The New Deal Around DC: Jacob Baker's apartment

Above: Jacob Baker (1895-1967), at a theatre house in Washington, DC, December 1, 1936. Baker was an important administrator in the work & construction programs of the New Deal, especially with projects involving plays, music, writing, and art. He wrote in the New York Times: "It has been recognized that when an artist or musician is hungry he is just as hungry as a bricklayer and has the same right as a bricklayer has to be employed at his own trade. For the first time in our history, our government has become a patron of the arts, officially and quite unashamed" (November 11, 1934). Read Jacob Baker's biography on the website of the Living New Deal. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: According to the "New Deal Washington Walking Tour Guide" (Humanities Council of Washington, DC, 2009), Jacob Baker lived in apartment 903 at the "Park Central Apartments," 1900 F Street, NW (above). The building is now the "Mabel Nelson Thurston Hall," George Washington University. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: A closer look at the front of the building. The walking tour guide (see previous caption) notes "the fine Art Deco details over the front entrance of this building, constructed in 1930." Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

The New Deal Around DC: The White House and Executive Avenue

Above: Long before the White House became a den of corruption, deceit, and incompetence, and long before it became a branch office of Corporate America, it was the epicenter of profound and positive changes in America. With FDR in the White House, the New Deal created policies and programs that still benefit the middle-class & poor today, for example, Social Security to help senior citizens; unemployment insurance to help those who are laid-off; PWA and WPA projects to modernize our infrastructure; the CCC to create or improve state parks; the SEC to police stock market fraud; protections for unions; and much, much more. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) boys removing snow from the White House area. The CCC provided jobs, paychecks, a strong work ethic, and the ability to get along well with others, to many young American men from 1933-1942. Photo by the Associated Press, scanned from personal copy, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: Past all the fences, trees, and shrubs, you can just barely see the White House's West Wing Executive Office Building. Much or all of this building was created with funding from the New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA). Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: The description for this photograph reads, "Enlarging the Executive Offices of the White House, Washington, DC. This work is being done with PWA funds." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Men working on the West Wing Executive Office Building, ca. 1933-1940. The PWA facilitated well-paid work for millions of Americans, on projects that still benefit us today. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "A picture of the completed addition to the White House." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A view of the White House, from the south. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: Today, with all the threatening signs, Jersey barriers, fences, and heavily-armed law enforcement personnel and vehicles, the White House more closely resembles a military compound. It has a very uninviting, "stay away" feel to it. This is the price we pay (fear and paranoia) for starting military adventures all across the globe, and also for creating an angry and despondent citizenry. Our plutocratic government is now always looking over its shoulder for the next attack. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: The description for this photograph reads: "West Executive Avenue is re-surfaced in Washington, DC. The White House is in the background." This was either a PWA or (perhaps more likely) a WPA project, and the photo appears to have been taken before work began on the West Wing Executive Offices. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: West Executive Avenue today - closely guarded, public not allowed. Notice the Washington Monument in the background. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: Public architecture was much more important to our ancestors than it is to us. Heck, even street lights and lamp posts were very decorative back in the day. Today, with almost everything, we go with cheap and ugly. I'm convinced that when our current era is looked back upon, by historians and future generations, they will find us to be completely boring and unremarkable. Glued to our televisions and iPhones, and addicted to giving repeated tax breaks to people who don't need them, we are creating a shallow, forgettable legacy. If future Americans have any sense to them, any spirit, they'll smash down most of the buildings, bridges, and other eyesores that were made between about 1980 and today, and start anew. They'll build things that are inspiring and grand instead. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

New Deal Art: "The Washington Monument as Seen from the Pan American Union"

Above: "The Washington Monument as Seen from the Pan American Union," an oil painting by Mary P. E. Saltzman (1878-1974?), created while she was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project, 1933. I couldn't find much information on Saltzman on the Internet, but it seems likely that she is the Mary Peyton Eskridge Saltzman who died in 1974, and lies at rest at Arlington National Cemetery with her husband Charles McKinley Saltzman (1871-1942). Charles was a major general in the U.S. Army. The couple seems to have had at least one child, Charles E. Saltzman, who also ended up being a general in the U.S. Army. The younger Charles had three children, so it's possible, if all of this information is accurate, that Mary P. E. Saltzman has grandchildren and great-grandchildren living today. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The New Deal Around DC: Rawlins Park

Above: Rawlins Park, Washington, DC, between 18th and 19th streets, and across the street from the United Unions Building on New York Avenue, NW (seen here in the background). According to the "New Deal Washington Walking Tour Guide" (Humanities Council of Washington, DC, 2009), "This lovely little oasis, built in 1938, includes a reflecting pool and walkways... [and] is typical of the Works Progress Administration projects that rehabilitated parks throughout the U.S." Some maps actually have Rawlins Park marked between 19th and 20th streets. There is a green area there too, so that may be considered part of the park, but the statue of John A. Rawlins is in the area between 18th and 19th streets shown above. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: The reflecting pools of Rawlins Park are crumbling pretty badly. Rawlins Park actually has history dating back to 1874 (The WPA Guide to Washington, DC, pp. 280-281, 1983 Random House reprint), but according to Washington, DC's Inventory of Historic Sites (2009), a "redesign and reconstruction" occurred between 1935 and 1938, including a new "reflecting pool and landscaping" (p. 134). The work was probably done with WPA labor, as referenced in the previous caption, but rock solid information on this is scarce. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: The water fountain at Rawlins Park. On the day I visited, the whole park smelled like algae (but see power washing a few photos down). Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: A closer look at the fountain. I don't know if this is from the WPA's work, but it definitely looks like a very old design / mechanism. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: The statue of John A. Rawlins (1831-1869), a Union General during the Civil War. According to the Wikipedia entry for Rawlins, he served as Secretary of War for President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869, just before his untimely death from tuberculosis. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: Rawlins Park has three levels - the highest along the north border, and then descending down towards the south. I visited the park around 10am and there wasn't a lot of activity, but apparently this is a popular spot during lunch hour. And on the Internet, you can find several spectacular images of Rawlins Park in the Spring, when its Cherry Blossoms are blooming. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: A National Park Service employee, power washing one of the two reflecting pools. The park seems to be fairly well-maintained but, as I noted above, the pools are in desperate need of resurfacing. Unfortunately, due to super-wealthy Americans demanding (and receiving) round after round of tax cuts these past several decades, it probably won't happen anytime soon (for example, as the rich are buying more mansions, yachts, and private islands, the National Park Service has a multi-billion dollar maintenance backlog). Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: "Government employees reading papers" at Rawlins Park, June 1942. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: "View of Rawlins Park looking northwest from the roof of the Department of Interior building." The date of this photo is not given, but judging by the vehicles I'd say sometime between 1985 and 1995. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

New Deal Art: "White House, Washington, DC"

Above: "White House, Washington, DC," a lithograph by Grant Arnold (1904-1988), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1937. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

The New Deal Around DC: The former site of WPA headquarters, office of Harry Hopkins

Above: The Walker-Johnson Building, at 1734 New York Ave., Washington, DC, between 17th and 18th streets, just a few blocks west of the White House, March 1938. According to information from various sources--for example, the description accompanying this photograph and a "New Deal Washington Walking Tour Guide" (Humanities Council of Washington, DC, 2009)--this is the building where FDR's federal relief administrator, Harry Hopkins, supervised the big work-relief programs of the New Deal: The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA); the Civil Works Administration (CWA); the Works Progress Administration (WPA); and the National Youth Administration (NYA). From this building, jobs and paychecks were facilitated for somewhere around 15-20 million struggling Americans (the WPA alone employed 8.5 million); and from this building, America's infrastructure was repaired & modernized like never before or since (and we're still using much of that infrastructure today - see The Living New Deal). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: The site today. According to information in the walking tour guide (cited in the previous photo caption), and from "Emporis," a buildings information website, the Walker-Johnson building was constructed in 1913, then demolished at some point (year not specified), and replaced with today's "United Unions Building" (above; now listed as 1750 New York Ave, NW). And according to Emporis, the Walker-Johnson Building had 10 floors (including its below-ground floor) and was 95 feet tall; and the United Unions Building has 8 floors, "above ground," and is also 95 feet tall. Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Above: The description for this photograph, taken on August 24, 1937, reads: "WPA workers stage march in fight for reinstatement, Washington, DC... Police were as numerous as the marchers today when over 2000 dismissed W.P.A. workers, assembled here by the Workers Alliance of America, staged a march to the White House, Capitol, and Harry Hopkins' office in their fight for reinstatement to their old jobs." This photo is in front of the Walker-Johnson Building (compare the arched window on the building to the right, to the first photo of this blog post). The reason for the dismissal of these workers is not given, however, this was during the so-called "Roosevelt Recession," where FDR gave in to his budget hawk advisers (and also to his own concerns about deficits) and supported a scaling-down of work-relief. The results were not good. About a year later, work-relief was returned back to its former level, and the recession dissipated. Lesson: Businesses need consumers, and consumers need paychecks (duh!). Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: Hopkins talking with reporters on November 1, 1935. The description for this photograph doesn't specify the location, but given Hopkins' relaxed posture at the desk, and the room itself, this would seem to be his office at the Walker-Johnson Building. Chronicling the beginnings of the WPA's Federal Theatre Project (FTP), author Susan Quinn writes: "[Soon-to-be Director of the FTP] Hallie Flanagan traveled to Washington, entered the great unadorned Walker-Johnson Building, and took the rickety elevator to Harry Hopkin's tenth-floor office, with its whitewashed walls and exposed pipes [notice both features in the photo above]. 'All the lines in the room,' [Flanagan] wrote later, 'focused on the clean-swept desk, and on the man behind the desk, whose head and shoulders stood out sharply against the city gleaming from the uncurtained windows back of him. His lean, brown face flashed into a sudden somewhat satiric smile. 'This is a tough job we're asking you to do.'" (Flanagan took the job and ran the FTP until Congress shut it down in 1939) (story from, Furious Improvisation: How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands Made High Art out of Desperate Times, 2008, p. 47). Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: New York Governor Herbert Lehman meets with Harry Hopkins, in the latter's probable office in the Walker-Johnson Building. Note again the whitewashed walls, exposed pipes, and also the window behind Hopkins' desk that Flanagan noted (see previous caption). One of Hopkins' staff, Elizabeth Wickenden, recalled that Hopkins "had the shabbiest-looking office in the whole place, and he did that on purpose. He had an old wooden desk, this sort of ragged rug on the floor, wooden chairs, the really worst looking place. And he used to explain it, he said, 'I don't want any senator coming in here, when I'm asking for millions of dollars for the unemployed, and see me in a luxurious setting'" (from the documentary Harry Hopkins: Lord Root of the Matter, produced by the Education Film Center, narrated by Walter Cronkite, 1989). Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: Harry Hopkins, again in his probable office at the Walker-Johnson Building, December 1934. For those, like myself, who like to nerdily examine & compare photos, note that the windows in these last three photos don't match the windows on the top floor of the Walker-Johnson Building. And the top floor would seem to be the 10th floor (counting the bottom level--below the main entrance--that appears to be partially under ground). Recall that Susan Quinn (see two captions above) notes that Hopkins' office was on the 10th floor. But it seems more likely that his office was below the 10th floor, perhaps just below it. Of course, it's hard to know for sure, unless one could see the interior set-up of the building, especially the first few levels. But perhaps Hallie Flanagan did not correctly recall the floor where Hopkins worked, and Quinn is merely relying on that mis-recollection. Ultimately this is unimportant of course... but still interesting to nerdy photo sleuths! Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The New Deal Around DC: East Potomac Park

(Also see my blog post on West Potomac Park here.)

Above: An entry sign to East Potomac Park, Washington, DC. Check out the Living New Deal's web page, "East Potomac Park - Washington, DC." Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: Just inside East Potomac Park is the headquarters of the National Park Service's National Mall and Memorial Parks office. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: According to the National Park Service, the Civilian Conservation Corps built most of the tennis courts inside East Potomac Park, between 1938 and 1942 - specifically, the two large court areas by the main parking lot ("Civilian Conservation Corps Activities in the National Capital Region of the National Park," Historic American Buildings Survey DC-858, National Capital Parks - Central, Washington, District of Columbia, pp. 95-96). Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: One of the CCC-built courts today (probably after numerous maintenance operations, like resurfacing). Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: According to the HABS report (see two photo captions above), some of the fence surrounding the tennis courts--"Ones bearing decorative finals"--might be original to the CCC work. This might refer to the ornamentation on top of some of the fence posts, seen here. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: Could these pebblestone concrete benches by the tennis courts also date to the 1930s CCC work? It seems to me that this type of concrete was more popular in the ol' days than it is today, but I could be wrong. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: The golf course at East Potomac Park. According to the HABS survey, the CCC "upgraded" this golf course, including, "Four thousand feet of tile lines for surface drainage" (see pp. 86 and 95). Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: A miniature golf course in East Potomac Park, built just prior to the New Deal. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: According to Washington, DC's Inventory of Historic Sites (2009), the swimming pool in East Potomac Park was built by WPA workers in 1936. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: Unfortunately, the WPA pool was demolished this year. In talking to some people at the golf club & refreshments area, it seems that a new pool is going to be built in time for next summer (2019). It's sad to see a historic pool demolished, but it's also important for infrastructure to be repaired or replaced when necessary. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.