New Deal Sports & Recreation Art (4/10): "Handball in Brooklyn"

Above: "Handball in Brooklyn," a lithograph by David Feinstein, created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. During the New Deal years, WPA workers built 1,817 new handball courts. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Above: A handball game in Greenbelt, Maryland, 1942. The New Deal's Resettlement Administration created the town of Greenbelt, and the WPA played a large role. Photo by Marjory Collins, taken while she was in the New Deal's Farm Security Administration, and provided courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: A newspaper report on a WPA-supported handball tournament (The Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania), August 11, 1937). The WPA built or improved thousands of recreation facilities across America, and supported tens of thousands of recreation activities (board games, sports, hiking, skating, crafts, etc). These projects & programs helped keep America fit - both mentally and physically. In modern times, the CDC has repeatedly warned us about rising rates of childhood and adult obesity; and we're now learning about the relationship between obesity and cancer (see, for example, "The disturbing links between too much weight and several types of cancer," Washington Post, April 14, 2019). In an educated world, we would look to the past and say, "Hey, let's do what the WPA did and get healthier!" But today, unfortunately, we have replaced historical learning with the cult of personality. And combine this cult of personality with sedentary tech activities--and also our bizarre preference to kneel before the wealthy (instead of funding the common good)--and you can expect America to get fatter, and fatter, and fatter. Image courtesy of Newspapers.com, part of a longer story, and used here for educational, non-commercial purposes.

"Schools Cut Back Physical Education As Childhood Obesity Remains High"

--A typical headline in 21st century America, highlighting our cultural madness (this one from Wisconsin Public Radio, March 26, 2018). Yes, we'll even sacrifice the health of our children, if that's what it takes to serve Corporate America's lust for fat, unhealthy, obedient workers. Isn't that shameful?