Artwork done in metal

ADDRESS: 2339 North California Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60647
ARTIST: Hildreth Meiere
TITLE: The Post
MEDIUM: Metal (design)
STATUS: The Chicago Logan Square post office is still an active, operating facility. It is also known as the Roberto Clemente Station. The metal design can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lobby on the wall above the retail entrance.
YEAR: 1937

The Logan Square Illinois (Chicago) IL post office is also known as the Roberto Clemente Station. The stone logo above the front entrance of the building indicates this post office as (Logan Square). However, when you perform a search for the address, the name Roberto Clemente appears.

This happens to be the second post office building I’ve come across with this type of architecture. The Pilsen Station is very similar in design. The post office was named in honor of Roberto Clemente a famous baseball player from the 1960 & 1970 according to this USA Today Article. Another great example of art commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts.

While looking around I discovered the corner-stone indicating the postmaster and treasury. The stone was behind the Fedex box making this difficult to photograph, it reads as follows: Henry Morgenthau Jr. as the Secretary of the Treasury, James A. Farley as postmaster general. Louis A. Simon as supervising architect, Neal A. MeLick supervising engineer and John C. Bollenbacher. The date on the building reads 1935.

Update November 2015

Along with visiting the Chicago Uptown Station I was able to revisit Logan Square and a few other buildings. I figured since I had the morning free and the sun was out it was the perfect time to photograph. I was never happy with the photos of this one so it was great that I was able to re-visit and get better photographs.

Another bonus from my re-visit is the removal of the FedEx box. This was obstructing the corner stone of the building. During my first visit I had to take an awkward angle photo in order to get the corner stone. When I revisited in October since the FedEx box was gone I was able to get better photos.

As you can see from the cars and people it’s almost impossible to get an un-obstructive photo of this very busy post office. I stood around for a long time waiting for that perfect full shot of the building but it never happened. I was close, when one car pulled away another showed up. When the front was almost clean I’d have people walk in front of the building.

I’ve come to conclusion that it’s a two visit process in order to get all the photos I desire for a building. The first visit needs to occur when during business hours so I can view any artwork or artifacts that are inside the building. The second is to visit during non-business hours and hopefully get photos of the exterior of the building with-out any obstructions. At least that has been my experiences working the big congested cities.

Please comment and share below.

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.

Sources

• Personal visit on 1/03/2012 and 10/10/2015 by David W. Gates Jr.
• Illinois Post Office Mural Guidebook 
• United States Postal Service
• https://amzn.to/4fV2iKTDemocratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover]  Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz