Description: Dated ca. 1930-1943, this photograph shows a fireplace and doors in the home of Benjamin Pitman. The molding and woodwork feature elaborate carvings. Benjamin Pitman, an English author and proponent of Pitman shorthand, developed by his brother Isaac Pitman. Benn, along with his wife and children, arrived in the United States in 1853 and settled first in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and later Canton, Ohio, and then Cincinnati. After his brother made changes to his system, Pittman refused to endorse it, and the original shorthand system was adopted in the United States. Pittman served in the Union Army during the Civil War and became the official stenographer for the trials of Abraham Lincoln's assassin and others. He became active in the arts in the 1870s and introduced the Pitman School of Woodcarving. The Benn Pitman house is located at 1852 Columbia Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. The home was built between 1800 and 1804 and the exterior incorporates many styles, including Italian Chateau, Romanesque and Rococo. Among his many accomplishments, Pitman taught woodcarving at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. He himself made much of the woodwork inside the home, including doors, panels and wainscoting. Much of the more delicate work depicting flowers and leaves was done by Pitman's wife and her twin sister, who taught at the local art school. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_b03f03_028_001
Subjects: Houses; Architectural interiors; Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works; National Register of Historic Places
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)