ADDRESS: 203 West Walnut Street, Oglesby, Illinois, 61348
ARTIST: Fay Elizabeth Davis
TITLE: The Illini and Pottawatomies Struggle at Starved Rock
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Oglesby post office is still an active, operating facility, and the mural can be viewed by interested members of the public. It mural resides in the lobby on the wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1942
This happens to be a larger example of the murals found in our Nation’s post offices. It represents the struggle between the Illini and Pottawatomies at Starved Rock. If you ever get the chance to visit Starved Rock, I’d recommend stopping in for a quick look at this treasure.
I took a lot of detail pictures of this one. I really wanted to give you a feel/view of what this looks like. In doing this I also discovered the mural is starting to warp in a few places. I wonder if this one will ever be repaired or restored? If you have any information in regards to this mural, I’d like to hear from you. Please comment below.
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 6/19/2014 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
- (affiliate link) Let’s Look for Cultures, Education and Such: [Soft Cover] Mary Emma Thompson, PH. D.
- Smithsonian National Postal Museum
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- National Coalition Against Censorship
[…] town post office on Walnut looked about as WPA as can be. Being Sunday, we couldn’t go in and look at the 1942 mural, “The Illini and Pottawatomies […]