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Exhibit: Posters for a New Age Inspired by New Deal Art
Opening March 6 at Canessa Gallery in San Francisco, “Art and Activism: From the New Deal to the Green New Deal,” and exhibit of WPA and contemporary posters, connects the Green New Deal to its New Deal roots. As the Creative Action Network notes, "During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal employed artists, graphic designers, and printers—many from the San Francisco Bay Area—to produce posters promoting public health, education, national parks, and the arts. Today, in response to the climate crisis, a new generation of activists turns to the power of poster to demand a Green New Deal." the opening reception is on Friday, March 6. On Friday, March 13, the gallery will host the Living New Deal's Gray Brechin, speaking about the New Deal, along with Max Slavin of the Creative Action Network. On Friday, March 20, a program featured the Sunrise Movement’s activism for a Green New Deal. All events are at 7pm. RSVP is requested. Find more details here and here, and RSVP here.
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New Deal Discovery: Women’s Testimonials from the WPA
LND National Associate, Andrew Laverdiere, has made a fascinating archival discovery at the University of Maine Library: testimonials from women employed by the New Deal. Some examples include Dorris Isaacson, a woman journalist who became a member of the Federal Writers' Project in Maine, and a WPA Sewing Project worker who offered a detailed description of the Sewing Project in Millinocket and a photograph of her women co-workers. These testimonials offer not only a snapshot of a time of great upheaval in American history, but they also help us understand the life of working women who needed to support themselves during the Great Depression. According to Dorris Isaacson, women working for the WPA had to contend with social stigma from peers who looked down upon relief work. But, as Isaacson notes, the WPA was an emancipatory force: “I would say that during this period that in Washington they liked women writers. They regarded them as colleagues.” Andrew is compiling some of these New Deal women’s stories for our New Deal Stories page.
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Where in the World is Evan: Jersey City Medical Center
Many of Evan Kalish’s New Deal history finds are chance discoveries, but few are sites as vast as the Jersey City Medical Center complex. While visiting friends who live in what is a now a modern apartment complex, Evan noticed some of the building’s early-century architectural details and fixtures. Naturally, he wondered whether there might be a New Deal connection, especially since the architectural motifs seemed to belong to the PWA/WPA Moderne style. After doing research in the local library and online, Evan confirmed his initial hunch. The complex was the work of the Public Works Administration (PWA) and had served as one of the most modern hospitals of its time. One of the buildings, the Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital, had one of the most famed maternity wards in the United States. Built in stages between 1928 and 1941, the facility has several buildings that were constructed with PWA funding during the Great Depression.
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New Deal Era Laguna Beach Digester Saved
Last time the Living New Deal reported on the woes of the New Deal-era Laguna Beach Digester, its fate seemed all but sealed: the Laguna Beach City Council was poised to vote for its demolition, an all too common fate for humble but essential facilities of historic merit. Much has changed since then. As the Laguna Beach Independent reports, “Laguna Beach’s historic sewer digester building will receive extensive restoration work, thanks to a unanimous City Council motion Tuesday that elicited applause from the audience.” The City approved spending $930,000, of which $200,000 will come from a gift pledged by filmmakers Barbara and Greg MacGillivray. The structure will continue to serve as a storage space for the Police Department and there are plans to remove the toxic sludge from the building. The community hopes to turn the digester into an active space, although an adaptive reuse project would necessitate additional funds.
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