Description: Clothesline and what appears to be an ash can in the yard of a Depression-era home. This photograph was taken during winter sometime between 1935-1943 View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F04_003_012_001
Subjects: Clotheslines; Great Depression; Rural life
Places: Ohio
 

Description: This photograph is a black-and-white image of a colorful mural titled "Pioneers Crossing the Ohio River," painted in 1941 by artist Michael Loew (1907-1985). The mural depicts a group of pioneers, a covered wagon, and an ox crowded together on a raft. Behind them is a body of water with hills in the background. From the rear, several men are using long poles to propel the raft forward, while in the front a young man is pulling on a rope with all of his strength to move the raft forward. Several women, one of whom is holding an infant, are grouped in the center next to the wagon, ox, a plow, and yoke. The mural, painted in oil on canvas, is located in the former post office building in Amherst, Ohio. It measures 4-1/8 feet high by 14 feet long. The mural was funded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Section of Painting and Sculpture, one of the department’s three visual arts programs instituted during the Great Depression. Established in 1934, the Section of Painting and Sculpture commissioned artists to create paintings and sculpture that would decorate new federal buildings. The commissions were awarded competitively. Unlike other cultural programs of the New Deal, the Section’s primary goal was to procure art for public buildings, not to provide work relief. Born in New York City, artist Michael Loew was an abstract expressionist whose early works were representational, including the murals he painted for the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture. He studied at the Art Students League from 1926-1929 and worked as a stained-glass artist. He studied art in Paris from 1929-1930. In 1939 he had painted murals for the New York World’s Fair with his close friend and fellow artist, Willem de Kooning. By this time his style was shifting toward abstract expressionism. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Loew studied at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Art from 1947-1949 and at the Atelier Fernand Leger from 1949-1950. Between 1956 and 1966, he taught painting at the Portland (Oregon) Art Museum, University of California at Berkeley, and at the School of Visual Arts in New York. In 1988 photographer Connie Girard took color and black-and-white images of this mural for an article in "Timeline" magazine (June/July 1989). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04494
Subjects: Mural paintings (visual works); Post office buildings--Ohio; United States. Works Progress Administration; United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Painting and Sculpture; Loew, Michael, 1907-1985; Great Depression and the New Deal
Places: Amherst (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph is a black-and-white image of a colorful mural titled "Drift toward Industrialism,” painted in 1937 by artist Karl Anderson (1874-1956). The mural, also known as “Exodus to the Cities,” is located in the former post office building in Bedford, Ohio. The building now houses the offices of Doty & Miller Architects, 600 Broadway Avenue. As seen in the photograph, the mural surrounds an office door. The mural portrays the widespread migration of workers, families, and young people from small towns and rural areas to large industrial cities during the late 19th century. In the lower left corner, a bearded farmer stands behind a horse-drawn plow and raises his right arm in farewell to the stream of people headed toward a cityscape visible in the background. A young girl clutches her mother’s arm and looks back at the place she is leaving and to which she’ll probably never return. An older mother embraces her daughter while an elderly man dressed in a Civil War uniform sits morosely on the sidelines. Karl Anderson was born Carl James Anderson in Morning Sun, Ohio. His parents, Irwin M. and Emma Anderson, and their family of seven children lived in various communities in the state but eventually settled in Clyde (Sandusky County). Karl’s younger brother Sherwood, the noted American author, based his famous short-story collection "Winesburg, Ohio" on his memories of life in Clyde. Karl Anderson became a noted painter, illustrator, and engraver. The mural was funded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Section of Painting and Sculpture, one of the department’s three visual arts programs instituted during the Great Depression. Established in 1934, the Section of Painting and Sculpture commissioned artists to create paintings and sculpture that would decorate new federal buildings. The commissions were awarded competitively. Unlike other cultural programs of the New Deal, the Section’s primary goal was to procure art for public buildings, not to provide work relief. The post office in West Haven, Connecticut, features the second of two murals that Karl Anderson created for the program. Anderson died in 1956 in Westport, Connecticut, where he had lived since 1912. Nicknamed “the Dean of Westport Painters,” he was part of the thriving arts community there. In 1988 photographer Connie Girard took color and black-and-white images of this mural for an article in "Timeline" magazine (June/July 1989). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04496
Subjects: Anderson, Karl, 1874-1956; Mural paintings (visual works); Post office buildings--Ohio; United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Painting and Sculpture; Great Depression and the New Deal;
Places: Bedford (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Children playing on the playground of Lakeview Terrace, a federal housing project in Cleveland, Ohio, ca. 1940. This photograph was to be included in the Cleveland Guide, one of several guides on selected American cities to be published by the Federal Writers Project. The Federal Writers Program was a depression-era program created to employ writers. Most of the work for the Cleveland Guide was complete when the program was abolished in 1943. The Cleveland Guide was not published. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03610
Subjects: Public housing; Federal Writers' Project; Great Depression and the New Deal; Children; Playgrounds
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph is a black-and-white image of a colorful mural titled "Mail—The Connecting Link’," painted in 1938 by artist Sally F. Haley (1908-2007). The mural depicts the significant role that mail (and the postal service) plays in the life of individuals and of the entire nation. Three human figures (a mail carrier, a woman, and a little girl) occupy the center of the image, forming a triangular space that divides the background between urban and rural settings. The mail carrier is delivering a letter to the woman as the little girl watches. Bags of mail travel to distant locations via trains (rural areas and small towns) and boats (large urban areas). On the left side the mural, a railroad signal bears the number “1938,” the year that Haley painted the mural. The mural, painted in oil on canvas, is located in the McConnelsville, Ohio, post office. It measures 5 feet high by 17 feet wide. The mural was funded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Section of Painting and Sculpture, one of the department’s three visual arts programs instituted during the Great Depression. Established in 1934, the Section of Painting and Sculpture commissioned artists to create paintings and sculpture that would decorate new federal buildings. The commissions were awarded competitively. Unlike other cultural programs of the New Deal, the Section’s primary goal was to procure art for public buildings, not to provide work relief. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Sally Haley was the daughter of Elizabeth Akers Haley and John P. Haley, a portrait photographer. John Haley was a friend of photographers Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen. Two of Sally’s brothers also became artists. In 1931, Sally Haley graduated from Yale University with a bachelor of fine arts degree. She taught art in a Bridgeport high school for two years, studied art in Germany for a few months, and then returned to the U.S. to paint full time. In 1935 she married artist Michele Russo, and the couple lived in Connecticut until 1947, when they moved to Portland, Oregon. Haley was very active in the Portland art scene, and her paintings were widely praised. She died in 2007 at age 99. In 1988 photographer Connie Girard took color and black-and-white images of this mural for an article in "Timeline" magazine (June/July 1989). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04495
Subjects: Mural paintings (visual works); Post office buildings--Ohio; United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Painting and Sculpture; Great Depression and the New Deal; McConnelsville (Ohio)
Places: McConnelsville (Ohio); Morgan County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph depicts men and women working behind their homes in Depression relief gardens, which were promoted by the federal government in order to relieve households of the economic pinch of the Great Depression by providing more food as well as work. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0140_B05F87_015
Subjects: Great Depression; Gardening; Agricultural laborers
 

Description: Clothesline outside of a large rural Ohio home during the Depression era. This photograph was taken during the winter sometime between 1935 and 1943 as part of the Ohio Federal Writers' Project. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F04_003_009_001
Subjects: Great Depression; Rural life; Clotheslines
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Photograph of George White (1872-1953), who was governor of Ohio from 1931 to 1935. In 1902, White settled in Marietta, Ohio, and quickly embarked on a political career, winning election to the Ohio legislature as a Democrat. In 1910, he won election to the U.S. House, serving several terms over the next ten years. In 1930, White returned to politics, winning Ohio's governor's seat. He took office in 1931, and won reelection in 1932. As governor, White had to deal with the Great Depression. He attempted to create numerous relief programs, but he faced opposition from the Republican-controlled legislature, as well as from some opponents within his own party. Upon taking office, White successfully reduced the state budget by twenty million dollars, a 15% reduction. He also created the Ohio Highway Patrol and implemented sales taxes on cosmetics, cigarettes, and other non-essential items to increase state revenues. In addition to these successes, the governor also implemented the State Relief Commission. In 1934, White sought reelection, but he lost the contest to Republican Martin L. Davey. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04362
Subjects: Governors; Great Depression; Ohio History--State and Local Government
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: "Gulf Oil Co. Refinery" Located on Front Street on the East side of the Miami. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F12_007_001
Subjects: Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project--industry--Coal--Great Depression--oil--Works Progress Administration
Places: Toledo (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph depicts men and women working behind their homes in Depression relief gardens, which were used to alleviate the Great Depression by providing citizens with food and work. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0140_B05F87_014
Subjects: Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company; Steel industry; Great Depression
 

Description: Depression-era house in rural Ohio. A horse-drawn cart can be seen inside the fence. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F04_003_005_001
Subjects: Great Depression; Rural life; Horse-drawn carts; Farms
Places: Ohio
 

Description: This photograph depicts men and women working behind their homes in Depression Relief Gardens, which were used by workers during the Great Deprssion to create opportunities for food and work. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0140_B05F87_017
Subjects: Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company; Steel industry; Great Depression