United States. Work Projects Administration Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
4.4 Linear feet ((on 12 microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945
Date:
1935-1942
Scope and Contents:
Records documenting activities of the Survey to inventory portraits in America done before 1860 in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Included are research documents; correspondence; interoffice memoranda; survey manuals; press releases; clippings; photographs of works of art; short biographies of sitters and artists; ca. 15,000 of the original survey cards; first drafts of checklists and catalogs; and lists of portraits received too late to be included in the final version of the catalog.
Biographical / Historical:
The Historical Records Survey (HRS) had its origins in the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration. In 1935 it came under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project and eventually was designated as an independent program under Federal Project No. One. The projects, ideally suited for white collar workers, employed individuals to survey, classify and collect historical records. One program of the HRS was to document American portraits (sculpture, prints and paintings) done before 1860.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming by the Massachusetts State Library, A. Hunter Rineer, State Librarian, Boston, Mass., 1977.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
United Office and Professional Workers of America Search this
Extent:
340 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945 -- New York (N.Y.)
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- New York (N.Y.)
Date:
1937-1941
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence; mimeographed letters; bulletins; pamphlets; press releases; form letters; minutes; newsletters; and other printed materials relating to artists's organizations and unions in New York City, particularly United American Artists, United Office and Professional Workers of America, and the Federal Art Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, printmaker; Queens, New York. Graham appears to have been involved as an activist for greater federal support for the arts. She painted for the Federal Art Project.
Provenance:
The relation of the lender, Lew Greenfield, to F. Wynn Graham is uncertain.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Art and state -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Programs of plays produced by the FTP in Connecticut, 1936-1937; and lists, press clippings, and photographs regarding the work of Gertrude DonDero.
Biographical / Historical:
The Federal Theater Project (FTP) was a program established under the Federal Project No. One of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935. It sought to create employment for actors and others involved in the performing arts during the Depression. Gertrude DonDero was the state director of the Connecticut Federal Theater Project.
Related Materials:
Federal Theater Project papers also at Syracuse University.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1964 by Gertrude DonDero.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Correspondence, bulletins, reports and catalogs relating to the 13th region (New Mexico and Arizona) of the Public Works of Art Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Nusbaum was director of Region 13 of the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). It was the first of the New Deal art programs, established under the Department of the Treasury in December 1933 to assist unemployed artists by enabling them to work on the decoration of non-federal public buildings. Although it lasted only until the following summer, it engaged nearly 4,000 artists in all parts of the country and served as an important precedent for subsequent federal art programs, such as the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration. It existed until June 1934.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1963 by Jesse L. Nusbaum.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
United States. Work Projects Administration Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
1 Microfilm reel
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
1937
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence and a catalog regarding an exhibition: Federal Art Project, Works Progress Administration -Index of American Design Exhibition, held January 27-February 10, 1937.
Biographical / Historical:
The Index of American Design was a project of the research division of the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration which produced approximately 20,000 reproductions (photographs and original drawings) and classifications of a wide variety of American art, paintings, sculptures, handicrafts, and folk art.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming1964 by the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
1.8 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Sketchbooks
Date:
1920-1982
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material, interviews, printed materials, writings, correspondence, art work, and photographs.
REEL 290: Eleven scripts for radio programs on the Index of American Design, broadcast in New York throughout 1940. Interviewees include: Rothschild, Holger Cahill, director of the WPA-FAP; Edith Halpert, director of American Folk Art Gallery; Katherine Coffey, curator of Newark Museum; Alice Winchester, editor of "Antiques"; and Theodore Starr.
REEL NDA 15: Press releases; pamphlet on permanent art programs; Index of American Design papers; a report concerning government art programs; memorandum to Gustave Von Groschwitz outlining a plan for new subject matter for FAP artists; and "Report to the Sculptors of the Federal Art Project" by Girolamo Piccoli.[Report to the sculptors...under microfilm title Girolamo Piccoli]
UNMICROFILMED: Writings on art and on the Index of American Design; radio scripts for the series "The American Artists" sponsored by Artists Equity, 1953; clippings, 1936-1982; a nearly complete set of his newsletter, THE PRAGMATIST IN ART, 1964-1978; material on Kenneth Hayes Miller; resumes, school transcripts and memorabilia; photographs of Rothschild and of his sculpture; correspondence concerning THE PRAGMATIST IN ART (1964-1978), The Index of American Design (1968-1973), his research on Miller (1964-1977) and other publications, his work for Artists Equity, and other matters; a sketchbook; and a drawing. Among the correspondents are Samuel Kramer, editor of "The Shipyard Worker," Peppino Mangravite, Katherine Schmidt Shubert, Betty Burroughs Woodhouse, and critics Rudolf Arnheim, John Canaday and Donald Kuspit.
Biographical / Historical:
Lincoln Rothschild (1902-1983) was a cculptor and writer in New York, N.Y. Rothschild was the director of the New York Unit of the Index of American Design, 1937-1940. He taught at Columbia University and Adelphi College, 1946-1950 and was the National Executive Director for Artists' Equity Association, 1951-57. He was the author of SCULPTURE THROUGH THE AGES (1942) TO KEEP ART ALIVE-KENNETH HAYES MILLER, AMERICAN PAINTER 1876-1956 (1974), FORMS AND THEIR MEANINGS IN WESTERN ART (1976) and numerous articles.
Other Title:
Girolamo Piccoli [microfilm title]
Provenance:
Material on reel NDA15 donated by Rothschild, 1964; remainder donated 1987 by his widow, Elisabeth Rothschild.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The collection of Art Front magazines includes one bound volume containing the 25 issues of Art Front: November 1934 (vol. 1, no. 1), through December 1937 (vol. 3, no. 8). Also found are loose issues of Art Front including November 1934, January- February 1935, April- May 1935, July 1935, November 1935- June 1936, September/October 1936, December 1936- March 1937, June/July 1937, October 1937, and December 1937. Several loose issues have multiple copies.
Biographical / Historical:
Art Front was a magazine published by the Artists Union in New York in collaboration with the Artists Committee of Action. Twenty-five issues were published between November 1934 and December 1937. Herbert Baron, director of the American Contemporary Art (ACA) gallery was managing editor.The editorial committee was composed of sixteen people, eight from each of the partner groups. From the Artists Committee of Action were Hilda Abel, Harold Baumbach, Stuart Davis, Hugo Gellert, Abraham Harriton, Zoltan Hecht, Rosa Pringle and Jennings Tofel, and from the Artists' Union were Boris Gorelick, Katherine Gridley, Ethel Olenikov, Robert Jonas, Herbert Kruckman, Michael Loew, C. Mactarian and Max Spivak.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives, on microfilm reel LA 1, are duplicate issues, December 1935, June 1936, and an incomplete issue, 1937 (reel LA 1) lent for microfilming by Leon Saulter, and on microfilm reel LA 7, duplicate issues for April 1936, and June 1936, lent by Boris Gorelick.
Provenance:
Donated by Dewey Albinson, an administrator for the WPA in Minnesota. Some issues of Art Front in the Archives' possession were combined with Albinson's gift to form a complete series.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Negatives of murals, signs, ceramic figures, furniture, sculpture, toys, posters, and other arts and crafts made for the FAP in the Ohio region.
Biographical / Historical:
The Federal Art Project was established under Federal Project No. 1 of the WPA. The 48 states and territories were divided into regions and FAP programs were initiated, employing thousands of unemployed artists and craftsmen.
Provenance:
Donated 1974 by the Fine Arts Department, Ohio State University.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
New Deal, 1933-1939 -- Ohio -- Photographs Search this
Federal aid to the arts -- Ohio -- Photographs Search this
Federal aid to public welfare -- Ohio -- Photographs Search this
Mural painting and decoration -- Ohio -- Photographs Search this
A brief narrative on the derivation of the Section; a final report, 1934-1943 (31 p.); papers concerning Section competitions, 1934-1943; mural and sculpture contracts for works not installed; report of March 1941; and Section bulletins, catalogs, and guides, 1934-1943.
Biographical / Historical:
Established 1934 under the Treasury Department as the Section of Painting and Sculpture. Name changed in 1938 to Section of Fine Arts. In 1939, the Federal Works Agency was established and set up the Public Buildings Administration, which combined the Treasury Department's Public Buildings Branch and the Branch of Public Buildings of the National Park Service. The Section's function was to decorate new federal buildings. Unlike the other New Deal art agencies, it was not a relief project, but awarded contracts through a juried system of competition.
Provenance:
Donated 1965 by Maria Ealand, a niece of Section administrator Edward Bruce.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
United States. Work Projects Administration Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
WPA + 35 (1970 : University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee) Search this
Extent:
100 Items ((35mm slides))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1970
Scope and Contents:
Color slides from an exhibition held at the University of Wisconsin of the objects made during the WPA-FAP Milwaukee Handicraft Project, 1935-1943, as well as slides of the exhibition space.
Biographical / Historical:
The WPA + 35 Exhibition, January 4-30, 1970, presented by the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee was a tribute to the crafts and quality of design which came of the Milwaukee Handicraft Project. The Project began in the Fall of 1935. It was one of the more unusual and diverse of the handicraft projects in its philosophy and its goals. Its "Project 1170" was a specially created project for women who needed work, interested in becoming self-supporting. Milwaukee County and the Milwaukee State Teachers College were sponsors of the project.
Provenance:
Donated 1971 by the Department of Art, School of Fine Arts, University of Wisconsin.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Selected records of the PWAP include the following series: Central Office (Washington, D.C.) Correspondence and Related Records, including progress reports, minutes of meetings, and finance records (reels DC1-3); Correspondence and Personal Files of Edward P. Rowan, Technical Director (reels DC3-4); Central Office Correspondence With Artists (reels DC5-7); Central Office Files and Publicity Materials, including correspondence of project director Edward Bruce (reel DC8); Newspaper Clippings (reels DC8-9); Correspondence and Related records of Cecil Jones, Business Director (reels DC9-12); Final Reports on Projects, Report Materials and Project Issuances (reel DC12); Regional Office Records (reels DC12-13); and selected Correspondence of the New York Regional Office (Region 2) With Artists concerning administrative details of employing artists (DC 112-115).
Biographical / Historical:
The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), the first of the New Deal art programs, was established under the Department of the Treasury in December 1933 to assist unemployed artists by enabling them to work on the decoration of non-federal public buildings. Although it lasted only until the following summer, it engaged nearly 4,000 artists in all parts of the country and served as an important precedent for subsequent federal art programs, such as the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration. Later art projects administered under the Department of the Treasury were the Section of Fine Arts, originally the Section of Painting and Sculpture, and the Treasury Relief Art Project, both of which served to employ artists to decorate federal buildings across the United States.
Related Materials:
AAA has filmed, and described separately, selected records of the Treasury Relief Art Project (reels DC14-38) and the Section of Fine Arts (reels DC38-43) from record group 121. In addition, selected records of the WPA Federal Art Project (National Archives record group 69) were also filmed (reels DC44-DC111 and DC129-130).
Provenance:
Series microfilmed by AAA were selected from the National Archives record group 121, Records of the Public Buildings Service. Additional records of the PWAP are preserved at the National Archives. Series which were not microfilmed include: correspondence of L.W. Roberts, assistant secretary of the Treasury; the central file of the Advisory Committee and the Project; card lists of allocated paintings and other works of art; and receipt cards for works of art.
Material kept by Federal Music Project administrator Emily Mason Kahn, including printed and mimeographed booklets; brochures; programs and reports; carbon copies of memos; teaching material; and two photographs. [Microfilm title WPA-Federal Theater Project]
Biographical / Historical:
The Federal Music Project was formed in 1935 under Federal Project No. One of the Works Progress Administration to employ, train, and rehablitate unemployed musicians.
Other Title:
WPA-Federal Theater Project [microfilm title]
Provenance:
Donated 1965 by Emily Mason Kahn.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Treasury Department Art Projects : painting and sculpture for federal buildings, November seventeen to December thirteen, nineteen hundred thirty-six, Corcoran Gallery of Art / introduction by Forbes Watson
Catalog for an exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Includes a list of artists and the works they did for TRAP and the Section. [Microfilm title Treasury Relief Art Project].
Biographical / Historical:
The Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) was established in 1935 under the Department of the Treasury with funds allocated from the Works Progress Administration (later the Work Projects Administration). It operated as a relief agency for unemployed artists and engaged them specifically for the decoration of federal buildings, choosing artists through a system of juried competition.
Other Title:
Treasury Relief Art Project (microfilm title).
Provenance:
Provenance unknown.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
United States. Work Projects Administration Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
0.6 Linear feet ((ca. 165 items))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1935-1943
Scope and Contents:
Photographs of artists at work and photographs of their works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
The Federal Art Project (FAP) fell under the jurisdiction of Federal Project No. 1 of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA was established in May 1935 specifically as a work relief program for the millions of individuals left unemployed during the Depression. Its name changed to the Work Projects Administration in 1939 when it fell under the administrative hand of the newly created Federal Works Agency. The FAP was created in August 1935 to aid unemployed artists, following the precedent set by the Public Works of Art Project and other Treasury department art relief projects. The 48 states and territories were divided into regions and administered through the regional office.
Provenance:
Donated 1975 by Richard Russell.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
New Deal, 1933-1939 -- California -- Photographs Search this
Federal aid to the arts -- California -- Photographs Search this
Art and state -- California -- Photographs Search this
Federal aid to public welfare -- California -- Photographs Search this
National Society of Mural Painters (New York, N.Y.) Search this
Extent:
80 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945 -- New York (N.Y.)
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- New York (N.Y.)
Date:
1934-1940
Scope and Contents:
Official correspondence consisting mainly of letters received by Norman while he was president of the Society of Mural Painters and chairman of the Committee on Mural Painting for the Fine Arts Federation of New York; membership lists; agenda; press releases; newsletters; and clippings relating to the National Society of Mural Painters and the Federal Art Project in New York City.
Biographical / Historical:
Mural and portrait painter, London, England and New York City. Painted murals for the Federal Art Project of the Work Projects Administration.
Provenance:
The lender, Geoffrey Norman, lent his papers for microfilming.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Budget and personnel records; Director's report, Jan.-June, 1939; Delaware Writers' Project materials; mews releases for the Washington, D.C. office of the WPA; other materials and records relating to the Federal Art Project, the Federal Music Project, the Federal Writers' Project, the Federal Theater Project, and the Historical Records Survey in Delaware.
Biographical / Historical:
Director, Work Projects Administration art, music, theater, and writing projects; Wilmington, Delaware.
Provenance:
Donated 1963 by Jeannette Eckman.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
United States. Work Projects Administration Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
0.4 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 1 reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1931-1942
Scope and Contents:
Reports and photographs of the Technical Service Division of the WPA-Federal Art Project, New York; publications of the New York City WPA Art Project including "The WPA Federal Art Project a Summary of Activities and Accomplishments," undated, "Oils, Watercolors, Prints & Sculpture by Artist Teachers of the Art Teachers Division," 1939, "Art in Action: An Exposition of Work in Progress by the New York City WPA Art Project," 1941, and "Technical Problems of the Artist: Canvas Adhesives," 1939, with clippings glued to the inside cover. (A duplicate pamphlet without the clippings was microfilmed on reel 3482). Also included are catalogs, announcements and newspaper clippings concerning Doktor's exhibitions, and the original manuscript to his novel, "The Laughing Torch" along with several rejection letters from publishers.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; head of the Restoration, Installation and Technical Service Division of the Federal Art Project (FAP) in New York City. Died 1995.
Provenance:
Donated by Raphael Doktor, 1993-1995. An additional copy of "Technical Problems of the Artist" was donated ca. 1970 and microfilmed on reel 3482.
Restrictions:
All except mss.: "Technical Problems of the Artist: Canvas Adhesives" (microfilm reel 3482) is: Unmicrofilmed; use requires an appointment and is limited to AAA's Washington, D.C. storage facility.
An exhibition catalog of 200 American watercolors with a foreword by Edward Bruce and a listing of each artist and the title of his work. The paintings were chosen by a jury including Charles Burchfield, John Marin, Eliot O'Hara, and Buk Ulreich. They were then bought by the U.S. government and hung in the Carville, Louisiana, Marine Hospital.
Biographical / Historical:
Established 1934 under the Treasury Department as the Section of Painting and Sculpture. Name changed to Section of Fine Arts in 1938. In 1939, the Federal Works Agency was established and set up the Public Buildings Administration, which combined the Treasury Department's Public Buildings Branch and the Branch of Public Buildings of the National Park Service. The Section's function was to decorate new federal buildings. Unlike the other New Deal art agencies, it was not a relief project, but awarded contracts through a juried system of competition.
Provenance:
Provenance unknown.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
United States. Work Projects Administration Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet ((93 items))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1938-1942
Scope and Contents:
A list of watercolors and artists, under the heading "New Englan Coast"; annual reports; minutes of meetings of the Board of Trustees and of annual meetings; a form letter to members of the museum, 1939; lists of contributors, 1938-1940. There is one item dated 1976, a form letter about a reunion of the class of 1941 of the University of North Carolina.
Biographical / Historical:
Art museum, Wilmington, N.C. Opened in 1938 with the help of federal aid administered through the Federal Art Program of the Works Progress Administration (later the Work Projects Administration). Most of its exhibits consisted of art borrowed on a loan basis. When the second World War began, the Museum took exhibitions to military camps in the surrounding area. In addition, art classes for children and adults were offered through the Museum. In the mid-1940s, the building (called St. John's Lodge No. 1) was given by its owner to the city, and the Museum eventually became a permanent civic institution, now known as the St. John's Art Museum, Wilmington, N.C.
Provenance:
Donated 1976 by Winston Broadfoot.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
