A total of twenty-nine artist created murals in thirty Tennessee Post Office buildings during the Great Depression of the 1930s. One of the artist Minna Citron received multiple commissions. The artist and their awarded sites as listed below.

We have found having a list such as this is convenient when performing research at the National Archives Records and Administration. Any researcher will reveal, that finding information is part of the fun, somethings what you are looking for is catalogued by the artist name. Other times the research materials you need may be cataloged by the city or town, and so on.

Having a list to refer to is helpful on your journey of discovering these wonderful treasures in our nations post offices.

Tennessee Post Office Mural Artist

Bolivar – Carl Nyquist
Camden – John H. Fyfe
Chattanooga – Leopold Scholz, sculpture
Chattanooga – Hilton Leech, mural
Clarksville – F. Luis Mora
Clinton – Horace Talmage Day
Columbia – Henry Billings, mural
Columbia – Sidney Waugh, sculpture
Crossville – Marion Greenwood
Dayton – Bertram Hartman
Decherd – Enea Biafora
Dickson – Edwin Boyd Johnson
Dresden – Minetta Good
Gleason – Anne Poor
Greeneville – William Zorach
Jefferson City – Charles Child
Johnson City – Wendell Jones
La Follette – Dahlov Ipcar
Lenoir City – David Stone Martin
Lewisburg – John H.R. Pickett
Lexington – Grace Greenwood (Ames)
Livingston – Margaret Covey Chisholm
Manchester – Minna Citron*
McKenzie – Karl Oberteuffer
Mount Pleasant – Eugene Higgins
Nashville – Belle Kinney
Newport – Minna Citron*
Ripley – Marguerite Zorach
Rockwood – Christian Henrich
Sweetwater – Thelma Martin

Sources

David W. Gates Jr. on site visits to each location.
Tennessee Post Office Murals by David W. Gates Jr.
Indiana Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
National Archives Records and Administration, College Park Maryland
Who was who in American Art, 1564-1975: 400 years of artist in America, Peter H Falk; Audrey M Lewis, Georgia Kuchen, Veronika Roessler, Madison, CT, Mount View Press. 1999.
Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz

ADDRESS: 100 N. Cedar St., Gleason, Tennessee, 38229
ARTIST: Anne Poor
TITLE: Gleason Agriculture
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Gleason post office is still an active, operating facility, and the mural can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lobby on the wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1942

Today’s featured post office is Gleason Tennessee. A wonderful small town with a great post office.

This is just my opinion, but I have to say it. I love post office murals, but this one for some reason just doesn’t do it for me. Maybe its the all dark green feel to the work or maybe the black and white style of the figures on the right side of the mural. I’m having a hard time loving this one.

The front of the building is not necessarily my favorite either. The large white border to the windows and the style of the building is not aesthetically pleasing to me. But what do I know? I still love the fact that this post office has not closed and that the mural is still viewable for the public to enjoy. Which is much more than can be said for some other towns in Tennessee

What are your thoughts on this building? What are your thoughts on this mural? Do you like or dislike this one?

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.