Jean Swiggett Franklin IN Artist — Jean Swiggett Franklin Indiana Artist

A total of thirty-six artist created murals in forty-two Indiana Post Office buildings during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Seven 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.

Indiana Post Office Mural Artist

Alexandria: Roland Author Schweinsburg
Angola: Charles Malcolm Campbell
Attica: Reva Jackman
Aurora: Henrik Martin Mayer*
Batesville: Orville A. Carroll
Bedford: John Fabion
Berne: Walter Gardner
Bloomfield: Lilian Swann Saarinen
Boonville: Ida York Abelman
Cambridge City: Samuel Franklin Hershey
Crawfordsville: Frank Weathers Long
Crown Point: George Melville Smith
Culver: Jessie Hull Mayer*
Danville: Gail Wycoff Martin
Dunkirk: Frances Foy Dalstrom
Fowler: Nat Werner
Franklin: Jean Swiggett
Gas City: William Adelbert Dolwick*
Garrett: Joe Cox
Hobart: William Adelbert Dolwick*
Indianapolis-Birch Bayh Federal Building: Grant Wright Christian*
Indianapolis-Birth Bayh Federal Building: David K. Rubins
Indianapolis-Broad Ripple: Alan Tompkins*
Jasper: Jessie Hull Mayer*
Knightstown: Raymond L. Morris
Lafayette: Henrik Martin Mayer*
Lagrange: Jessie Hull Mayer*
Liberty: Avery Johnson
Ligonier: Fay E. Davis
Martinsville: Alan Tompkins*
Middlebury: Raymond Redell
Monticello: Marguerite Thompson Zorach
Nappanee: Grant Wright Christian*
North Manchester: Alan Tompkins*
Paoli: Tom Rost
Pendleton: William Frederick Kaeser
Rensselaer: John Edward Costigan
Rockville: Milton Avery
Spencer: Joseph Meert
Tell City: Laci de Gerenday
Terre Haute: Frederick Webb Ross
Tipton: Donald Magnus Mattison*
Union City: Donald Magnus Mattison*

Henrick Martin Mayer
Jessie Hull Mayer
William Dolwick
Grant Wright Christian
Alan Tompkins
Donald Mattison

Sources

David W. Gates Jr. on site visits to each location.
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: 46 E. Ohio St., Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
ARTIST: Grant Wright Christian & Reynold Selfridge
TITLE: Mail, Transportation and Delivery, Culture & Education, Safety Patrol, To Those Who Served, Early & Present Day Indianapolis Life
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (murals) 9 panels
STATUS: The Indiana Post Office and Courthouse no longer houses the United States Postal Service. However, the building is still an active Federal building with GSA, Marshall and Courtrooms present.
YEAR: 1936

ADDRESS: 46 E. Ohio St., Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
ARTIST: David K. Rubins
TITLE: Distribution of the Mail
MEDIUM: Limestone (reliefs)
STATUS: The Indiana Post Office and Courthouse no longer houses the United States Postal Service. However, the building is still an active Federal building with GSA, Marshall and Courtrooms present.
YEAR: 1936

My recent visit to Indianapolis was to visit the Indiana Historical Society. I was looking to get some preliminary research done for the Indiana post office murals. The historical society is only open until 5:00 PM which left me time to walk over the Birch Bayh Federal building.

This is a great looking building and it also have some great statutes on the exterior of the building. Since it was a weekend, I didn’t even try to get inside to view the murals, and since that wasn’t the purpose of my trip anyway.

I’ll plan another trip to Indianapolis in the future, but for now here are some exterior images of this magnificent Building.

David W. Gates Jr.