The Randolph school’s vocational building was constructed by the National Youth Administration in 1939 during expansion of the school complex (Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Historic Resources Inventory database). A teacher’s house was also constructed, and is located behind… Read More ›
The Ecru building, clad in “native stone,” retains its exterior features, including pent awnings over the doors and 9/9 double hung sash windows. (Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Historic Resources Inventory) While I have seen these before, I don’t… Read More ›
The Eupora High School was begun in 1938 and completed in 1940, and built through the Works Progress Administration (Mississippi Department of Archives and History/Historic Resources Inventory database; What are we up to? Belinda Stewart Architects; E. L. Malvaney in… Read More ›
Eupora Community House was built circa 1938, and is conjectured to have been built with Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor (Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Historic Resources Inventory database; David Preziosi, n. d.). The first known access to a… Read More ›
The Eupora Post Office was completed in 1941, the 8th Mississippi post office to be designed by Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect of the Office of Supervising Architect of the Treasury (Mississippi Department of Archives and History/Historic Resources Inventory database). … Read More ›
Most of the town and county libraries in Mississippi began as Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) or Works Progress Administration (WPA) libraries (Martha H. Swain, Mississippi History Now). The Library Project was considered a “showcase” project for the nation. The… Read More ›
Remember the “101 places in Mississippi to see before you die” list? It’s been a while since we have stopped by to see one on Suzassippi’s Mississippi, what with hunting down all the New Deal Administration buildings in the state. … Read More ›
In another of the series of 32 post offices built in Mississippi with help from the New Deal Administration funding, Louisville stands out. This Colonial Revival building was constructed in 1935 by Dye and Mullings from Columbia-Hattiesburg, under the Office… Read More ›
I love a story with a happy ending, and this one might not have if not for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The building is the old Philadelphia Library constructed in 1935 as part of the New Deal… Read More ›
The last–literally, the last house still standing–of the New Deal Administration-funded projects we will visit on the campus of the University of Mississippi is faculty housing. Using primarily Works Progress Administration funds (Gerald Walton, The University of Mississippi: A Pictorial History, 2008), 22… Read More ›
Built as the new Student Union Building in 1939, Weir Memorial Hall was designed by R. W. Naef in Greek Revival style (Mississippi Department of Archives & History/Historic Resources Inventory database). Walter L. Perry Construction Company of Philadelphia, Mississippi… Read More ›
Today’s guest post is brought to us by Kyle Wrather, a native of Columbus, Miss. Kyle holds degrees in English and Communication from Mississippi State University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in mass communication from Georgia State University in… Read More ›
Somerville Hall and Barnard Hall are the final two dormitories built with New Deal Administration funds on the campus of the University of Mississippi. They were not the final buildings–we still have a few more to go, including one that… Read More ›
Along with three other new dormitories, Garland, Hedleston, and Mayes Halls were dedicated October 21-22, 1938 (Gerald W. Walton. 2008. The University of Mississippi: A Pictorial History. Nashville, TN: The Booksmith Group). Built with funds from the Federal Emergency Administration of Public… Read More ›
The former post office in Batesville is in the town area known as Public Square, and is one of the more imaginative and attractive post office buildings constructed under the New Deal administration. The slight arch of the recessed windows… Read More ›
After taking a few weeks off from my might-never-end quest to document all the New Deal Administration properties in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, I was back on the hunt again this week. I was intrigued by this building–the Clarksdale Civic… Read More ›
In the quest to document all the PWA-funded buildings on the University of Mississippi campus, here is yet another of the contributions to campus made by the New Deal administration of President Roosevelt. A few weeks back, a reader referred… Read More ›
…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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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, 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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
Preservation in Mississippi 