Borglum's model for Northwest Territory Monument photograph   Save
Ohio Guide Collection
Description: Dated ca. 1930-1943, this photograph shows a model of Gutzon Borglum's model for the Northwest Territory Monument. Gutzon Borglum was an American artist and sculptor famous for creating the monumental presidents' heads at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, the famous carving on Stone Mountain near Atlanta, as well as other public works of art. A note on the photograph's reverse reads "Code: D 11 Class: Colleges & Art Galleries Ident: Borglum's model for North-west Territory Monument, Marietta-a WPA project Location: Marietta." 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_B10F04_040_001
Subjects: Northwest Territory; Monuments & memorials; Sculpture; Works Progress Administration
Places: Marietta (Ohio); Washington County (Ohio)