An interview of Sylvester Jerry conducted 1965 June 11, by Harlan Phillips, for the Archives of American Art. Jerry speaks of his first association with the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP), working as an FAP administrator in Detroit; working at finding locations for the artworks; the FAP's role in the development of furniture design; working with Holger Cahill; the Index of American Design; the relationship of art and architecture; administering the project; selecting artists for particular projects; and the project's effect on the community.
Biographical / Historical:
Sylvester Jerry (1904-1990) was a painter and art administrator from Racine, Wis.
General:
An unrelated interview of Charlotte Partridge (6/12/65) conducted by H. Phillips is also on this tape.
An unrelated interview of Leonard Thiessen (6/10/65) conducted by H. Phillips is also on this tape.
Provenance:
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- Wisconsin -- Interviews Search this
Arts administrators -- Michigan -- Detroit -- Interviews Search this
Painters -- Michigan -- Detroit -- Interviews Search this
Selected records from the United States National Archives and Records Administration of the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Work Projects Administration. Records cover a broad range of topics. The bulk are from the Central Files, "States" and "General Subject" series, 1935-1944. Also microfilmed are materials from series Federal Art Project, Federal Project #1, WPA, among them records related to the Index of American Design; and records of the Chicago Field Finance office relating to allocations of works of art.
General Subject Files is comprised of correspondence, memoranda, receipts, reports, and business files. Found on reels DC44-DC49 are correspondence and memoranda of the the FAP; materials relating to Art for the Millions published during the WPA; receipts for loans of works of art.and other correspondence, memoranda, business records, reports, and lists of artists. Found on reels. DC45, and DC49-DC50 are materials relating to the two National Art Weeks of 1940 and 1941; regional correspondence, 1939; reports, 1939; and papers relating to exhibitions held for WPA artists.
Central Files, "States", on reels DC62-DC111, is comprised of general correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, reports, and records of FAP activities at the state level. Much of the material is between state administrators and national directors. There are occasional occurrences of letters from individual citizens seeking assistance. Topics covered include FAP, Federal Writers' Project, Federal Theater Project, Federal Music Project, Index of American Design, and other projects under Federal Project # 1 of the WPA. New York City has its own separate file.
Federal Art Project, Federal Art Project #1, series appears on reels DC51-DC61 are broken down into "General Correspondence File", reels DC51-DC59, consisting of ca. 80 files with a variety of titles, for example Artist's oil paints, Congressional correspondence, Index of American Design (mostly reel DC53), Museum of Modern Art, News releases, Salary increases, etc.; and "Regional Correspondence Files," reels DC60-DC61, for Ohio, Washington state, and California; publicity and exhibition material; and "Regional and State Correspondence Files," Alabama to Michigan. Among the persons represented are Holger Cahill, Lawrence Morris, Thomas C. Parker, Russell C. Parr, and Constance Rourke.
Chicago Field Finance office records relating to allocations of works of art are found on reels DC129-DC130 and include requests for allocations of funds, requests for loans, receipts for allocations of works of art, shipping receipts, miscellaneous forms and correspondence.
Arrangement:
Microfilm reels DC44-50: General Subject Files. Reels DC51-61: Federal Art Project, Federal Project #1, WPA. Reels DC62-DC111: Central Files: "States" (reel DC53 is exclusively related to the Index of American Design). DC129-DC130: Chicago Field Finance office records relating to allocations of works of art. Most series are arranged alphabetically by subject, artist, state, territory, and district. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the records on microfilm reflects the order and arrangement as existed during the microfilming project, 1964-1966, and may not correspond to the original order of the records currently maintained by the National Archives in Record group 69,
Biographical / Historical:
The Federal Art Project (FAP) fell under the jurisdiction of Federal Project No. 1 of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to aid unemployed artists, following the precedent set by the Public Works of Art Project and other Treasury department art relief projects. Holger Cahill was appointed director of the FAP and remained in that position throughout its existence. 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 projects included a broad range of events and activities which generated the various publications and materials found in the central files of the general subject series. ART FOR THE MILLIONS was a publication project about the accomplishments of the FAP consisting of a series of articles by Project workers. In addition to creating work for artists, the FAP sought to increase art appreciation as well as art sales among the general public. In doing so it devised a plan which created National Art Week. National Art Week was observed in both 1940 and 1941, and although the scale was grand and participation by the public impressive, the financial return on both occasions was minute, putting an end to plans for future National Art Weeks.
Provenance:
Series and files microfilmed by AAA were selected from the National Archives record group 69, records of the Work Projects Administration. Additional records of the WPA are preserved at the National Archives. FAP series and files not microfilmed by AAA include: additional records of the Federal Art Project (FAP), National Archives boxes, 27-58 and records of the FAP in Ohio, ca. 1937-1940; Division of Information, "Primary File" of the FAP and National Art Week; and photographic prints and negatives in the Still Picture Division, National Archives Building.
Restrictions:
The Archives does not own the original records. Use is limited to microfilm copy.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
17 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
1964
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Valter Poole conducted in 1964, by Heyward Ehrlich, for the Archives of American Art.
Poole speaks of his background and education; his musical training; his years prior to the Federal Music Project; getting the directorship of the Federal Music Project in Detroit, and later becoming orchestra conductor; the activities of the orchestra, including regular concerts in schools and museums; introducing new music and new composers to Detroit; the effect of the Project on the musicians involved; the project's benefits to the community.
Biographical / Historical:
Valter Poole (1903-1984) was a symphony conductor, violist, and music professor in Detroit, Mich.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 2 min.
Provenance:
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Topic:
Music -- Instruction and study -- Michigan -- Detroit Search this
United States. Dept. of the Treasury. Section of Fine Arts Search this
Milliken, William Mathewson, 1889-1978 Search this
Extent:
1 Linear foot ((on 2 microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945
Date:
1933-1939
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence; financial reports; project reports and bulletins of the Public Works of Art Project; correspondence with William Milliken, Director of Region 9 of the PWAP, relating to the administration of PWAP and Treasury Relief Art Project; applications; work reports and letters from aritsts about their projects, analyses of their work in questionnaire format; minutes; photographs; clippings; and miscellaneous papers relating to Treasury Department art projects in Indiana.
Biographical / Historical:
Wilbur D. Peat (1898-1966) was the Divisional Manager of the Public Works of Art Project in Region 9, which included Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky. He was also the director of the John Herron Museum of Art in Indianapolis (later the Indianapolis Museum of Art), from 1929-1965.
Provenance:
Donated 1965 by Wilbur D. Peat.
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. Department of the Treasury Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1933-1934
Scope and Contents:
66 cards identifying specific projects, giving the project title, location, artists involved and miscellaneous information; and 400 cards giving biographical information on participating artists.
Biographical / Historical:
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. Michigan was in Region 9 of the PWAP regions.
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.
An interview of Charles Henry Sawyer conducted in 1964, by Heyward Ehrlich, for the Archives of American Art.
Sawyer speaks of how he first got involved in art after being offered a job teaching art and operating a museum in Andover by a family friend; how he became involved with the Federal Art Project; the early stages of the Project, and the difficulties they encountered, including the primary motivation of the Project, deciding where the work was to be assigned, and other administrative problems; the changes that occurred as the Federal Arts Project developed; the artists involved with the Project, such as Karl Knaths and Jack Levine; the shows that were put on by the Project; the end of the Federal Art Project; and his thoughts on the project in retrospect. Sawyer recalls Francis Taylor, Karl Knaths, Jack Levine, Howard Gibbs, John Stuart Curry, Herbert Waters, Karl Zerbe, Howard Cook, Hail Woodworth, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Henry Sawyer (1906-2005) was a museum director in Ann Arbor, Mich.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 3 min.
Provenance:
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Thesis (doctoral.)--Columbia University, New York, N.Y., 1949.
Biographical / Historical:
Student, Ph. D. candidate; New York, N.Y.
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
Ann Arbor, Michigan : University Microfilms, 1951.
Provenance:
Purchased 1963.
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.
Biographical information, correspondence, printed material, photographs and art work relate to Yaeger's career as an artist, including his work on the WPA Federal Art Project.
Correspondence, 1926-1968, is primarily with museums and galleries concerning loans of Yaeger's art, prizes, invitations to submit works of art, and acknowledgments of gifts, 1926-1968. Correspondents include Clyde H. Burroughs, E.P. Richardson, Robert B. Harshe, and Daniel Catton Rich.
Photographs, ca. 1935, show fellow WPA artists, among them Diego Rivera in front of his mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Jos(eph) Sparks, and Leonard Jungwirth; Yaeger working on a mosaic; a group photo of John Pappas, Paul McPharlin, Jerry Sylvester and Sparks; and color photos of Yaeger's mosaic work at the Scarab Club. Original art work includes a linoleum print, 1976 by Yaeger, sketches and watercolors for his WPA murals at the Ford School Library and the Brodhead Naval Armory, and 3 greeting cards from fellow artist Frederick Papsdorf, 1951-1975.
Also found are lists of paintings, 1923-1931; printed materials, 1923-1989, including exhibition announcements and catalogs, many for Annual Exhibitions for Michigan Artists; clippings, and newsletters addressed to the "Friends of Edgar Yaeger" (ca. 1988-1989).
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, mural painter, mosaicist; Detroit, Mich. His WPA mural commissions included the Brodhead Naval Armory, Ford Elementary School, the Public Lighting Commission Building, and the Grosse Pointe South High School Library.
Provenance:
Donated 1990-1991 by Edgar Yaeger.
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.
Financial documents; project statistics; descriptions of programs; letters to Charles Pollock; a clipping about Pollock's mural in Lansing, Michigan; photographs of artists: Clivia Calder, Samuel Cashwan, and Frank Casava with their works; and photographs of works of art by Marvin Beerbohm, David Fredenthal, Walter Speck, and Edgar Yaeger.[Microfilm and box title WPA-Michigan]
Biographical / Historical:
The Michigan Art and Craft Project was a division of the Federal Art Project. Charles Pollock was the supervisor of the project.
Other Title:
WPA-Michigan Art and Craft Project.
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.
