Description: Dated ca. 1935-1940, this photograph shows log cabins at Schoenbrunn State Park in New Philadelphia, Ohio. In 1772, David Zeisberger, a missionary of the Moravian Church, established the village of Schoenbrunn on the Tuscarawas River, near present-day New Philadelphia. The word Schoenbrunn means "beautiful spring" in German. The purpose of this community was to provide Moravian missionaries a place to teach Christianity to American Indians residing in Ohio. At its greatest size, Schoenbrunn had a population of four hundred Christian natives, mostly Delaware, and more than sixty buildings, including the first school and Christian church built in Ohio. During the American Revolution, facing harassment from both the English and the Americans, Zeisberger and his followers abandoned Schoenbrunn in early 1778. They held a final service in the church, after which they tore down their house of worship to prevent its desecration. Schoenbrunn has since been rebuilt and is administered as an historic site by the Ohio History Connection. 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_B10F02_005_001
Subjects: Log cabins--Ohio; Schoenbrunn (Ohio); Zeisberger, David, 1721-1808; Religion in Ohio; New Philadelphia (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works
Places: New Philadelphia (Ohio); Tuscarawas County (Ohio)