Archives for January 2012

ADDRESS: 3750 North Kedzie Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60618
ARTIST: Peterpaul Ott
TITLE: Mercury
MEDIUM: Aluminum (relief)
STATUS: The Chicago Kedzie post office is still an active, operating facility. It is also known as the Daniel J. Doffyn Station. The relief can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides on the wall in the retail section of the lobby and is viewable during business hours.
YEAR: 1938

This was the first post office I visited today. Since I was headed into the city I wanted to take advantage of the sunny weather and get some good photos. The Daniel J. Doffyn post office was very busy. It was almost impossible to get a clear unobstructed photo of the front of the building. People were constantly walking in and out.

The building was named in honor of Daniel J. Doffyn a Chicago Police officer shot and killed in the line of duty according to the “Officers Down Memorial Page” dedicated to officer Doffyn.

The granite corner-stone on the front of the building was really hard to read. I wonder how much thought was put into the design of this. The granite is nice and I’m sure costly to build with, but this made it difficult to read the inscription.

Here is what I found. Henry Morgenthau Jr. Secretary of the Treasury, James A. Farley postmaster general, Louis A. Simon supervising architect, Neal A. MeLick supervising engineer, Howard L. Ghely architect. The building is dated 1936.

Update November 2015

I remember it was a super busy day when I first visited this one. I also remember being in a hurry, because I just opened the front door and peaked inside. I never actually walked all the way into the lobby. If I had done this I would have seen the art above the retail counter, but because it was a busy day with lots of people I never wanted to draw attention to myself. Ha,

Fast forward to October of this year and all that has changed. I had no problems nor was I self-conscious of what my actions. I marched right in there and started photographing the art. It was a bit challenging since it is right above the retail counter. Everyone in line was watching and observing my actions. I was able to get some good photos but the lighting was a bit tricky.

And that is how it goes sometimes during site visits and re-visits. How did I do? Please comment and share below.

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.

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Sources

• Personal visit on 1/03/2012 and 10/10/2015 by David W. Gates Jr.
• Illinois Post Office Mural Guidebook 
• United States Postal Service
• Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover]  Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz