ADDRESS: 56 W. Main St., Penns Grove, New Jersey 08069
ARTIST: Benjamin Hawkins
TITLE: Early Traders
MEDIUM: Stone (sculpture)
STATUS: The Penns Grove post office is still an active, operating facility, and the sculpture can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lobby on the wall above the entrance door.
YEAR: 1940
The most striking attribute of this Penns Grove post office is the cupola. Quit large and interesting. This particular stone relief is kinda nice.
It seems kinda plain to me, but sometimes simplicity is a good thing. It’s nice to see the historical document hear the relief which explains a bit more about the artwork. This is the sort of correspondence you’ll see when you do research at the National Archives.
David W. Gates Jr.
PENNS GROVE, NEW JERSEY, POST OFFICE
The sculpture over the entrance door of the public lobby was executed in cast stone by Benjamin Hawkins of New York City. Mr. Hawkins received his commission as a result of an Honorable Mention in a Section of Fine Arts National Competition.
DESCRIPTION OF SCULPTURE
When southern New Jersey was first settled, there was much peaceful bartering between the Indians and the Quakers. In this relief panel an Indian holds up a pelt which a Quakers examines. At the let a crouching Indian watches the proceedings. The have muzzle loading gun held by the Quaker and his sturdy strong-box lend historical color.
NOTE ON THE SCULPTOR
Benjamin Hawkins was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1896. He studied with Victor Holm, Leo Lentelli and Lee Lawrie. A member of the National Sculpture Society, he won the Avery Prize of the Architectural League of New York in 1933. Among other works executed by Mr. Hawkins may be mentioned the War Memorial for Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His other work for the Section of Fine Arts includes sculpture for the Post Office in Hyannis, Massachusetts and two monumental figures which flank the entrance to the U.S. Court House and Customs House in St. Louis, Missouri.
SECTION OF FINE ARTS
The aim of the Section of Fine Arts is to secure murals and sculpture of distinguished quality appropriate to the embellishment of Federal Buildings. Approximately 1% of the total of limit of cost of the buildings is reserved for this decoration. The Section holds open anonymous competitions, national, regional, state or local, to which all citizens artists of the United States are eligible. A different jury of painters or sculptures, unattached to the Section, judges each competition. The jury members are selected on the basis of experience and knowledge. They are called upon to judge the intrinsic quality of the painting or the sculpture and its relationship to its setting.
Section of Fine Arts Public Buildings Administration Federal Works Agency.
Sources
- Personal visit on 5/19/21 about 1:05PM by David W. Gates Jr.
- (affiliate link) New Jersey Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
- United States Postal Service
- National Archives Records and Administration
- (affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
