Freehold New Jersey Former Post Office 07728

A total of forty-five artist created murals in forty-seven New Jersey Post Office buildings during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Four of the artist received multiple commissions as noted below. 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.

New Jersey Post Office Mural Artists

Atlantic City – Peppino Mangravite
Boonton – Enid Bell*
Bordentown – Avery Johnson*
Caldwell – Brenda Putnam
Former Cliffside Park – Bruno Neri
Former Clifton – John Sitton
Cranford – Gerald Foster*
Fort Lee – Henry Schnakenberg
Former Freehold – Gerald Foster*
Garfield – Robert Laurent
Glen Ridge – James Chapin
Gloucester City – Vincent D’ Agostino
Haddon Heights – Isamu Noguchi
Hammonton – Spero Anageros
Harrison – Murray J. Roper
Kearny – Albert Kotin
Linden – Sahl Swarz
Former Little Falls – James Brooks
Matawan – Armin A. Scheler
Metuchen – Harld Ambellan
Millburn – Gerald Foster*
Mount Holly – Enid Bell*
New Brunswick – George Biddle
New Brunswick – Ruth Nickerson
Newark – Romuald Kraus*
Newark – Vicken Von Post Totten
North Bergen – Avery Johnson*
Nutley – Paul C. Chapman
Patterson – Ilse Erythropel
Paulsboro – Nena de Brennecke
Penns Grove – Benjamin Hawkins
Pitman – Nathaniel Choate
Plainfield – Anton Refregier
Pompton Lakes – A. Stirling Calder
Princeton – Karl Free
Ridgefield Park – Thomas Donnelly
Ridgewood – Romuald Kraus*
Riverside – John Poehler
Short Hills – Ernest Lawson
South Orange – Bernard Perlin
South River – Maurice Glickman
Summit – Fiske Boyd
Former Toms River – Milton Hebald
Trenton – Charles W. Ward
Washington – Frank D. Shapiro
West New York – William Dean Fausett
Westfield – Roy Hilton
Westwood – Hunt Diederich
Wildwood – Dennis Burlingame

Sources

David W. Gates Jr. on site visits to each location.
New Jersey 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

South Orange New Jersey Post Office 07079

ADDRESS: 31 Vose Ave., South Orange, New Jersey 07079
ARTIST: Bernard Perlin
TITLE: Family Scene
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The South Orange 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: 1936

Note to self again, taking photos of the exterior of this one in the late afternoon is a challenge. The sun sets behind the building making it difficult to shoot into the sun and get the front of the building. I was here about 5:30 in the afternoon.

The lobby is also not open after hours, so I’ll need to plan another visit to photograph the mural.

UPDATE

South Orange was one stop during my August 2021 trip. I made it a point to visit during business hours. The plan was to visit first thing in the morning for the sunrise and then to get the inside images of the mural. My timing was perfect and I was able to achieve both in August. Check this one off my list.

One major disappointment is the ceiling light fixture hangs right in front of the mural. Is nearly impossible to get an unobstructed view and photograph of the mural. Multiple close up shots help to show the real beauty of this one.

David W. Gates Jr.