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Unsung Hero of the New York City New Deal
Our National Associate Frank da Cruz has long had an interest in the built legacy of the New Deal in New York City. Much of this legacy, he argues, has been obscured by the misattribution of many public works projects to Robert Moses. Not only were projects not credited to the New Deal agencies that built them, but many of the architects who designed them remained anonymous. Frank has written about one such example—the work of Aymar Embury II, the New York City Parks Department's chief architect from 1934 until the end of the Great Depression. Embury started his career by designing homes for the wealthy, but during the Depression he dedicated his career to public service. In an essay about Embury’s work, Frank refers to him as the “unsung hero of the New York City New Deal,” given the breadth of the architect’s work. His projects range from small park facilities to large infrastructural projects, such as the Triborough Bridge or the Orchard Beach Bathhouse and Pavilion. Find more details about Embury's story here.
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New Book: Wisconsin Post Office Murals
David W. Gates Jr., author and Living New Deal Associate, has recently published a book focused on New Deal post office murals across Wisconsin. Titled, Wisconsin Post Office Murals, the book includes more than 30 full-color images of murals funded by the New Deal, illustrations of post office buildings and cornerstones, as well as histories and stories about each mural. This book is the culmination of a 15-year journey. Much of the New Deal post office artwork was created to boost public morale during the Great Depression. But David has found that few of these art pieces are available to the public today. In an effort to document them before they disappear, David has started recording details about artwork in Post Offices. He began in Wisconsin with a focus on small-town post offices. Over time, he began covering New Deal post offices across the country, and thus began his collaboration with the Living New Deal. Find more details about David’s work and new book at postofficefans.com.
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Where in the World is Evan: Aguada PR
While traveling through Puerto Rico, our Researcher at Large, Evan Kalish, made a rare find: a living, breathing plaque for an administration most people haven’t heard of—the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA). During the Great Depression, the agency carried out most of the relief work in Puerto Rico. The plaque Evan found is part of a 1893 monument commemorating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s landing in Puerto Rico, at the very site where he landed in 1493. According to the plaque, the monument is “Reconstructed by the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration in the Year 1937.” PRRA also made improvements to the surrounding park called Colón Park, located in an area that lies just inside Municipio de Aguada. See more details and the plaque here.
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Living New Dealer of the Month: Susan C. Allen
Our longtime National Associate and contributor, Mississippi-based scholar Susan C. Allen, has created more than 100 new entries for our map this year. Susan is one of our most prized team members. A Professor of Social Work at the University of Mississippi, she has focused her research on murals and other New Deal sites in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Susan writes a regular column for a Mississippi historic preservation blog under the pen name Suzassippi. Susan’s work on Living New Deal entries always starts with archival research, where she finds rare sources on New Deal sites and histories. This summer, she plans to head to Atlanta and Washington DC to spend time in the stacks searching for New Deal archival treasures. Thank you, Susan for helping us grow our project!
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