Mordi Gassner Sites

The historic Lynden post office contains a 1942 Section of Fine Arts mural by Mordi Gassner entitled Three Ages of Phoebe Goodell Judson. "In 1870, Judson co-founded the town of Lynden with her husband, Holden Allen Judson. She lived in the community until her death in 1926 at age 94. Just 2 months earlier, she had self-published a memoir, "A Pioneer’s Search for an Ideal Home." Murals depicting pioneer live and early European-American settlement were a popular subject for New Deal murals." (depts.washington.edu)

"At the end of May 1941 a custom made mural, executed in egg tempera, was hung in the Oxford Post Office. Mordi Gassner, a mural and portrait artist from New York was awarded a contract to paint a mural on (gesso primed) linen. The painting titled, "Family Reunion on Clark Island: Spring 1791", (probably refers to Cork or Packer Island), was his interpretation of an historic local event. It depicted the arrival of the (older) Blackman children coming from Unadilla, after an extremely difficult, two-day journey by ox-sled. In the painting, two young men, Elijah, Jr. and Jabez Blackman, along...