Aerial view of Fort Ancient   Save
Ohio Guide Photographs
Description: This aerial photograph shows the Fort Ancient site in Warren County, Ohio, about seven miles southeast of Lebanon, Ohio. Fort Ancient is a large pre-historic settlement built by the Hopewell peoples who inhabited the 100 acre complex from the first century BCE to the 6th century CE. The purpose of the complex is unclear, but scholars suspect it may have been built for defensive or ceremonial purposes. 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_B14F07_050_001
Subjects: Aerial photography; Earthworks (Archaeology); American Indians; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1–400)
Places: Warren County (Ohio)