Date Original
1938-1942
Description
This collection contains research materials concerning thirteen post offices collected by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. These photocopied materials include the correspondence, contracts, and images proposed by the artists to the Fine Arts Section of the Public Buildings branch of the United States Treasury Department. Twenty-one post office murals were painted in Arkansas. Not all remain extant.
Biographical/Historical Note
Post offices built in the 1930s during Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal were decorated with enduring images of America. Post office murals, while often mistaken for WPA art, were created by artists hired by the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts. "The Section" was established in 1934 and administered by the Procurement Division. Artists were selected through regional competitions based on anonymous sketches. Scenes of local interest and events were most desirable, with genre themes of Americans at work or leisure as the most popular subject matter.
Physical Description
Document, 8.5" x 11"
Geographical Area
Arkansas
Language
English
Identifier
MS.000335
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Arkansas post office murals records, MS.000335
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
Arkansas post office murals records, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
