Archaeology and History Sites

The Moon Raven Pole & Sun Raven Pole are two memorial poles that flank the stairs that lead up to the Clan House at the end of the Saxman Totem Park. The Sun Raven Pole is a memorial for Reynold Denny Sr., the Chief of Saxman Village. The Moon Raven Pole is a memorial for Martha Shields, a notable elder of the Village of Saxman.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relocated the Pointing Figure totem from a village in Southeast Alaska to the newly established Saxman Totem Park. The CCC set up a totem restoration project in 1938 and Tlingit carvers enrolled in the CCC lead the work. In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the Pointing Figure totem: "The Pointing Figure totem was made for a group of brothers belonging to Raven Bone House of the Raven clan and set up sometime between 1890 and 1900 to mark the grave of their sister on Pennock...

In 1938, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established the Saxman Totem Park and set up a totem restoration project. Tlingit carvers enrolled in the CCC lead the restoration process. The CCC relocated the Raven and Frog Totem pole from a village in Southeast Alaska to the new park. In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the Raven and Frog Totem pole: "The Raven poised for flight atop this mortuary column represents the crest of Raven clansman and also symbolizes two Raven myths. The first is the Deluge myth, and the second...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relocated the Raven Pole, from a village in Southeast Alaska to the newly established Saxman Totem Park. CCC set up a totem restoration project in 1938 and Tlingit carvers enrolled in the CCC lead the work. In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the Raven Pole: "Raven on the top of the Raven Totem pole is carved with outspread wings ornamented with feather and wing-tip designs, and with breast feathers forming the hair or head dress of the human figure below. This is an arrangement similar...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relocated the Raven Posts from a village in Southeast Alaska to the newly established Saxman Totem Park. The CCC set up a totem restoration project in 1938 and Tlingit carvers enrolled in the CCC lead the work. The photographic material published here by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of their restoration, between 1939 and 1941. Forrest oversaw the joint program of the Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps to recruit Alaska native carvers in the restoration and recarving of totem poles...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relocated the Secretary of State Pole (Seaward Pole) from a village in Southeast Alaska to the newly established Saxman Totem Park. The CCC set up a totem restoration project in 1938 and Tlingit carvers enrolled in the CCC lead the work. In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the Secretary of State Pole: "Standing near the carving of President Lincoln in Tongass Village was the figure of his Secretary of State, William H. Seward. Seward, perhaps more than any other one person, was responsible for the purchase...

In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the totem pole: “Three adventures of Raven, the Culture Hero, were drawn upon for the carvings of the Sun and Raven short mortuary totem. At the top is raven without spread wings. Around his head is the sun halo. On his breast are three, figures, the children of the Sun whom Raven visited during the Deluge. The raven tracks painted on the face of the girl in the center are traditional for women of the Raven phratry. Raven's wings are decorated...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relocated the Beaver Posts totems from a village in Southeast Alaska to the newly established Saxman Totem Park. The CCC set up a totem restoration project in 1938 under the supervision of architect Linn A. Forrest. Tlingit carvers enrolled in the CCC carried out the restoration and carving work. In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the Beaver Posts totems: "The Beaver house post story belongs to the Basket Bay Tlingit now living at Angoon. A woman from the old Basket Bay village married a Haida and went to...

In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the totem pole: "The Klawak Blackfish Fin carving symbolizes a mythical monster of the sea about which the south eastern Alaska Indians tell many tales. It has the head and body of a bear and the fins of the blackfish or killer whale. In the carving the dorsal fin is represented as a slender shaft, rounded at the top. The pole stood in front of a house in the Tongass village on Cat Island. The story and carving belong to...

In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the totem pole: "Two adventures of the ancestors of people of Blackfish House of the Wolf phratry are illustrated on this carving. The main section symbolizes the blackfish, or killer whale, from which the group takes its name. The long shaft above the body is the dorsal fin. Originally this was undecorated, but when the copy was made the owners granted permission to add the wolf face and the circle. These symbolize a wooden hat owned by the group, on...

Viola Garfield and Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the Frog Tree totem pole in their 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven: “The Frog Tree (or Drifting Log) carving was brought from Cape Fox, where it had been dedicated to the memory of a woman of the Kiksetti clan. Her name was Two (Frogs) on a Drifting Log, hence the name of the pole. On the original carving a frog was shown emerging from the center of the upright support, to symbolize the woman emerging from the lake when her relatives came for her. George Grinnell, who was in the village...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relocated the Grizzly Bear Post, from a village in Southeast Alaska to the newly established Saxman Totem Park. CCC set up a totem restoration project in 1938 and Tlingit carvers enrolled in the CCC lead the work. In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the Grizzly Bear Post: "The Grizzly Bear post (also identified as Kats and His Bear Wife) belongs to people of Kats House of the Tongass tribe. It was approximately one hundred years old when brought from Village Island to Saxman in...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established the Saxman Totem Park in 1938 and set up a totem restoration project. Tlingit carvers enrolled in the CCC lead the restoration process. The CCC relocated the Lincoln Totem pole from a village in Southeast Alaska to the new park. Viola Garfield and Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the Lincoln Totem pole in their 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven: "The Lincoln sculpture was in poor condition when the pole was brought to Saxman in 1938. A copy was made for the totem park, and the original was sent to the Territorial Museum in Juneau. Time...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relocated the Loon Tree totem from a village in Southeast Alaska to the newly established Saxman Totem Park. At Saxman, the Tlingit craftsmen created a copy of the original totem. The CCC set up a totem restoration project in 1938 under the supervision of architect Linn A. Forrest. Tlingit carvers enrolled in the CCC carried out the restoration and carving work. In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the Loon Tree totem: "The original Loon Tree Totem was brought from Cape Fox Village and copied at the Saxman...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relocated the Tired Wolf House Posts totems from a village in Southeast Alaska to the newly established Saxman Totem Park. The CCC set up a totem restoration project in 1938 under the supervision of architect Linn A. Forrest. Tlingit carvers enrolled in the CCC carried out the restoration and carving work. In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the Tired Wolf House Posts: "The Tired-Wolf house posts were carved on Village Island and installed in a house on Kanagunut Island belonging to the people of Forest Island House....

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relocated the Owl Memorial Pole from a village in Southeast Alaska, to the newly established Saxman Totem Park. The CCC set up a totem restoration project in 1938 and Tlingit carvers enrolled in the CCC lead the work. In the 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the visual characteristics of the Owl Memorial Pole: "The owl at the top of the pole was the main crest of the medicine man, or shaman, in whose memory the carving was dedicated. The owl crest is explained by the legend of a...

Serpent Mound is the largest effigy mound in North America. The site is a National Historic Landmark and, with eight other Native American earthworks in Ohio, is on the US Tentative List of sites submitted to UNESCO as a proposed World Heritage Site. Several New Deal agencies contributed to the memorial site: CWA (1933-34) – Funded surveys and topographic map of the mound and park, renovated historic-era buildings, planned and possibly initiated construction of two restroom buildings next to the parking lot. Restroom buildings used brick from the 1823 Second Baptist Church in Clarksville, OH (about 47 miles WNW of Serpent...

Beginning in 1934, 400 African American WWI veterans were employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to participate in restoration of the Civil War battlefield. As Timothy Smith writes in “Black Soldiers and the CCC at Shiloh National Military Park”: “Among the chief beneficiaries of the New Deal's job creation programs were Shiloh and other national parks, to which thousands of laborers were sent to construct, rehabilitate, and restore. In the case of Shiloh, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) employed several hundred local men from Hardin and McNairy counties on erosion control projects, road maintenance, and excavations at Shiloh's Indian mounds. The...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carved a copy of the original Frog/Raven Pole during a restoration program that lasted between 1938 and 1941. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. Many of the poles that the CCC recovered were found in an advanced state deterioration, which made conservation difficult. While restoration was the preferred approach, the CCC opted for recarving, or partial recarving, if the pole could not be salvaged. The head carver at Sitka was George Benson. The copy of Frog/Raven Pole was carved by George Benson...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carved a copy of the original Gaanax.ádi/Raven Crest Pole during a restoration program that lasted between 1938 and 1941. The pole was donated in 1903 and brought to Sitka from Tuxekan. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. Many of the poles that the CCC recovered were found in an advanced state deterioration, which made conservation difficult. While restoration was the preferred approach, the CCC opted for recarving, or partial recarving, if the pole could not be salvaged. The head carver at Sitka was...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carved a copy of the original Saanaheit Pole during a restoration program that lasted between 1938 and 1941. The Saanaheit Pole was brought to Sitka from Old Kasaan. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. Many of the poles that the CCC recovered were found in an advanced state deterioration, which made conservation difficult. While restoration was the preferred approach, the CCC opted for recarving, or partial recarving, if the pole could not be salvaged. The head carver at Sitka was George Benson...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carved a copy of the Mosquito Legend Pole during a restoration program that lasted between 1938 and 1941. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. Many of the poles that the CCC recovered were found in an advanced state deterioration, which made conservation difficult. While restoration was the preferred approach, the CCC opted for recarving, or partial recarving, if the pole could not be salvaged. The head carver at Sitka was George Benson. This mosquito pole currently at Sitka is a replica of...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carved a copy of the original Trader Legend Pole during a restoration program that lasted between 1938 and 1941. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. Many of the poles that the CCC recovered were found in an advanced state deterioration, which made conservation difficult. While restoration was the preferred approach, the CCC opted for recarving, or partial recarving, if the pole could not be salvaged. The head carver at Sitka was George Benson (Lkeináa). Before the CCC program, many totems had been left...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carved a copy of the original Lakich’inei Pole during a restoration program that lasted between 1938 and 1941. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. Many of the poles that the CCC recovered were found in an advanced state deterioration, which made conservation difficult. While restoration was the preferred approach, the CCC opted for recarving, or partial recarving, if the pole could not be salvaged. The head carver at Sitka was George Benson. The pole was restored between 1992 and 1993. Before the CCC program, many...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored and recarved totem poles at Sitka, as part of a restoration program that lasted between 1938 and 1941. The program was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service effort to employ Alaska Natives and conserve totems and Native cultural assets. Many of the poles that the CCC recovered from abandoned villages were found in an advanced state deterioration, which made conservation difficult. While restoration was the preferred approach, the CCC opted for recarving, or partial recarving, if the pole could not be salvaged. The head carver at Sitka was George Benson (Lkeináa). Some of the...

In 1936, Work: A Journal of Progress reported that several dozen Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers were assigned the role of assisting archaeologists, anthropologists, biologists, and other scientists in sorting the backlog of contributions to the Smithsonian Institution museum and other supportive roles. This kind of "service work" to museums and libraries was quite common in the New Deal, so we mention it here because the Smithsonian is such a central public institution in the nation's capital. From the story in Work: "BEHIND the scenes at the Smithsonian Institution, where the painstaking work of research and the classification of specimens proceeds constantly,...

The oldest intact house in Atlantic County, the Somers Mansion dates to the 1720s and was "continuously occupied by the Somers family for over 200 years. In 1937, Somers family descendants deeded it to the Atlantic County Historical Society. New Jersey took ownership of the Somers Mansion in 1941, and began an extensive restoration" through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Laborers for the WPA both renovated the extant furnishings and conducted historical restoration, including the elimination of rooms dating to the Victorian era. (ettc.net)

The West Virginia historical marker program began in 1934 with the beginning research for the markers with the intention of placing markers around the state to encourage tourism. Dr. Roy Bird Cook, a Charleston druggist, a longtime commission member, and avocational historian worked on the project. 5,000 sites were collected with 440 markers selected by the commission for placement. Most of these along 44 state and federal highways. The money came from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In addition to the markers, a book of the 440 markers was published in a format easy to...

The Works Progress Administration built an exhibit for the State Historical Society Museum Exhibit in Denver. The WPA workers built a model of the pioneer towns of Denver and Auraria 1860.

The Works Progress Administration built an exhibit for the State Historical Society Museum Exhibit in Denver. The WPA workers built a model of the First Mountain Locomotive used in the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in 1871.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built an exhibit for the State Historical Society Museum Exhibit in Denver. The WPA workers built a model of the Wells Fargo Express Concord Coach.

The PWA carried out repairs and preservation work for the Steeple Building in 1933. Located on the Christiansted National Historic Site, the structure was built by the government of the Danish West Indies and Guinea Company to serve as a Lutheran Church for the Danish colonial venture on the Virgin Island.  The building was subsequently converted to various uses. "Constructed in 1753 to house the first faith community established in Christiansted, the Steeple Building was originally the Church of our Lord God of Sabaoth. Its current name comes from the steeple that served for generations as a landmark for mariners entering the...

Located in Straus Park on the Upper West Side is "a bronze 1913 statue by American artist Augustus Lukeman of a nymph gazing over a calm expanse of water in memory of Ida and Isidor Straus, a United States congressman and co-owner of Macy’s, who perished on the RMS Titanic" (wikipedia). In the 1930s, it was restored with federal funding under Karl Gruppe, "chief sculptor of the Monument Restoration Project of the New York City Parks Department, from 1934 to 1937." The program was initially supported by federal funding from the Public Works of Art Project (Lowrey, 2008), and later by...

"T.O. Fuller State Park is a state park in the city of Memphis in West Tennessee. It consists of 1,138 acres (4.6 km²) of mostly forest located in South Memphis on Mitchell Road. It is the only state park within the city limits and is one of the few locations within the city suitable for wildlife. The park is named in honor of Dr. Thomas O. Fuller, who spent his life empowering and educating African Americans. The park facilities were originally built for the use of African Americans in the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It was the second...

Thaddeus Stevens and John Paxton built this structure in 1837 as part of the Caledonia Iron Works. It was destroyed during the Battle of Gettysburg, and was rebuilt and functional until 1895. In 1938, the Works Progress Administration undertook structural renovation and historic restoration work at this site, which is now open to visitors.

The Hermitage was a plantation operated by enslaved African Americans and owned by president Andrew Jackson from 1804 until 1845. The site is now a historical site and museum. "In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) donated $70,000 towards repairs and restoration work at The Hermitage. This included the construction of new support buildings, such as a ticket office, a greenhouse, a home for the caretakers and a large pond to fight fires."   (https://thehermitage.com/preservation/)

"The Horse Tamers, by Frederick MacMonnies (1863-1937), is one of many sculpture groups in the outdoor collection of New York City’s parks. Dedicated in 1899, the Horse Tamers flank the Park Circle Entrance of Prospect Park... Horse Tamers is an allegory of the Triumph of Mind over Brute Strength. The sculptures depict nude young men riding bareback on rearing, unbridled horses. To achieve their great dynamic energy, MacMonnies sculpted the horses after live Andalusian models. The full-scale plaster models (no longer extant) were exhibited to great acclaim in the Parisian Salon of 1898 and at the Universal Exposition of 1900. One...

 Works Progress Administration (WPA) project cards in the National Archives record plans for the “restoration and relocation of two ancient White House gate houses” at a cost of $6,300. The gate houses were originally built in 1827 by celebrated architect Charles Bulfinch and originally stood on the grounds of the United States Capitol.  Today, one gatehouse stands at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue and the other is at 17th and Constitution. Both are on the National Register of Historic Places. Four other gateposts have been relocated to the main entrance of the National Arboretum at New York Avenue NE and Springhouse Road NE.   

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was present in Death Valley National Monument  from 1933 to 1942.  The main CCC camp was at Cow Creek, just north of the park headquarters and visitors center at Furnace Creek.   Among the many projects undertaken in the park was building a permanent Shoshone Village on a 40-acre site just south of Furnace Creek.  The National Park Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs selected the site.  We do not know more about how that decision was made and what input the Shoshone had in it. The CCC built nine adobe houses, a washroom/laundry and a trading...

"Tishomingo State Park is located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, north of Tupelo. Activities in the park include canoeing, rock climbing, fishing and hiking. The park pays tribute to Tishomingo County's remarkable geography of massive rock formations, found here and in the immediately surrounding areas but nowhere else in Mississippi. The steep cliffs and abundant carboniferous limestone outcrops represent the southwestern extremity of the Southern Appalachian Plateau. Archaeological excavations suggest the presence of Paleo Indians in the area of the park as early as 7000 BCE. The park is named for an early Chickasaw leader who...