Contributor

Detail of the work from bellowing showcasing the bas relief.

The Spencer Post Office is a typical Works Progress Administration (WPA) structure. Completed in 1936, the building is single-story, roughly square, and made with brick. The Spencer Post Office differentiates itself from other WPA post office buildings in West Virginia through its height, which is closer to a story and a half. The lobby of the building features a plaster of Paris relief created by Vicken von Post Totten. Post Totten was a Swedish artist famous for her sculptures and reliefs. She created WPA patronized works that are installed in public buildings throughout the United States. The piece in Spencer, titled “Pastoral of Spencer,” was completed and installed in 1938. Through bas relief, the work depicts cows grazing in a meadow. This was a historically common theme in pastoral images, though Post Totten modernized the composition slightly through the inclusion of an electric tower in the background.

Spencer Post Office & “Pastoral of Spencer”

Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and Works Progress Administration Projects in the 1930s and 40s included the construction of sixteen post offices throughout West Virginia. In addition to the buildings themselves, the program also provided funding for public art to grace the lobbies of these buildings. This tour includes all sixteen post offices along with their accompanying artworks.

New Deal Post Offices and Art in West Virginia

The Cove Station Post Office was erected in 1937. Similar to many other Works Progress Administration (WPA) post offices in West Virginia, this building is a simple one-story rectangular brick structure that prioritizes functionality over aesthetics. In the lobby is a mural by Charles Chapman titled, “Captain Bilderbook’s and John Schoolcraft’s Expedition from Holiday’s Cove to For Wheeling, 1777.” The historical event depicted is explained by text at the bottom of the piece which reads, “In 1777, John Schoolcraft notified Captain Bilderbook at Holiday’s Cove that the Wyandottes and Mingoes [Native American groups] were gathering for a raid on Wheeling. Together, they led a party of settlers to the rescue which under cover of a dense fog arrived at the fort in time to drive off the attack.”[1] Chapman’s rendering of this scene occurs before the battle, as the settlers travel to Fort Wheeling. The Cove Station Post Office was initially the postal base for Holiday’s (sometimes spelled Holliday’s) Cove. In 1947, Holiday’s Cove merged with Marland Heights and Weirton Heights to become the city of Weirton. The Weirton Post Office also possessed a New Deal work of art. Vincent Glinsky created a cast stone plate titled “Pony Express and Rural Delivery.” The work was unfortunately lost at some point after the Weirton Post Office merged with the Cove Station Post Office.

Cove Station Post Office & “Captain Bilderbook’s and John Schoolcraft’s Expidition from Holiday’s Cove to For Wheeling, 1777”

The Mannington Post Office was completed in 1939 and is highly typical of New Deal post offices in West Virginia. The simple brick exterior is largely unornamented, but the interior contains an oil on canvas mural by Richard Zoellner. Zoellner was a prolific Works Progress Administration artist who painted at least six post office murals. The work at the Mannington Post Office was completed in 1942 and titled “Landscape at Frogtown.” The work depicts a small town with a road on the left and a railway on the right. A few houses and large electric poles are scattered throughout the piece, which includes no human figures. The work might depict Frogtown, West Virginia, in southern Logan County, or Frogtown, Pennsylvania, in the central-western portion of the state. Both towns are candidates as inspiration for the work, as Zoellner grew up in Ohio and created works throughout West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Mannington Post Office & “Landscape at Frogtown” 

Little information exists about this Works Progress Administration (WPA) post office, with even less information available regarding the mural it contains titled “Visions of the Development of Salem.” A post office was established in Salem as early as 1831, though without a permanent location. In its first century of operation, the postal base of operations in Salem could be found in a tavern, railroad station, and hardware store. This building was the first permanent home for the service and was completed in 1940. The structure is typical of WPA architecture and is fairly described by the 1980 Salem Historic District National Register form as “severe.”[1] “Visions of the Development of Salem” can be found in the lobby of the building. Painted using oil on canvas in 1942, artist Berni Glasgow included a wide variety of figures. These include allegorical figures representing the glass factories, oil and gas refineries, and farms that composed the backbone of Salem’s economy. Other figures include a student, representing Salem’s educational activities, and a portrait of G.C. Ross, the town’s first postmaster. The style of the image is more classically European than other WPA works tended to be; it was more typical to see Art Deco or Mexican Muralism influences in these works. The work is optimistic and captures Salem’s success while remaining hopeful for the future.

Salem Post Office & “Visions of the Development of Salem”

The St. Mary’s Post Office was completed in 1937 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Little else is known about construction of the building. The style of the building mirrors other WPA projects through its simple one-story brick elevation. A wooden cupola or belvedere at the peak of the building helps provide some degree of vertical prominence. In the lobby of the post office is an oil on canvas mural titled “St. Mary’s and the Industries of the Region.” The work was created by Alexander B. Clayton, a frequent federal artist who primarily created portraits, in 1939. The piece includes depictions of several important industries to the town of St. Mary’s. On the left, two coal miners work to extract the fuel in a stereotypical mineshaft. Moving to the right, a woman herds sheep near baskets overflowing with fresh produce grown locally. A horse plowing a field further on the right indicates from where these items might have come. In the background is a river, likely the Kanawha River. This feature of the landscape was crucial for moving items produced near St. Mary’s to larger markets.

St. Mary’s Post Office & “St. Mary’s and the Industries of the Region”

The Ripley Post Office was constructed in 1940, making it a rather late Works Progress Administration (WPA) structure. In many ways, the building resembles other WPA post offices through the Colonial Revival style, gabled roof, and rectangular brick construction. However, this building also has several notable differences. The entrance to the building is on the long side of the building, which in itself is not strange, but becomes strange when the gabled roof is taken into consideration. It was more common for the entrance to be on the short side of gabled roof post office buildings. Perhaps this design choice was necessitated by the layout of the structure; there are two chimneys, one on each end of the building. These chimneys are also atypical of WPA post offices which typically feature no elements piercing the roof. A final divergent feature of the Ripley Post Office is a dentilled cornice at the edge of the roof when a plain unornamented cornice is standard.﻿The interior of the Ripley Post Office features a wooden sculpture by Joseph Servas. The bas relief was installed in 1942 and measures roughly four feet by four feet. Little information is available about the artist or this work, which is titled “The Pride of Jackson County.” It depicts a farmer petting a cow. In the background is a large wooden structure of unknown use. The title and subject of the piece is perhaps an homage to Jackson County’s agrarian past.

Ripley Post Office & “The Pride of Jackson County”

By the 1930s, St. Albans rapid economic growth necessitated expanded postal services. In 1935, the 3,254 residents were served with a postal budget of $14,839. Thanks to political lobbying from the postmaster, Harry E. Riddleberger, and community leaders, St. Alban’s was awarded not more than $15,000 in Federal Treasury Funds to construct a new and permanent base of postal operations. Two federal officials worked in tandem to design the building: Supervising Architect Louis A. Simon and Supervising Engineer Neil A. Melick. Construction began and completed in 1937, thanks to the efficiency of Works Progress Administration (WPA) builders.The completed post office is largely typical of WPA buildings from this time. The single-story building is primarily brick in construction with walls a foot thick. The original structure was almost square with five evenly spaced bays on the front and five less uniform bays on the sides. A moderately large ell addition was added to the back of the building circa 1955. The roof, which is metal hip roof, has been replaced but remains faithful to the original materials and design. A dentilled wooden cornice bridges the gap between the walls and roof. More wood decoration can be found at the peak of the roof. A decorative belvedere can be seen there. Roof belvederes or cupolas are not overly common on WPA post offices, but can be seen relatively frequently, such as on the Oak Hill Post Office. The various architectural elements of the Old St. Albans Post Office come together to form a distinctly Colonial Revival building.The interior of the post office building is divided between public and private spaces. A front-facing main lobby allowed St. Albans residents to send mail or complete federal paperwork. Rear offices hosted the postmaster and other office staff. One remaining element of particular note is the vault, which has twelve inch thick concrete walls. Installed in 1938, the room includes an enormous eight foot by nine foot safe manufactured and installed by the Vault Hering-Hall Marvin Safe Company from Hamilton, Ohio. The entirety of the post office interior features maple tongue and grove floorboards.The lobby of the Old St. Albans Post Office contains a sculpture by Reuben R. Kramer. The wooden image of a stylized reclining figure was completed in 1941 and titled “Science and Industry.” The sculpture was appropriate for St. Albans, as the area was primarily an industrial center. The town was adjacent to a number of chemical plants in the Kanawha Valley which employed a large portion of St. Albans’ population. This was in contrast to nearby Charleston, which hosted a larger number of white collar workers. As St. Albans continued to grow throughout the twentieth century, a larger post office facility was needed. The Old St. Alban’s Post Office was closed in 1986 and a new building was opened. “Science and Industry” was transferred to the new building, located at 431 B Street. The Old St. Albans Post Office remains in use as a private office building.

The history of the post office in St. Albans stretches back to 1817. In this year, Benjamin Coal began receiving back compensation for post delivery in Kanawha County. Coal initially based his operations out of a local establishment called Wilson’s Tavern, though the unofficial post office moved through a number of other taverns, pharmacies, and storefronts in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. An official postal route was established in 1903 with free rural delivery expanding it in 1909. The location moved twice more, to the First National Bank Building and the Loyal Order of Moose lodge in 1910 and 1926, respectively.

Old St. Albans Post Office & “Science and Industry”

The Kenova Post Office was completed by Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers in 1939. The building is a simple one-story rectangle with moderately sized windows and little ornamentation besides a seal on the lintel and words on the cornice reading “United States Post Office Kenova West Virginia.” In contrast to many WPA erected buildings, the Kenova Post Office has white walls, rather than exhibiting the more typical red brick. The interior of the federal building includes a set of carved wooden reliefs created by Albino Cavallito. Cavallito was a prominent three-dimensional artist who studied at the Trenton School of Industrial Art, the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, and the Fontainebleau School of Fine Art. The artist was awarded a gold medal for sculpture by the Allied Artists of America in 1945. Cavallito’s work at the Kenova Post Office was created near the height of his career. The central piece is of a shirtless male figure standing in a relaxed but confident manner with a large sledge at his side. The emblematic worker is surrounded by four smaller vignette panels. The panels likely represent various economies in which workers were employed. From bottom left clockwise, one interpretation of the panels could be that they stand for agriculture, timber, mining, and industry. Taken as a whole, the work venerates the labor and contributions of the working class in the state.

Kenova Post Office & “Worker”

The Logan Post Office was begun in 1936 and finished in 1937. Despite not being in a major metropolitan area, this building is on the grander side of Works Progress Administration (WPA) post office buildings in West Virginia. The gabled roof, rectangular shape, and raised front porch all recall the grand classical forms of Greece and Rome. However, the building is primarily brick and unornamented. In particular, the bare pediment, normally a place reserved for copious detailing and ornamentation, makes a marked statement that form is subsumed by function. The overall impression is powerful but reserved.The neo-classical motifs of the Logan Post Office architecture are maintained on the interior of the building, where a large sculpture by Gleb W. Derujinsky is installed. Derujinsky was a Russian-born artist who emigrated to the United States to avoid the Russian Revolution of 1919. In the 1920s, he created a number of plaster busts of prominent political figures, including Theodore Roosevelt. As the New Deal was the brainchild of Roosevelt, it is likely that Derujinsky’s commission for the Logan Post Office was tied to his personal connections and previous work. The sculpture in Logan is dated 1940 and titled, “The Letter.” The work is roughly four feet wide by six feet tall and is carved from a single piece of wood. The piece depicts a woman holding a quill and paper. She is bare-chested with a flowing robe around her lower torso and legs. Her feet dangle as if she is floating in air. The figure is clearly classical in style and resembles ancient depictions of muses and goddesses. These parallels along with the name of the work suggest that the woman is an allegorical figure for the postal service and mail delivery.

Logan Post Office & “The Letter”

The original Mount Hope post office was founded in 1872 around the area known as Warner Town. Luther Warner was the first postmaster and his daughter, Sue, helped with the mail. Many historical records credit her as being the area’s first female postmaster. By the mid-twentieth century, a new location was needed for Mount Hope’s mail services. In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was directed to create a new building in downtown Mount Hope. United States Treasury Department Supervising Architect Louis A. Simon designed the building with practical assistance from Supervising Engineer Neal A. Melick. The Mount Hope Post Office is one of approximately two dozen federal buildings drafted by the architect and one of his last government projects. This building was intended to combine the post office operations of both nearby MacDonald and Mount Hope into a single location. The Mount Hope Post Office is a one story brick Colonial Revival building. A hipped roof converges on a small square cupola, which enhances the relatively stocky building’s illusion of possessing some height. The building is square and each side features five bays delineated by six-over-six windows. This style of window is one of the building’s most quintessential Colonial Revival features. A set of double doors under a tympanum are flanked by engaged doric columns. Carved in the tympanum is a bald eagle emblem commonly found on federal buildings. A portico extends over concrete stairs to the doors, though it is not original to the site. Other than this portico, the exterior of the site remains unchanged from its 1940s state of being. Two years after the completion of the building, Michael Lenson was commissioned to paint a mural in the lobby. Many WPA constructed post offices around the country were selected as mural recipients during the early 1940s. Lenson chose to pay homage to Mount Hope’s history and economic culture by painting a scene depicting coal mining simply titled Mining. On the left of the image, two workers prepare blasting and electrical equipment. In the center, three men shovel coal into a cart to be carried down the tracks and out of the mine; tipples and conveyors are visible outside the mine entrance in the background of the composition. On the right, three more workers actively mine coal from seams, both with a drilling machine and by hand with a pickaxe. Painted in a realist style inspired by Mexican muralists, the image neither glorifies nor vilifies the profession of mining. The figures in the piece are focused and determined but besides this, no emotional content is conveyed.Mining was quickly recognized as a particularly significant example of WPA sponsored public art. In 1962, just twenty years after the piece’s completion, the Smithsonian American Art Museum acquired Lenson’s study for Mining. The work has been included in a number of anthologies and surveys of WPA art over the years. Additionally, the preparatory study for Mining was included in a 2019-2020 exhibition at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York City. The exhibition was titled “La Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945.” Beyond his importance to WPA art as a creator, Lenson was also an administrator. The artist emigrated to the United States from Russia in 1911 at the age of eight. He studied art at the National Academy of Design and was awarded the coveted Chaloner Paris Prize to study in Europe. Upon returning to the United States, Lenson was appointed director of WPA mural projects in New Jersey. He has been dubbed “New Jersey’s most important muralist” and “New Jersey’s most distinguished art critic.”[1] Mining remains on view in the Mount Hope Post Office lobby.

The Mount Hope Post Office was built in 1940 to replace an older 1872 building. Works Progress Administration funds paid for the one-story red brick Colonial Revival Structure. The building was designed by Louis A. Simon and Neal A. Melick, Supervising Architect and Engineer for the United States Treasury Department, respectively. In addition to being a significant unmodified WPA building, the post office also contains the mural Mining, which was painted by Michael Lenson. Lenson was a famous WPA muralist and administrator who created a number of works around the United States. Just twenty years after the piece was completed, Mining was recognized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum when the institution acquired a preparatory study for the mural. The study was also included in a 2019-2020 Whitney Museum of Art exhibition titled “La Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945.” The mural can still be seen in situ in the Mount Hope Post Office.


Mount Hope Post Office & WPA Mural

The Oak Hill Post Office was constructed using treasury funding in 1936. It was one of the first publicly funded post offices in West Virginia as part of the New Deal. Many of the building’s architectural features, such as brick construction, a gabled roof, and elevated porch are common features of Works Progress Administration buildings. However, the Oak Hill Post Office also features a small cupola in the center of the roof, which helps keep the building’s profile from becoming lost in the grove of trees that surround it. On the interior of the Oak Hill Post Office is a terra cotta bas relief sculpted by Henri Crenier in 1938. Crenier was a French born artist who worked primarily in the United States. Many of his commissions were placed in or near civic buildings, though this work in Oak Hill appears to be the artist’s only WPA piece. The piece is titled “The Colonial Mail Rider,” though some sources record the name as “The Colonel Mail Rider.” The former title appears more apt, as the relief appears to depict a family sitting on the ground while a mail rider on a leaping horse gestures to them. Before the days of a centralized mail system, mail riders frequently undertook dangerous multi-week trips in order to deliver mail to the furthest reaches of colonial settlement. In this way, Crenier’s piece celebrates the history and dedication of the United States Postal Service’s forebears.

Oak Hill Post Office & “The Colonial Mail Rider”

The Fayetteville Post Office was constructed in 1938 using federal Treasury Department funds. The building is a simple rectangular structure made of brick. Large linteled windows define the front facade, which features a particularly expansive glass entry portal. A flat roof contributes to the inherent blockiness of the structure. Functionality, rather than aesthetics, was clearly the architectural goal of this Works Progress Administration (WPA) building. Despite the relative austerity of the exterior, the interior of the post office is adorned with a large oil on canvas mural by Nixford Baldwin. Baldwin was a Massachusetts based artist known for his inspiring painted and sculpted works. Though he completed several WPA commissions, “The Miners” in Fayetteville is his most famous work. The piece depicts a variety of scenes of life in a mining camp. On the left, men work in mines to extract coal and deliver it to the surface. On the right, a parent and their child walk through a busy industrial site. The color palette, well-outlined nature of the figures, and emphasis on labor suggests that Baldwin was strongly influenced by Mexican Muralism in creating this piece. Like most WPA sponsored works, the piece is calm and non-confrontational. The hardships found in coal towns are avoided, but so too is glorification of the work occurring eschewed.

Fayetteville Post Office & “The Miners”

A post office was established in this area as early as 1794. Known  as the Greenbrier Post Office, it served the entire county. When Lewisburg was officially recognized in 1838, the post office’s scale was diminished, though it continued to serve as the primary hub in the area. The physical location for the public site changed constantly throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This changed in 1936, when Lewisburg was allotted $8,500 to purchase a new lot and fund Works Progress Administration (WPA) of a permanent building. The land was acquired from widow Hallie M. Sibold in 1937 and construction commenced immediately.The new post office structure was intended to be as utilitarian as possible. The building is a single-story, roughly square in shape, and constructed of brick. The front facade features five bays, two on each side of a central entryway. Interestingly, the windows lack the typical bottom and top lintels often found on WPA buildings. Instead, stylized slanted bricks take the place of a top lintel. The entryway is classically inspired, which can be seen in the white engaged fluted columns and decorative dentilled lintel. Glass sidelights and a transom serve to open up the otherwise uninviting entrance to visitors. Iron street lamps and bannisters on the front stairs help provide a touch of three dimensionality and projection to the rather flat entrance. The roof and cornice of the building are sheet metal and are not original.  On the cornice of the building are the words “UNITED STATES POST OFFICE.” On the brickwork below the cornice, letters spell out “LEWISBURG WEST VIRGINIA.” Finally, the top transom pane is emblazoned with the building’s address. A large distribution center was added as an addition to the rear of the building some time in the middle of the twentieth century. It stylistically resembles the original structure.The interior of the Lewisburg Post Office features a mural by Robert Franklin Gates. In the summer of 1939, Gates was contacted and invited to submit a design for the interior space. No selection committee or contest is mentioned in the invitation, which came directly from Edward Rowan, Assistant Chief of the Federal Works Agency Section of Fine Arts. Clearly, Rowan and his associates had strong faith in Gates’ abilities — this is relatively unsurprising given that Gates had already completed the celebrated mural titled “Montgomery County Farm Women’s Market” in Bethesda, Maryland earlier in 1939. Gates was offered seven hundred dollars for the project, paid in installments of two hundred dollars for approval of his design, two hundred fifty dollars for approval of a complete draft, and two hundred fifty dollars for the completion, installation, and approval of the finished work. Gates was given one year to finish the project.Gates’ records of his mural, titled “Old Time Camp Meeting,” display the level of research and preparation the artist devoted to his commission. The mural depicts a common scene from Lewisburg’s history, an outdoor religious meeting or sermon. As the number of religious sects and denominations exploded in the early nineteenth century, it was untenable to maintain permanent religious leaders in every town. Instead, travelling preachers known as circuit riders moved through a regular itinerary of stops to hold religious gatherings. A circuit rider coming to town was a major event. In addition to hearing the sermon, local residents typically used occasion as a reason to hold festivals and family reunions. Many times, the sermons were held at a site with no permanent infrastructure beyond a wooden pulpit or small stand. Despite this, the area was often transformed into a veritable fairground through tents and other temporary structures. The event was as much about culture and community as it was about religion.“Old Time Camp Meeting” was completed by Gates in 1940. The work was executed in egg tempera on canvas, a traditional painting style rarely used by WPA artists. Gates meticulously recorded his painting process, pigment usage, and tempera emulsion recipe — one part whole egg, one part linseed oil, and one part regular oil — to ensure that the work could be cared for in perpetuity. The piece depicts a circuit rider giving a sermon from a wooden structure. Gathered figures attend the sermon, though some give their attention to children, or to conversation with other attendees. Vestments and attire indicate that the scene is historical. Taken as a whole, Gates successfully captures the interconnected cultural, familial, and religious aspects of Lewisburg’s historic event.

This historic post office was built in 1938 using Works Progress Administration (WPA) funding and labor. The one-story roughly square brick building is typical of WPA constructed public buildings. The post office also contains a mural entitled "Old Time Camp Meeting." The work depicts a local event of cultural, familial, and religious significance. The mural was painted in 1940 by Robert Franklin Gates as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal Program. The piece is particularly unique as an egg tempera on canvas work, an uncommon medium for WPA art. Other murals by Gates can be found in post offices in two Maryland cities, Bethesda and Oakland.

Lewisburg Post Office & “Old Time Camp Meeting”

Marlinton’s New Deal post office was completed in 1937. As is typical of Works Progress Administration public buildings, the Marlinton Post Office architecturally emphasizes function over form with its blocky construction, flat roof, and lack of ornamentation. Two works of New Deal art are found inside the building. Both were painted by Edwin Dorsey Doniphan, a Washington D.C. based artist who primarily executed government commissions. Additionally, both paintings were completed in 1939 and are oil on canvas. The first painting is titled “Past Visions of the Future.” It depicts Calvin Sharp, a lifelong resident of Marlinton. Sharp looks out at the developing town with his two oxen, Pat and Star. The painting on the opposite wall is titled “Mill Point.” It depicts a mill near a relatively major road. One figure works on the mill side of the mural while another figure rides a horse on the road and leads a second animal. The mill depicted is a real location and still stands just outside of Marlinton. These two works exemplify the New Deal style of art, which focused on idyllic depictions of local progress and labor.

Marlinton Post Office, “Past Visions of the Future,” & “Mill Point”

The lobby of the building includes a series of glazed terra cotta figures created by Lenore Thomas. Thomas was an American sculptor who was most famous for her WPA commissions. The 1943 work created for Webster Springs is titled “Springtime” and depicts a family consisting of a mother, father, and son. A woven basket rests upon a bundle of flowers between the mother and son. The work is different than many of Thomas’ more well-known works that are openly political pieces; perhaps owing to the artist's hope that an image of an idealized American family would be appreciated by residents of this small community when they visited their public building.

The Webster Springs Post Office was constructed from 1940 to 1941 and cost $85,000, far more than a typical Works Progress Administration (WPA) post office. The price was perhaps due to Webster Springs’ role as a central mail distribution center. In any case, the one-story brick building features Colonial Revival details and accents and is similar to other WPA post offices in West Virginia.

Webster Springs Post Office 

The United States Forest Service Building, also known as Monongahela National Forest Supervisor’s Headquarters, was constructed between 1936 and 1938. The building was an early initiative of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Louis A. Simon designed the Neo-Classical Revival style structure to house various aspects of the Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service. Civilian Conservation Corps and New Deal administration were also contained in the building. The building is a three-story rectangular structure built primarily with red brick. The central entrance portico has five main bays with three additional bays on each side. Wrought iron balconies, a stone cornice, and carved lettering reading “United States Department of Agriculture” provide some softening ornamentation to the otherwise spartan facade. In addition to the building itself, the grounds were landscaped by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Two New Deal murals can be found in the building. The first, “Forest Service,” features a view of a fire watch tower on a ridgeline. A single figure climbs the ladder into the structure while a sign at the base sends a clear message: “HELP PREVENT FIRES.” Just barely visible on the right of the composition are a buck and a large bird. Despite the caution against fire, the landscape is peaceful and undisturbed. Several hallmarks of New Deal art — clean lines, bright colors, and a moralizing message — establish the piece firmly in the style of public art at the time. Despite these features, the figure in the image is reduced to an anonymous silhouette, which simultaneously reinforces the responsibility of individuals and honors the work of the Forestry Service. Across from “Forest Service” is “Mining Village.” The latter mural provides a sharp contrast to the anonymous and tranquil nature of the former. “Mining Village” is primarily realistic in style with some concessions made for practical perspective reasons. Rows of identical employee houses occupy the background and are separated from the foreground by rails, a mine portal, coal tipple, and the buildings involved in economic pursuits. In the foreground is a school identified with a yellow sign and sporting brightly colored window decorations. A set of railroad tracks run parallel to the building. On the right side of the image is a dead tree. Five figures are positioned near the tracks. Four Black miners move towards the viewer while a young white boy with a bike faces away. The closest figure stares intensely out of the mural with a grim expression. The eye contact is piercing and accusatory, but also somehow as if he sees through the viewer. Despite the apparent bright light washing the scene, the eyes of the next closest miner are Black pits. The realistic style of painting makes the disparity between the two miners all the more jarring. In fact, the piece was originally intended for a Works Progress Administration post office in Huntington, West Virginia. The post office refused the piece after local residents deemed it too depressing and it was installed at the Forest Supervisor’s Headquarters instead.Stevan Dohanos was one of the most prolific New Deal artists. A native of Ohio, Dohanos attended the Cleveland SChool of Art before finishing his matriculation at the George Pearce Ennis School in Eastport, Maine. As a New Deal artist, Dohanos decorated post offices and other public buildings in Florida, the Virgin Islands, and the northeast. Dohanos eventually found himself in New York City, where he made a name creating Saturday Evening Post covers and New Yorker cartoons. He also designed numerous stamps for the United States Postal Service and the Postal Service’s Hall of Stamps in Washington D.C. was dedicated in Dohanos’ honor.

The United States Forest Service Building in Elkins, West Virginia was built between 1936 and 1938 as a Works Progress Administration project. The Neo-Classical Revival building is typical of public buildings from this time period and remains in use today. Significant in its own right, the structure is also unique in containing not one, but two New Deal murals. Both “Forest Service” and “Mining Village” were executed in tempera by Stevan Dohanos in 1939. The two works express quite different messages and their position across from each other in the lobby provokes reflective dialog on the contrast.

New Deal Post Offices and Art in West Virginia

Spencer Post Office & “Pastoral of Spencer”

Introduction

Images

Sources