Meet the African American, Triple-C Firefighters of the Los Angeles District

The following photos and quotes come from: Civilian Conservation Corps, Official Annual, 1938, Ninth Corps Area, Los Angeles District (Direct Advertising Company, Baton Rouge, Louisiana). Used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: These are some of the enrollees of CCC Company 2923, Camp F-164, Elsinore, California.

Above: A closer view of some of the enrollees of Company 2923 (from the previous photo).

Above: Company 2923 was known for its firefighting skills. Among their strategies was to use homing pigeons to carry messages back and forth, from their base camp to the fire lines.

Above: A member of Company 2923 mans the radio station.

Above: The buglers of Company 2923. These two men would play reveille, to start the day's activities.

Above: Musical instruments were also used for recreation. These young men are from CCC Company 2924, Camp P-233, Jamul, California. The work projects of Company 2924 included, "road construction, telephone line construction, and, of course, the inevitable fire fighting... Company 2924 has built up an enviable reputation as fire fighters" (p. 93).

Above: These two men are also part of Company 2924. While in the CCC, enrollees could learn many skills and trades.

Above: This is the basketball team of CCC Company 2925, Camp F-364, Wheeler Springs, California. Company 2925 "proved to be expert 'trail blazers' when they performed, with great skill, the hazardous task of building the first truck trails on Santa Rosa Mountain and Forbes Ranch" (p. 95). Among other things, truck trails facilitated quicker response to wildfires.

Above: This is the CCC headquarters for the Los Angeles District. The building was at 6001 Van Nuys Boulevard, and was formerly the Robert Morton Company, which made pipe organs (see this Valley Relics Museum Facebook post). It appears that the building has since been demolished.

The incredible works of New Deal artist Perkins Harnly

The following artworks are by Perkins Harnly (1901-1986). Harnly created these for the  Index of American Design - a WPA project that lasted from 1935-1942. The images come from the National Gallery of Art (NGA) and are in the public domain. (For more information on this WPA project--which created over 18,000 works of art--see the NGA summary, "Index of American Design.")

Above: "Backdrop for Vaudeville Stage"

Above: "Barn Gangway"

Above: "Bedroom, 1940"

Above: "Blacksmith Shop"

Above: "Dentist's Operating Room"

Above: "Fire Station"

Above: "Millinery Shop"

Above: "Monument Display Room"

Above: "Rural Kitchen"

Above: "Veranda"

"I started drawing at the age of seven. A pencil drawing, I did pictures of turkeys and the pilgrims going to church with a gun over their shoulder, stuff like that. Of course it was very crude. I still have some of those things. But I did not develop into an artist of any note until I got on the WPA. They really - because they gave me the reason and the encouragement, the research, the material... I really went to town."

--Perkins Harnly, Oral History Interview, October 15, 1981, Smithsonian Archives of American Art

New Deal Art: A San Antonio Church by Gisella Loeffler

Above: This is a watercolor painting of a San Antonio church, created by Gisella Loeffler (ca. 1900-1977), created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1938. Loeffler was a very diverse artist, creating batik (dye on fabric), hospital murals, "tapestries, cabinet and window decorations... She illustrated several childrens books, designed greeting cards and constructed toys..." Loeffler also painted airplanes during World War II ("Long-time resident artist dies," The Taos News (Taos, New Mexico), September 15, 1977, p. 3). Image above courtesy of the General Services Administration and the New Mexico Museum of Art.