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AUGUST 2020


** A Call for People with a Passion for the New Deal
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When the Living New Deal began documenting the New Deal’s public works a decade ago, we never imagined what a vast undertaking it would be. To date, our online map features 16,000 New Deal sites ([link removed]) but there are tens of thousands more sites still to be discovered.
The Living New Deal is looking for people to join our team of National Associates ([link removed]) —volunteers of all ages and backgrounds who sleuth out what the New Deal left to their communities for the Living New Deal's growing website ([link removed]) .
What our National Associates have in common is a wish to keep the New Deal legacy alive and as a model for public policy today. If you are interested in the history and the ideals of the New Deal, we invite you to get in touch about becoming a National Associate. Please write to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .


** Meet Volunteer Elliott Mendrich
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** Director, National Associates Program

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I am a New Yorker, born and raised. New York City is the Living New Deal. Most of my life was lived around something built by WPA. As a child I didn’t think of the New Deal as public policy, but as part of daily life. We lived on the Upper West Side, adjacent to Riverside Park (as WPA as you could get!) I attended PS 87, a New Deal elementary school. The subway that I used to get to school, the bridges, the tunnels— are the landmarks I most remember from my childhood. As a student of Urban Geography at the University of Chicago, I took an interest in the housing legislation of the 1930s, which were driven by the idea of providing housing for all. In many cases this led to big high rises—low income housing with good intentions, but not supportive of a good quality of life. This became a launch pad for me thinking about how Depression-era responses shaped the social aspects of cities, especially how to create environments that are humane for children and families. Cities are not
particularly friendly to those who don’t have the means to explore them. For kids, that lack of mobility can impact their entire lives. The New Deal built libraries, parks, zoos, pools and playgrounds—public spaces that improve urban quality of life. I am pleased to be supporting the 50 volunteer National Associates documenting and cataloging the range and breadth of New Deal projects all around the country. My role is to bring cohesion to this dedicated group. We couldn’t do what we do without them.


** New Deal Guide to Tennessee’s Post Offices
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National Associate David Gates, Jr. of Crystal Lake, Illinois, has been photographing and writing about U.S. Post Offices for over 15 years. As founder of postofficefans.com ([link removed]) , he has visited hundreds of post offices nationwide, many built by the New Deal during the Great Depression. Between 1934 and 1943 murals and other forms of art were commissioned and installed in public buildings under the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture, later renamed the Section of Fine Arts. Artists competed for the commissions. Gates estimates that between 1,100 and 1,400 works of art are in post offices nationwide. As the Postal Service sells off these historic buildings, the fate of the many murals and artworks is unknown. Some get moved to other public locations, while others are no longer accessible. David’s second guidebook to post office murals (the first covers Wisconsin) took him to Tennessee, where he documented 28 New Deal post offices and their
murals. The guidebook can be downloaded to your mobile phone. For more on David’s work, visit [link removed] ([link removed])


** SAVE THE DATE!
Wednesday, September 30, 6pm EDT
From the New Deal to the Green New Deal
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** Connecting the Dots Between the Past and the Future
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The New York City branch of the Living New Deal will host a virtual panel discussion on the Green New Deal—the 1.0 version under FDR and the need for a 21st Century iteration to meet the social, economic and climate challenges of our time. Keynote speaker, Robert Kuttner—noted economist and editor of The American Prospect—will be joined by a multi-disciplinary panel including NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver; visionary green architect Elisa Iturbe; historian Deborah Gardner; Green New Deal policy and design expert Billy Fleming and Julian Noisecat—writer, researcher and climate justice and indigenous sovereignty activist. Historian, journalist and novelist Kevin Baker will moderate the discussion. To reserve your spot on the call, please contact Peggy Crane (mailto:[email protected]) . Watch for an e-vite later this month featuring speakers’ bios and a Zoom link to the event, along with the opportunity to submit your questions in advance.
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** YOUR DONATIONS ([link removed]) kEEP THE NEW DEAL SPIRIT ALIVE.
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Our mailing address is:
The Living New Deal
PO Box 2148
Berkeley, CA 94702

** Susan Ives (mailto:[email protected])
, Editor
** Sheera Bleckman ([link removed])
, Production

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