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OCTOBER 2020


** Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor Heat Nor Gloom—Nor Politics?

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During the Great Depression, struggling artists got work through federal art programs creating public art that reflected America to itself. The 1,200 murals they painted in post offices around the country often portrayed hard work, determination and confidence—values meant to encourage Americans through hard times. As post offices are sold and these murals vanish from view, Americans’ determination and confidence are being tested, as is the U.S. Postal Service’s ability to deliver the 80 million mail-in ballots expected to be cast in next month’s election on time—potentially disqualifying them. Chiseled in granite on New York City General Post Office is this promise, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” It makes no promises about politics. LEARN MORE
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** Come Home, America ([link removed] )
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** by Harvey Smith
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Homelessness in the U.S. has become so normalized as to be accepted as a fact of life. This was not always the case. In his “Second Bill of Rights” speech in 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt declared employment, education, housing and medical care as rights due every citizen—values that underpinned the New Deal and the humane policies they inspired. READ MORE ([link removed])

Learn more: The New Yorker: Review, “Modern Housing” ([link removed] )


** A Near-Forgotten Black World’s Fair, Remembered ([link removed] )
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** by Jonathan Shipley
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The official program of the “Diamond Jubilee of Negro Progress,” which opened at the Chicago Coliseum on July 4, 1940, states, “This is the first real Negro World’s Fair in all history...The Exposition will promote racial understanding and good will; enlighten the world to the contributions of the Negro to civilization and make the Negro conscious of his dramatic progress since emancipation.” President Roosevelt was honored to participate. READ MORE ([link removed])

Watch: Preserving Dioramas of African American History (6:40 minutes) CBS Sunday Morning ([link removed])

HAPPENINGS
Key Dates and Information
The U.S. Elections Assistance Commission’s interactive website ([link removed] ) explains how and when to register; request a mail-in ballot; vote in your state and more.
"Pressing Issues, Printmaking as Social Justice in 1930's United States"
October 3-December 23, 2020
Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign
Relying primarily on rarely displayed Works Progress Administration/Federal Art Project prints, “Pressing Issues” brings together work by artists in the 1930s, who, through their art, produced radical, critical commentaries on the social injustices plaguing the country at that time. LEARN MORE ([link removed] )
An Activist's Art Book: Posters For A Green New Deal
Inspired by the style and spirit of the original WPA posters, Creative Action Network engages artists around the world in designing posters for social change. A just-released book assembles 50 posters for a Green New Deal, each accompanied by evocative prose explaining the issue and the path forward. The book has been called “a teaching tool for anyone who needs it, which is everyone.” LEARN MORE ([link removed] )
REPLAY
Report Tells Congress to Halt Post Office Sell Off ([link removed])
June 12, 2014
By Gray Brechin
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) has issued a report to Congress expressing “significant concerns” about the lack of transparency and accountability by which the USPS is transferring public property to private ownership.
THE NEW DEAL IN THE NEWS


** Some links may limit access for nonsubscribers. Please support local journalism, if you can.
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death Revives Talk of Court Packing ([link removed])
The idea, recalling a plan by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, is increasingly popular among progressives, but faces roadblocks among members of both parties.
By Astead W. Herndon and Maggie Astor
The New York Times, September 19, 2020

FDR's Losing Battle To Pack The Supreme Court ([link removed])
Even before Roosevelt took office in 1933, he knew a conflict with the high court was inevitable.
LISTEN: Interview with historian Jeff Shesol, author of “Supreme Power.” ([link removed] )
Fresh Air, April 13, 2010 (37 minutes)

The Lost History of FDR’s Court Stacking Scandal ([link removed])
FDR’s court-packing battle is one of the best-known constitutional struggles in U.S. history. Almost no one understands what really happened.
By Judge Glock, Senior policy adviser, Cicero Institute, a nonpartisan think tank
Politico, February 24, 2019
"We want a Supreme Court which will do justice under the Constitution and not over it. In our courts we want a government of laws and not of men."

Fireside Chat on Reorganization of the Judiciary, March 9, 1937
Listen: FDR Fireside Chat 9: On "Court-Packing" ([link removed] )


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In Case You Missed It

Watch: “From the New Deal to the Green New Deal” ([link removed])
A Living New Deal-NYC webinar on September 30, 2020 featuring leading thinkers on the economic, environmental, social, and political changes that many of us want to see and be part of.
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