New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
12 Pages, Transcript
General Note:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 36 min.
Access Note / Rights:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Summary:
An interview of Don G. Abel conducted 1965 June 10, by Dorothy Bestor, for the Archives of American Art. Abel describes his position as state administrator for the WPA in Washington state, the levels of organization within the WPA, and his relationship with Robert Hinckley, Harry Hopkins, and Robert Bruce Inverarity. He also speaks of Eleanor Roosevelt's visits to Seattle Art Projects and her interest in the work of women artists. He also discusses communist opposition to the WPA, federal appropriations, the transition from Federal Art Project to the Washington State Project and the accomplishments of the WPA.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Don G. Abel, 1965 June 10. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Biography Note:
Don G. Abel was an art adminstrator with the Works Progress Administration, from Washington state.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
