Author Archives
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New Deal on UM Campus: Kennon Observatory
…conditions in Mississippi were worse than at any time since the Civil War (Harry Hopkins, 1936, Spending to Save: The Complete Story of Relief). With a state government in bankruptcy, Mississippi welcomed the federal funds that finally began to trickle down… Read More ›
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Lewis Hall: The New Deal on the UM Campus
Ya’ll all know I’ve been fascinated the past few months with the New Deal architecture. I was recently lunching with a history professor and telling her about this new passion and she exclaimed, “I was shaped by the New Deal!”… Read More ›
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Village Apartments: Mid-century surviving on Ole Miss campus
Whether you call it a masonry screen or a concrete block screen, I sort of fell in love with them first when Malvaney (not the original) wrote In Praise of Masonry Screens. Then, Thomas Rosell whetted my appetite with a little Screen… Read More ›
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Rural Mississippi–From Early Days to Present
The mural by Lucile Blanch in the Tylertown post office can claim something that few other post offices can. Not only did the artist (also known as Lucille Blanch, Lucile Lunquist Blanch, Lucile Lundquist-Blanch, and Lucille Lundquist-Blanch) actually paint the… Read More ›
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Dedicated to the People: Natchez-Vidalia Bridge
On making my first trip to Natchez several years ago, I was curious as to why there was a circular “park” just before one crossed the Mississippi bridge to Vidalia. It is next to the tourist information building, and I… Read More ›
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Natchez City Auditorium: Another New Deal building still benefitting Mississippi citizens
Natchez’ 1938-39 auditorium was a product of the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, Project number 1350 in Mississippi (Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Historic Resources Inventory database). Its “broad, hexastyle pedimented Doric portico” (which is an architectural term… Read More ›
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Magnolia: Three New Deal Murals in One Post Office
This week, we profile the seventh of the 32 post office in Mississippi which were built, and decorated with “art for the people” under the auspices of the New Deal Administration. Magnolia boasts three murals (“… one of a handful… Read More ›
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Life in the Mississippi Cotton Belt
Auriel Bessemer’s 1939 mural is one of a number of Mississippi post office murals, commissioned through the Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts program, that depicted the cotton industry in the state. Bessemer, daughter of Hungarian immigrants, was from Grand… Read More ›
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Crystal Springs Tomatropolis: Henry La Cagnina’s Harvest
Crystal Springs, Mississippi was once known as the “Tomatropolis of the World” (and had a big tomato-shaped sign to prove it) and was the largest shipper of tomatoes in the United States (LaTricia M. Nelson-Easley. 2007. Images of America: Copiah… Read More ›
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The Living New Deal Project
The Living New Deal Project, University of California-Berkeley, is an ambitious project with two primary goals: to map and describe every New Deal Project in the United States in one location, easily accessible to people, and to publicize how we… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Durant Post Office and Mural
Isidore Toberoff’s mural, Erosion, Reclamation and Conservation of the Soil, was completed in 1942 (Mississippi Department of Archives and History/Historic Resources Inventory database). The oil-on-canvas work was completed under the auspices of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts (NewDealArtRegistry.org). Toberoff… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Monroe County Chancery Building
Monroe County’s Chancery Building, built 1885-87 as a post office and federal building (Mississippi Department of Archives & History/Historic Resources Inventory database), did not make it to the 101 Places in Mississippi to See Before you Die list. It was… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Leland Post Office Mural
The Leland Post Office mural, “Ginnin’ Cotton” by Stuart Purser, is oil on canvas, mounted on paperboard, and was completed 1940 (Smithsonian American Art Museum). Purser’s design was the winning submission for Mississippi in the 48-state mural competition. Purser was… Read More ›
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Former First Christian Church: The Windows of Amory
Erected in 1926, the former First Christian Church of Amory was designed in an Eclectic/Composite style (Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Historic Resources Inventory database). The building still retains its 14 foot tin-covered ceiling, and original stained glass. According… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Houston Post Office Mural
Of the twenty-eight works of art placed in Mississippi’s federal buildings under the New Deal federal art programs, only three were created by Mississippi artists–a fact not uncontested by Mississippians (Patti Carr Black, 1998, Art in Mississippi, 1720-1980). Byron Burford,… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Amory Post Office Mural
During the Great Depression, murals were commissioned for federal, state, and local buildings by the federal government in what has been called …the most innovative and comprehensive program for government patronage in American history. (Parks & Markowitz, 1984, p. 5, as… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Rowan Oak
Rowan Oak, the home of William Faulkner from 1930 until his death in 1962, ranked number 1 on the Oxford-Holly Springs regional poll results for the 101 Places in Mississippi to see before you die list. I actually made it… Read More ›
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United States Institute of Peace Headquarters: Shaping the public realm, responding to the essence of place, and humanizing the megascale
I know Washington, DC is a little off the path for Mississippi architecture, but I think the relevance will become clear. The photographs were taken from the upper deck of a moving bus, so obviously, the perspective will be affected,… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Beauty in Brutalism?
The concrete architecture of a few decades ago, once lauded, is now mostly viewed with scorn. Before we tear it down, we should consider what will be lost. (Kubo, Pasnik, & Grimley, 2010, Tough Love: In Defense of Brutalism. Architect: The magazine of the American Institute of Architects)
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Burns “Belfry” Church Update
Work is continuing to move forward on the former Burns Methodist Church in Oxford. The …brick vernacular Gothic Revival church with two asymmetrical front corner towers…(Mississippi Department of Archives & History/Historic Resources Inventory) was constructed in 1910 on the edge… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: What does the First Baptist Church in Pontotoc have in common with the First Methodist Church in Batesville?
I might have missed the First Baptist Church of Pontotoc but for a fortuitous decision to walk to the back of the courthouse and photograph the courtroom. On turning around, I spotted the dome behind the post office, and noted… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Old Pontotoc Post Office
A few weeks ago, Mark Davis’ Restoring Picayune’s Disappeared WPA Mural not only provided a great story about the Picayune Post Office WPA mural, but included some wonderful photographs of other WPA post office murals. Not long after that, I found myself… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Pontotoc County Courthouse
Pontotoc County’s Neoclassical courthouse–a joint venture between Mahan & Broadwell of Memphis and a young N. W. Overstreet–was constructed in 1915, facing the old courthouse which stood on the town square (Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Historic Resources Inventory). After… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Inside View of Progress on the Taborian Hospital
Ever since my first glimpse of the Taborian Hospital, I have waited for the day I would be able to go inside. Abatement complete and the general clean-up done, and the long-awaited trip inside became reality last month. I am… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Howry-Hull House, aka Fiddler’s Folly
The intense humidity post-Isaac has left me wanting to stay closer to home these days, so there have been no recent road trips. I took a few sweaty minutes to wander up the tree-lined North Lamar Historic District Sunday afternoon… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Senatobia High School
Senatobia High School was constructed in 1938, apparently as a project of the Works Progress Administration (National Register of Historic Places nomination form, John L. Hopkins, 1993). The Art Moderne auditorium is located on the approximate original site of the… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Tate County Courthouse
I think it is part of my nature that I tend to root for the underdog. When it comes to things like world peace and hunger and poverty, this is hugely important. When it comes to the 101 Places in… Read More ›
