Robert Kittredge Sites

The Wilbur J. Cohen building, originally built for the Social Security Administration in 1938-1940, is home to a magnificent collection of social security themed artworks funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. One of the artworks is a sculpture, "American Eagle," by noted African American artist and sculptor, Richmond Barthé (1940). The Social Security Administration never occupied the building, which was turned over to the War Department in 1941.  After the war, the Federal Security Agency (FSA), under which the Social Security Board had been placed in 1939, moved into the building. In 1953, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, succeeded...

In 1939, Robert Kittredge was commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts to create artwork for the newly-completed Flagstaff post office (later known as the Federal Building). He created a wooden bas-relief, "Arizona Logging," which was installed in 1940. The sculpture speaks to the logging industry, which was a critical part of Flagstaff's economy for decades. Three loggers are depicted putting logs onto a wagon using a "cant dog" poll. When the old post office/federal building was sold in 1983, the bas-relief was moved to the stairwell of the new wing of the Coconino County Courthouse, one-half block north.  

"The well-preserved lobby features a bas-relief sculpture by Robert Kittredge illustrating the Apache chiefs, Geronimo and Vittorio, on horseback in battle. The sculpture was funded by the Section of Fine Arts, the U.S. Treasury Department’s New Deal art program."

The historic post office in Anthony, Kansas houses an example of New Deal artwork: a stone carving entitled "Boy and Cult," created by Robert Kittredge under the auspices of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in 1942.

The Mary E. Switzer Building was originally built for the Railroad Retirement Board in 1940. The building was constructed in conjunction with the original Social Security headquarters, now the Wilbur J. Cohen building.  The two stand across C street from each other.   The RRB/Switzer building is smaller and its ornamentation is simpler than that of the SSA/Cohen building.  Its only artworks are the granite bas-reliefs over the entrances by Robert Kittredge, "Railroad Employment" and "Railroad Retirement" (both 1941).  These works were commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Both the Social Security Administration and the Railroad Retirement Board had to give...