WPA
When
Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in 1933, he promptly set about
to deliver on his presidential campaign promise of a "new deal" for
everyone. In 1935 Roosevelt formed the Works Progress Administration
(later renamed the Work Projects Administration--WPA) to create jobs
that would allow individuals to maintain their sense of self-esteem.
Even though inequities existed under the New Deal programs, they included
ethnic and marginal groups, the financially and politically disenfranchised,
the geographically dispersed, and women and children. In particular,
many blacks found new employment opportunities, and special programs
focused on three centuries of cultural accomplishments of African-Americans,
as well as European
contributions to national development.
During its brief existence, the WPA generated numerous documents consisting
of written histories, oral histories, guidebooks, fine prints, plays,
posters, photographs, and architectural histories, many of them relating
to African- American history. Many black participants whose talent
was nurtured by the WPA continued to make significant contributions
to American culture after they left the WPA. Many of these individuals
are represented in the collections of the Library of
Congress.
The WPA materials were acquired for the Library largely through the
efforts of Archibald MacLeish while he was Librarian of Congress from
1939 to 1944. Included are thousands of measured drawings made for
the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS); hundreds of oral histories
from former slaves; records of theatrical performances given by the
Federal theater Project; thousands of Farm Security Administration
(FSA) photographs of rural life; hundreds of prints and posters produced
by WPA
artists; and the archives of American folklife.
Posters and Fine Prints
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This poster promotes the sale of a book about the
Diamond Jubilee Exposition held in Chicago, July 4 through September
2, 1940. The Exposition, the first of its size and scope, celebrated
seventy-five years of freedom for blacks and their cultural achievements
during that period since the Civil War.
Cavalcade of the American Negro Artist unknown
Silk-screen poster Prints
and Photographs Division (63)
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The Emperor Jones was one of several plays
produced by the WPA's Federal Theatre Project in which blacks and
black themes were featured. The play also was one among many controversial
productions of the FTP. On the bottom of the poster, patrons are
directed to the "white front cars" of the trolley when proceeding
to the theater.
Federal Theatre Project presents "The Emperor Jones" with Ralph
Chesse's Marionettes Artist unknown
Silk-screen poster Prints and Photographs
Division (64)
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Although offered during a less enlightened era in
America when "separate but equal" was still the rule, this concert
by black musicians, directed by Norman L. Black, reflects the widespread
interest in black innovations in rhythm and blues.
Colored Band Concert Carken, Chicago, Illinois
Silk-screen poster Prints
and Photographs Division (66)
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With the entrance of the United States into World
War II in 1942, the graphics units of the Fine Arts Project of
the WPA was absorbed by the Defense Department's War Services Division.
That Division produced hundreds of posters in support of the war
effort, including this one encouraging reading about black contributions
to the defense effort, among other subjects, in the Schomburg Center.
The Schomburg Center was established within the New York Public
Library system by Arthur A. Schomburg, a Puerto Rican of African
descent, and it includes material by and about blacks throughout
the world.
Books are Weapons. Read About...The Negro in National
Defense;
Africa and the War; Negro History and Culture J.P. (signed) New York,
NY
Silk-screen poster Prints and Photographs
Division (67)
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This portrait of a young black man was done by the
African- American artist Dox Thrash, who supervised the WPA Federal
Art Project's graphics division in Philadelphia. Like many artists
of the Art Project, Thrash made numerous studies of ethnic "types" and
of interesting places within their locale -- in Thrash's case,
Philadelphia.
Bronze Boy Dox Thrash (b. 1892)
Aquatint Prints and Photographs Division (68)
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Thrash's view of the Pier in Philadelphia during
the 1930s is typical of hundreds of similar -- now priceless --
glimpses of local spots of interest produced by artists of the
WPA's Federal Art Project. Many of these artistic creations were
done by destitute artists whose support by the WPA was crucial
to the continuance of their careers -- especially African-American
artists.
Pier 27 Dox Thrash (b. 1892)
Aquatint Prints and Photographs Division (69)
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This brooding portrait of a black man is inscribed: "To
Mr.
Macleish (sic) From William E. Smith." Nothing is known about the artist,
but Macleish was the Librarian of Congress, as well as a famous poet and champion
of democracy, at the time Smith
presented the print to him.
"No Body Knows" William E. Smith
Linocut, 7/50 Prints and Photographs Division (70)
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The Scottsboro Case involved nine black youths who,
on March 31, 1931, were indicted in Scottsboro, Alabama, for raping
two white girls. Eight of them were sentenced to death, but after
years of appeals and retrials, spearheaded by the Scottsboro Defense
Committee, some were released, some remained in prison for years,
and one escaped. The case was one of the most sensational of the
time, and, as might be expected in the political hotbed of the
thirties, became a centerpiece for charges and countercharges of
radical communist involvement.
8 Black Boys in a Southern Jail Prentiss Taylor
Lithograph, 40 prints Prints
and Photographs Division (71)
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This engaging portrait of a young man is another
of the many
representations of ethnic and racial "types" that were done by artists of the
WPA's Federal Art Project. Not only are the subjects mostly anonymous, but the
artists as well, despite the fact that their names are often known. Much research
needs to be done to identify these artists, black and white, and to relate their
WPA experience to their subsequent careers.
Reggie Raymond Steth
Carborundum Print, No. 25, 1940 Prints
and Photographs Division (73) |
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