Fay Elizabeth Davis

Indiana Post Office Mural Artist

January 13, 2024 By David W. Gates Jr.

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

Illinois Post Office Mural Artists

April 12, 2022 By David W. Gates Jr.

The following is a list of all the artists that created murals in Illinois post offices during the New Deal. As I’ve been doing my research I felt it might be helpful for others so I decided to write-up an article with my findings.

If you ever visit the National Archives in Washington DC, then you may notice this comes in handy. Some of the records and files are organized by state. Other records are organized by the name of the artists.

I found it useful to have a listing of both. So here it is.

Illinois Post Office Mural Artist

Abingdon, Illinois – Newell Hillis Arnold
Berwyn, Illinois – Richard Haines
Brookfield, Illinois – Edouard Chassaing
Bushnell, Illinois – Reva Jackman
Carlyle, Illinois – Curt Drewes
Carmi, Illinois – William Davenport Griffin
Carthage, Illinois – Karl Kelpe
Chester, Illinois – Fay Elizabeth Davis
Chicago, Former Chestnut – Frances Foy
Chicago, Former Chestnut – Gustaf Dalstrom
Chicago, Kedzie – Peterpaul Ott
Chicago, Lakeview – Harry Sternberg
Chicago, Logan Square – Hildreth Meiere
Chicago, Morgan Park – John Theodore Johnson
Chicago, Uptown – Henry Varnum Poor
Chillicothe, Illinois – Arthur Herschel Lidov
Clinton, Illinois – Aaron Bohrod
Decatur, Illinois – Edward Millman
Decatur, Illinois – Edgar Britton
Decatur, Illinois – Mitchell Siporin
Des Plaines, Illinois – James Michael Newell
Downers Grove, Illinois – Elizabeth Tracy
Dwight, Illinois – Carlos Lopez
East Alton, Illinois – Frances Foy
East Moline, Illinois – Edgar Britton
Eldorado, Illinois – William Samuel Schwartz
Elmhurst, Illinois – George Melville Smith
Evanston, Illinois – Robert Isaiah Russin
Evanston, Illinois – Armin Alfred Scheler
Fairfield, Illinois – William Samuel Schwartz
Flora, Illinois – William Davenport Griffin
Forest Park, Illinois – Miriam McKinnie Hofmeier
Galesburg, Illinois – Aaron Board
Geneva, Illinois – Manuel Abraham Bromberg
Gibson City, Illinois – Frances Foy
Gillespie, Illinois – Gustaf Dalstrom
Glen Ellyn, Illinois – Daniel Rhodes
Hamilton, Illinois – Edmund D. Lewandowski
Herrin, Illinois – Gustaf Dalstrom
Homewood, Illinois – Maurine Montgomery Gibbs
Kankakee, Illinois – Edouard Chassaing
Lemont, Illinois – Charles Turzak
Lewistown, Illinois – Ida Abelman
Madison, Illinois – Alexander Raymond Katz
Marseilles, Illinois – Avery Johnson
Marshall, Illinois – Miriam McKinnie Hofmeier
McLeansboro, Illinois – Dorothea Mierisch
Melrose Park, Illinois – Edwin Boyd Johnson
Moline, Illinois – Edward Millman
Morton, Illinois – Charles Umlauf
Mount Carroll, Illinois – Irene Soravia Bianucci
Mount Morris, Illinois – Dale Nichols
Mount Sterling, Illinois – Henry Bernstein
Naperville, Illinois – Rainey Bennett
Nashville, Illinois – Zoltan Sepeshy
Nokomis, Illinois – Bernard J. Rosenthal
Normal, Illinois – Albert Pels
Oak Park, Illinois – John Theodore Johnson
O’Fallon, Illinois – Merlin F. Pollock
Oglesby, Illinois – Fay Elizabeth Davis
Oregon, Illinois – David B. Cheskin
Park Ridge, Illinois – George Melville Smith
Peoria, Illinois – Freeman Schoolcraft
Petersburg, Illinois – John Winters
Pittsfield, Illinois – William Samuel Schwartz
Plano, Illinois – Peterpaul Ott
Rock Falls, Illinois – Curt Drewes
Rushville, Illinois – Rainey Bennett
Salem, Illinois – Walter Vladimir Rousseff
Sandwich, Illinois – Marshall Maynard Fredericks
Shelbyville, Illinois – Lucia May Wiley
Staunton, Illinois – Ralf Christian Henricksen
Tuscola, Illinois – Edwin Boyd Johnson
Vandalia, Illinois – Aaron Board
Virden, Illinois – James Daugherty
White Hall, Illinois – Felix Oscar Schlag
Wilmette, Illinois – Raymond Breinin
Wood River – Roxana, Illinois – Archibald Motley Jr.

Sources

David W. Gates Jr. on site visits to each location.
Illinois 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

Ligonier Indiana Post Office

December 23, 2021 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 201 S., Main St., Ligonier, Indiana 46767
ARTIST: Fay E. Davis
TITLE: Cutting Timber
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Ligonier 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 a wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1939

I managed to visit this one twice in one day to get the best possible photograph. It wan’t in my plan, but it worked out that way. I’ll need to revisit to see the mural. It was Sunday and the lobby was closed.

I’m loving the eagle and the spider web looking design above the door.

David W. Gates Jr.