1949 edition, used here for educational, non-commercial purposes.

"Birds of the World is one of the publications written by members of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration... Many books and brochures are being written... As they appear in increasing numbers we hope that the public will come to appreciate more fully not only the unusual scope of this undertaking, but also the devotion shown by the workers - from the humblest field worker to the most accomplished editor..."

--Harry Hopkins, head of the WPA, 1938, in foreword to Birds of the World

New Deal Bird Art (8/10): "Parrot," by Vivian Norman Barto

Above: "Parrot," an artwork by Vivian Norman Barto (1876-1962), created while she was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), ca. 1933-1934. Vivian Norman was born in Iowa in 1876, married Howard L. Barto in 1915 in Nebraska, taught school in Washington, and worked in the real estate business in Oregon. She passed away in 1962 in Central Point, Oregon. Her husband died in 1974, and they both rest at the Medford IOOF Cemetery, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Though her name appears in the final report of the Public Works of Art Project ("Barto, Mrs. Vivian N.," "Region No. 16, Oregon...", p. 85), there doesn't seem to be any significant record of her artistic work or ambitions, other than a small file folder at the National Archives. It also doesn't look like Vivian and Howard had any children. So, perhaps the images on this blog post (see below) can serve as a small legacy of her creative work. (See, "Vivian Norman Barto," Medford Mail Tribune (Medford, Oregon), June 14, 1962; and Find A Grave, here and here). Image courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: An oil painting of a "misty morning," by Vivian Norman Barto, probably also created while she was in the PWAP, ca. 1933-1934. A description for this painting notes that it won first prize at the Josephine County Fair. Image courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Another artwork in Vivian Norman Barto's PWAP folder at the National Archives.

New Deal Bird Art (7/10): "Junco"

Above: "Junco," a watercolor painting by Gilbert Boese, created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1940. I wasn't able to find any definitive information on Boese on the Internet or in newspaper archives, but a 2007 obituary reports: "Boese, Thomas Gilbert Wildlife Artist Age 64 Passed away Monday, November 12, 2007 in Region's Hospital after an extended illness. He is preceded in death by his father, Gilbert R. Boese, also an accomplished artist..." And a web page on MyHeritage notes a Gilbert Robert Boese who lived from 1911 to 1970. In any event, the Gilbert Boese who painted "Junco" was a prolific artist in the WPA, painting all sorts of wildlife - moose, ducks, owls, caribou, mink, woodpecker, bobcat, fisher cat, and much more (see a collection of his work at the Minnesota Historical Society). He also did work for the WPA's Index of American Design (see "Gilbert Boese," National Gallery of Art"). Image courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society, used here under license.

Above: Dark-Eyed Juncos in West Virginia. In the winter time, they forage on the ground like little snow chickens, as many as 20 or 30, pecking at the ground for any morsels of food they can find (which I've been known to supply from time to time). Photo by Brent McKee, 2013.

New Deal Bird Art (6/10): "Great Horned Owl"

Above: "Great Horned Owl," an artwork by James C. Kulhanek (1908-1990), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1939. After his time in the WPA, Kulhanek worked as a commercial artist and fine arts painter. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and Case Western Reserve University.

Above: A Great Horned Owl in Canada, 2016. Photo by Peter K. Burian, provided courtesy of Wikipedia. Used here under the CCA-SA 4.0 International License.

New Deal Bird Art (5/10): "Duck Hawk after Widgeon"

Above: "Duck Hawk after Widgeon," a watercolor and pencil painting by William J. Beecher (1914-2002), created while he was in the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts, 1940. Beecher directed the Chicago Academy of Sciences from 1958 to 1983, and invented a special type of binocular for bird watching - the Beecher Mirage. (See, "William J. Beecher, 88," Chicago Tribune, August 4, 2002.) Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Bird Art (4/10): "California Quail"

Above: "California Quail," a lithograph by Florence Elizabeth Atkins, created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1936. Atkins was born in Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, on August 21, 1876, and died at her home at 1145 Pine Street, San Francisco, September 25, 1946. She rests at Old Pleasant Hill Cemetery (Louisiana) near her parents, William and Mary. Atkins worked for the Western Union Telegraph Company and, according to the president and CEO of the Fenimore Art Museum (Cooperstown, New York), presented her art at "prestigious venues such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia." Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

New Deal Bird Art (3/10): "Toucans"

Above: "Toucans," an artwork by Gordon Deacon, created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and Julie Redwine.

Above: A video of Ripley the Toucan, cuddling with its owner and making the Toucan's distinctive clicking / purring sound. YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwaRZWJ0bu4.