AWOTW is back this week! I had a word request from our very own E.L. Malvaney. Sent along with this image was the following text: “To get the ball rolling again with requests for word of the week, Susasippi’s Hazelhurst… Read More ›
Post Offices 
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
![Plaza Building [Standard Life Building, Banker's Trust Building], Jackson, Hinds County. Photo by Ken PPool, MDAH, 11-01-2008. Retrieved 11/29/12 from Mississippi Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Database.](http://misspreservation.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/plaza-building-standard-life-building-bankers-trust-building-11-1-2008.jpeg?w=120&h=120&crop=1)
MissPres Architectural Word of the Week: ZigZag Molding
This is our last MissPres Architectural Word of the Week for 2012! Whether you are crying tears of sadness or joy you can check out any previous words here. As always our example photographs come from the MDAH Historic Resources… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 12-10-2012
After a period of slow news weeks, for the second week in a row we have a lot of news stories to share with MissPres readers. Starting this week in Tupelo with a story that we have been following for… Read More ›
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 ›
![Terrazzo floor detail, U.S. Post Office and Courthouse [Eastland Federal Courthouse], Jackson, Hinds County. Photo by Jennifer Baughn, MDAH, 8/11/2010. Retrieved 10/01/12 from Mississippi Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Database.](http://misspreservation.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/u-s-post-office-and-courthouse-eastland-federal-courthouse.jpeg?w=120&h=120&crop=1)
MissPres Architectural Word of the Week: Terrazzo
This week’s word is brought to you by the letter T as defined by William J. Hornung’s Architectural Drafting:
MissPres Architectural Word of the Week: Pilaster
Time for another MissPres Architectural Word of the Week. As we move right along through the alphabet, you can check out our past words here. Have you been keeping an eye out for these elements like I have? This week’s… Read More ›
Going Inside: Brookhaven P.O.
Listed on the National Register both individually and as part of the Downtown Brookhaven Historic District, the Brookhaven Post Office is an impressive building. It’s also surrounded by impressive buildings, including the First Methodist Church and the Whitworth College campus… Read More ›
Oxford City Hall, former Federal Building and Post Office
Next up on the “101 Places in Mississippi to see before you die” list is the City Hall of Oxford, former Federal Building and Post Office for 90 years (1885-1975). The City Hall took 5% (43 votes) of the vote… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 1-17-2012
Wow! We’re already into the 3rd week of January. I know our friends at MDAH are busy this week – National Register Nominations will be considered at their Review Board meeting on Thursday and their Board of Trustees meets Friday… Read More ›
Merry Christmas 2011
The current Biloxi City Hall was built as the U.S. Federal Building in 1905-08. The city acquired the building from the federal government in 1960 after the New Federal Building in Biloxi was completed. In my opinion it is the… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 1-18-2011
Although this roundup isn’t on our typical day, there’s been enough news this week to go ahead and post one this week. We’ll start with a story that most of you probably already know about – especially if you watched… Read More ›
General Services Administration Historic Building Program
The General Services Administration (or GSA) is the agency tasked with being the landlord for the Federal Government. Established in 1949 they are responsible for construction of new Federal buildings, as well as maintaining many historic Federally owned structures. The… Read More ›
More About R.H. Hunt, and an Art Deco Delight
Yesterday, I showed just a few of the Mississippi gems designed by Chattanooga architect R.H. Hunt during his 40-year career beginning in the 1890s. To end the week on a high note, here are a few of the Hunt buildings… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 8-30-2010
This News Roundup will cover some new news and some of the older news that I could not fit into the last Roundup. And here is the news. Let’s start this News Roundup with news from Starkville, an area that… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 5-17-2010
It’s been a couple weeks since our last news roundup, so I thought I’d stick one in on Monday instead of Friday/Saturday. I hope this temporary change in schedule doesn’t blow everybody’s minds. Some crazy stuff has been happening around… Read More ›
WPA Guide to the Magnolia State: But the Depression is Great!
Today we come to the conclusion of the WPA Guide to the Magnolia State and its section on Architecture. While Beverly Martin, the young architect we have conjectured is the author, has shown his bias for the antebellum era and… Read More ›
Why I want to live at Hattiesburg’s Art Deco P.O.
As I was headed out of Hattiesburg a week or so ago–having taken my pictures of Eaton School and scowling about the lack of progress and initiative on that roof (still haven’t heard an update, but I hope somebody finally… Read More ›
Dealing with Difficult Histories
I don’t know if any of you saw this article in Sunday’s Clarion-Ledger (“When Art Offends,” June 7, 2009) about the awkwardness of the Depression-era mural in Jackson’s federal courthouse–what to do about the stereotypical and degrading depictions of the black characters in… Read More ›
