Life Magazine December 1939 Post Office Mural Article
About David W. Gates Jr.
David W. Gates Jr. is an award winning author who writes about the murals and other forms of art found in post offices nation-wide.
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[…] Details about the mural, particularly its 12 ft. by 6 ft. size, may lead you to suspect this fictional things-are-not-what-they-seem novel may be inspired by history. Turns out it is. The 48 States Competition held in 1939 is the year Anna’s story begins. Run not as an FDR New Deal program administered by the Work Project’s Administration (WPA), but oddly by an unknown Painting and Sculpture division in the Treasury Department (ended in 1943), with the same employment mission. The competition selected artists to paint murals to hang in the WPA’s newly constructed post offices. Interestingly, one of Anna’s chapters is dated December 14, 1939, the same date Life magazine published the winning artists’ State submissions. And yes, the images were painted on large 12 ft. x 6 ft. canvases. […]
[…] Details about the mural, particularly its 12 ft. by 6 ft. size, may lead you to suspect this fictional things-are-not-what-they-seem novel may be inspired by history. Turns out it is. The 48 States Competition held in 1939 is the year Anna’s story begins. Run not as an FDR New Deal program administered by the Work Project’s Administration (WPA), but oddly by an unknown Painting and Sculpture division in the Treasury Department (ended in 1943), with the same employment mission. The competition selected artists to paint murals to hang in the WPA’s newly constructed post offices. Interestingly, one of Anna’s chapters is dated December 14, 1939, the same date Life magazine published the winning artists’ State submissions. And yes, the images were painted on large 12 ft. x 6 ft. canvases. […]