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  • Totem Bight State Historical Park - Ketchikan AK
    In 1938, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the Totem Bight State Historical Park. The park, believed to be the site of an old Tlingit fish camp, was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Located in Ketchikan, the site brings together totem carvings of the Tlingit and Haida people, gathered from uninhabited villages. As barter declined and non-Native settlements proliferated, Alaska Natives began to abandon their villages in remote forest areas and move in search of employment. The settlements and totem art they left behind began to deteriorate. In the late...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Blackfish Pole - Ketchikan AK
    The Blackfish Pole is the reproduction of a Tlingit pole that was located in front of Forested Island House on Tongass Island. The pole tells the story of the origin of blackfish (killer whale). This Tlingit heralding totem is a reproduction carved by Charles Brown and a crew of apprentice carvers. A 2013 Department of Natural Resources, Master Development Plan for Totem Bight describes the characteristics of the carving: “The Raven, carved with the dorsal fin of the blackfish extending above him, is a special crest. The tiny face on each blackfish represents the blowhole; the human figure represents the...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Eagle Grave Marker - Ketchikan AK
    The Eagle Grave Market Pole is a totem carved in the 1930s by John Wallace. The original was located in the old village of Howkan. The carving found today at the Totem Bight State Historical Park was reproduced from memory by John Wallace. Wallace’s carving has a Chilkat blanket, which is an uncommon detail for this type of totem, and was not present in the original design. The totem is 10’ high and has a 42” base below ground. The design of the blanket evokes clouds, mountains, and the symbolic characters that live in the forest. The photographic material published here...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Kadjuk Bird Pole - Ketchikan AK
    A 2013 Department of Natural Resources, Master Development Plan for Totem Bight describes the characteristics and history of the totem: “The fabled bird called Kadjuk, which is the special crest of the head of Kadjuk people of the Raven clan, is at the top of this Tlingit pole that was copied from Cat Island. The undecorated space separating the bird from the other figures symbolizes the lofty habitat of the bird and the high regard in which the crest is held. Raven is the next figure, with his breast forming the headdress of his wife, Fog Woman. She holds two...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Kats Bear Wife Pole - Ketchikan AK
    This pole was carved at Totem Bight by Charles Brown in the late 1930s. It is a reproduction of a Tlingit pole from Tongass Island. A 2013 Department of Natural Resources, Master Development Plan for Totem Bight describes the characteristics and history of the totem: “The bear and paw prints symbolize Kats’ wife. Kats is a character of Tlingit mythology that lived for a time with a female grizzly bear as his wife. In 1985, Israel Shotridge carved a replica of the bear that replaced the bear carved by Brown.”
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Man Wearing Bear Hat - Ketchikan AK
    The Man Wearing Bear Hat is a reproduction of a Tlingit grave marker or mortuary pole from Cat Island. According to a 2013 Department of Natural Resources Master Development Plan for Totem Bight, the totem represents “a man of the Bear clan wearing a large carved wooden hat surmounted by a bear’s head. Such a hat was worn at a potlatch or other important occasions during which stories were told or dramatized. Charles Brown carved the first copy of this pole in the late 1930s. Israel Shotridge carved a second replica in 1995. “
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Master Carver Pole - Ketchikan AK
    The Master Carver Pole pole was carved by John Wallace in 1941. A 2013 Department of Natural Resources, Master Development Plan for Totem Bight describes the characteristics and history of the totem: “It was customary on Haida poles to carve the crests of husband and wife. The eagle on the top of this pole is one of the main crests of the Haida Eagle Clan, the clan to which Wallace belonged. The beaver and bullhead
on the pole are also Eagle Clan symbols. The pole additionally includes the opposite crest of the Raven Clan, represented by the raven, bear, blackfish, and...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Pole on the Point - Ketchikan AK
    This Tlingit heralding totem is a reproduction carved by Charles Brown and a crew of apprentice carvers. A 2013 Department of Natural Resources, Master Development Plan for Totem Bight describes the characteristics of the carving: “The top figure is a shaman in ceremonial garb, headdress, and fringed leather apron. The figures carved under the shaman depict a series of adventures including the story of the Chief’s Nephew Who Fed Eagles and the story of a woman with a frog husband and children. Near the bottom of the pole, Brown carved one of the many stories about Raven as ‘the trickster.’...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Raven at the Head of Nass Pole - Ketchikan AK
    The Raven at the Head of Nass Pole was carved by Charles Brown with the assistance of a team of Civilian Conservation Corps Native carvers. This totem is a reproduction of a Tlingit pole 
located on Tongass Island. A 2013 Department of Natural Resources, Master Development Plan for Totem Bight describes the characteristics and history of the totem: “The top figure on this pole is a chief wearing a spruce root hat. The figure at the bottom of the pole is Raven-at- the-head-of-Nass, from whom Raven stole daylight. The human above Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass represents the ancestors of the Raven clan who...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Sea Monster Pole - Ketchikan AK
    This Sea Monster Pole was carved by John Wallace circa 1939-1939. It is the reproduction of a totem from the now-uninhabited Haida village of Klinkwan on Prince of Wales
Island. A 2013 Department of Natural Resources, Master Development Plan for Totem Bight describes the characteristics and history of the totem: “A village watchman stands guard at the top of the pole, just above two eagle crests and symbols representing clouds and mountains, the place of eagles. Below these are figures representing the world under the sea—blackfish holding a seal, a sea monster, and a devilfish (octopus) in the act of devouring...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, The Clan House - Ketchikan AK
    The Clan House is a replica of a community house representative of houses built in the early nineteen-century native villages of Southeast Alaska. It served as the chieftain's dwelling and it also housed several families part of his clan. The structure and its totem art did not originally existed on the current site. The site was a fish camp prior to being turned into a totem park. The paining decorating the façade was created by Charles Brown. It represents a stylized raven figure painted in light blue and brown colors. The eyes of the raven are composed as two stylized faces. Such elaborate...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, The Halibut Pole - Ketchikan AK
    The Halibut Pole is a Tlingit pole that honors the Halibut House people of the Nexadi clan. According to a nomination form of the National Register of Historic Places, the Halibut is the only pole at Totem Bight that is an old original. Relocated from the Tlingit village of Tuxekan on the Prince of Wales Island, the pole was reconditioned and re-erected at Totem Bight. It was housed at the park until 1970, after which it was relocated to the Totem Heritage Center in Ketchikan. The replica of the bottomfish (halibut) at the top of an undecorated post that can...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Thunderbird and Whale - Ketchikan AK
    A 2013 Department of Natural Resources, Master Development Plan for Totem Bight describes the characteristics and history of the totem: “This pole illustrates the mythological conception of thunder. A huge bird that lives on the tops of the highest mountains, the thunderbird, creates thunder by beating its wings, and lightening by blinking its eyes. The thunderbird was said to live in the mountains and come down to prey on whales. The whale at the base of the pole symbolizes the mountaintop where the bird rests before devouring his prey and it is said that whale bones can be found on...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Thunderer’s Pole - Ketchikan AK
    The Thunderer’s Pole is the reproduction of a pole that once stood at Tongass Island. It was carved by Native craftsmen in the late 1930s at Totem Bight for the Civilian Conservation Corps restoration program. A 2013 Department of Natural Resources, Master Development Plan for Totem Bight describes the characteristics and history of the totem: “This Tlingit pole symbolizes thunder, and belongs to the Thunder House people. It depicts four brothers belonging to the Wolf moiety who were changed into Thunderers, mythical beings who live in the sky and on the mountaintops and create thunder and lightning.”
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Village Watchman Pole (left) - Ketchikan AK
    The Village Watchman Poles are part of the structure of the clan house at Totem Bight. This is one of two identical posts that mark the corners the structure, flanking the entry facade. Sitting on the corner posts, a man figure wearing a spruce root hat and a crest design on his face, holds a cane and appears ready for a dance or potlatch. This pole was carved by Charles Brown at Totem Bight for the Civilian Conservation Corps restoration program. The photographic material published here by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Village Watchman Pole (right) - Ketchikan AK
    The Village Watchman Poles are part of the structure of the clan house at Totem Bight. This is one of two identical posts that mark the corners the structure, flanking the entry facade. Sitting on the corner posts, a man figure wearing a spruce root hat and a crest design on his face, holds a cane and appears ready for a dance or potlatch. This pole was carved by Charles Brown at Totem Bight for the Civilian Conservation Corps restoration program. The photographic material published here by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing...
  • Totem Bight State Historical Park, Wandering Raven House Entrance Pole - Ketchikan AK
    The Wandering Raven House Entrance Pole is the central totem that decorates the façade and marks the entrance of the clan house at Totem Bight. A 2013 Department of Natural Resources, Master Development Plan for Totem Bight describes the characteristics of the carving: “The pole against the front of the house is called Wandering Raven, named for the legendary Raven carved as the top figure. Raven can be recognized by his straight black beak. Underneath Raven and at his feet is a carved box containing daylight. Below a mink and a frog, the standing figure of a man, Natsihline, represents the...
  • Trent House Restoration - Trenton NJ
    Multiple New Deal agencies: the CWA, FERA, and WPA, worked to restore the historic Trent House in Trenton, New Jersey between 1934 and 1936. "The WPA work consisted of cleaning and pointing the brick on the Trent House and caretaker's home, painting work, building a wall surrounding the property, laying walks on the grounds, installing shutters inside the Trent House, and grading the grounds. WPA funds for the work were $9,081.89. The late J. Osborn Hunt was the architect of the work until his death, and he was succeeded by Samuel Mountford.
  • Tulamniu Village Archaeology Site - Taft CA
    "More than 4000 artifacts and hundreds of Indian burials were excavated at the site of the Yokut Indian village near Taft, California in 1933-34. Dr. William Duncan Strong, of the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE), headed the Tulamniu C.W.A. Project SLF-73 with Winslow Walker, also of the BAE, as assistant director. The excavations were one of a number of archaeological projects organized and financed by the Civil Works Administration as a means of reducing unemployment. Artifacts and skeletal materials were shipped to the United States National Museum for study after completion of the field work. This collection of material was...
  • Tumacácori National Historical Park: External Walls & Facilities - Tumacácori AZ
    The Tumacácori National Monument was set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 to protect the ruins of the Mission of San Jose de Tumacacori.  In 1918, it came under the administration of the National Park Service and its regional 'custodian', Frank Pinkley.  Congress created the Tumacácori National Historic Park in 1990, adding the ruins of two nearby missions, Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi and San Cayetano de Calabazas. Under the park service's guidance, Tumacácori mission church and its dependencies were stabilized in 1920-21, but intentionally not fully restored.  Only with the aid of the New Deal did the park come...
  • Tumacácori National Historical Park: Wooden Doors & Furniture - Tumacácori AZ
    The Tumacácori National Monument was set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 to protect the ruins of the Mission of San Jose de Tumacacori.  In 1918, it came under the administration of the National Park Service and its regional 'custodian', Frank Pinkley.  Congress created the Tumacácori National Historic Park in 1990, adding the ruins of two nearby missions, Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi and San Cayetano de Calabazas. Under the park service's guidance, Tumacácori mission church and its dependencies were stabilized in 1920-21, but intentionally not fully restored.  Only with the aid of the New Deal did the park come...
  • Tuzigoot National Monument: Excavation and Reconstruction - Clarkdale AZ
    Tuzigoot is an ancient hilltop settlement of the Sinagua people, c 1100-1400 A.D.  It is one of the largest of scores of such settlements throughout the Verde River valley of Northern Arizona.  By the 20th century, the buildings on the site, made of stone and adobe, had fallen completely to ruin. The New Deal aided in the archeological reconstruction of the site in the early 1930s.  The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) began providing funds in October 1933 and this was continued under the Civil Works Administration (CWA) from November 1933 to June 1934.  This allowed for the hiring of two archeologists and...
  • Union Square: George Washington Statue Restoration - New York NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to restore the equestrian George Washington monument in Union Square during the mid-1930s.
  • Union Square: Independence Flagpole Restoration - New York NY
    The NYC Parks Department website explains that: "Although this flagstaff commemorates the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it is also known as the Charles F. Murphy Memorial Flagpole. The intricate bas-reliefs and plaques were completed in 1926 by sculptor Anthony De Francisci (1887–1964), and feature a procession of allegorical figures representing democracy and tyranny, the text of the Declaration of Independence, and emblems from the original 13 colonies. The enormous flagpole, said to be one of the largest in New York State, is capped with a gilded sunburst." In the 1930s, the sculpture was restored with...
  • United States Travel Bureau (former) - Washington DC
    The United States Travel Bureau existed from 1937 to 1943 as an office within the Interior Department, and its mission was to promote travel in the western hemisphere and especially within the United States. The U.S. Travel Bureau had offices in Washington, DC, New York, and San Francisco. In DC, its office was located at 1702 F Street NW (at the corner of F and 17th), across from today’s Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The building that the Travel Bureau was located in is probably no longer extant. In their WPA Guide to Washington, DC, federal writers described the Travel Bureau’s office: “Its...
  • University of Tampa: Plant Hall Improvements - Tampa FL
    Plant Hall was formerly known as the Tampa Bay Hotel. It was built in the late 19th century. By the 1930s it was in disrepair until the WPA restored the building and converted it into use by the University of Tampa. One wing of Plant Hall now houses the Henry B. Plant Museum.
  • Upper Pontalba Building Renovation - New Orleans LA
    The Pontalba Buildings flank Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans.  The Upper Pontalba Building lies on the west side of the square along St. Peter Street, the Lower Pontalba Building on the east side on St. Ann Street.  Both are block-long structures, four stories in height, built of brick and graced with the ironwork typical of buildings in the French Quarter. They were originally built in the 1840s. The two building were the gift of the Baroness de Pontalba, who wished to improve the appearance of Jackson Square – then the center of the city....
  • Vernon-Wister House Renovation - Philadelphia PA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) supplied a grant toward the improvement and renovation of Philadelphia's historic Wister House.
  • Walker-Johnson Building (former) - Washington DC
    The Walker-Johnson Building contained the headquarters of several New Deal work-relief agencies, including the WPA. It was in this building that Harry Hopkins had his main office and where he directed the activities of federal programs that employed millions of Americans on public works projects across the nation. The Walker-Johnson Building was also utilized by the State Department and the U.S. Information Agency. The Walker-Johnson Building was demolished sometime after 1956, and the United Unions Building now stands at the site.
  • Walt Whitman House Restoration - Camden NJ
    The W.P.A. conducted restoration and preservation work at "the clapboard house at Camden, N.J., in which the Good Gray Poet, Walt Whitman, spent the last years of his life."
  • Washington at Valley Forge Memorial Restoration - Brooklyn NY
    The Washington at Valley Forge memorial is an equestrian statue of George Washington   (1732–1799), Commander in Chief and first President of the United States (1789–97), sculpted by Henry Merwin Shrady in 1901.  It is the centerpiece of Brooklyn’s Continental Army Plaza. In the 1930s, the memorial was restored with New Deal funding, initially from the Public Works of Art Project and later by the WPA.  The work was overseen by Karl Gruppe, chief sculptor of the Monument Restoration Project of the New York City Parks Department from 1934 to 1937.  The restoration work was filmed and can be found here. The sculpture and...
  • Washington Irving Statue Restoration - New York NY
    This bust of Washington Irving has an interesting history: "In the late 1800s to early 1900s, a large bronze bust of Washington Irving, mounted on a granite pedestal, stood in the south side of Bryant Park. The author of “Sleepy Hollow” and many other works, Irving was one of the first American writers to gain international acclaim. The statue was donated to the City of New York in 1885 by Joseph Weiner, a German physician and admirer of Irving’s. Sculpted by artist Friedrich Beers, the bust was originally intended for placement in Central Park. Upon completion some members of the NYC...
  • William Cullen Bryant Memorial Restoration - New York NY
    This large bronze and marble memorial in Bryant Park commemorates the 19th c. poet and journalist William Cullen Bryant. The statue was created by Herbert Adams in 1911. In the 1930s, the 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 the WPA.
  • WPA Sewing Room, Metropolitan Methodist Church - Washington DC
    The WPA sewing room project at the Metropolitan Methodist Church in Washington, DC was located at the southwest corner of C Street NW and John Marshall Place (John Marshall Place no longer seems to exist, but most likely ran north to south on the western side of today’s John Marshall Park). Reporting on Eleanor Roosevelt’s visit to the sewing room on July 6, 1936, the Evening Star noted that “1,300 women are employed in two shifts on making garments which are later distributed among W.P.A. relief clients.” Between 1935 and 1943, WPA sewing room workers in Washington, DC made over 1,350,000 items...
  • Yax-te Totem (Also Big Dipper Totem) - Juneau AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carved the Yax-te Totem, as part of a restoration program that lasted approximately between 1938 and 1942. The program was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service effort to employ Alaska Natives and conserve totems and Native cultural assets. U.S. Forest Service architect Linn A. Forrest oversaw the joint program of the Forest Service and the CCC throughout Southeast Alaska. The Yax-te Totem, also known as the Big Dipper Totem, was carved by Frank St. Clair, who was a Tlingit carver from Hoonah, and two CCC enrollees circa 1939-1941. In the early 1990s, after it was damaged...
  • Yosemite and Curry Village Improvements - Yosemite National Park CA
    Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees made many improvements at Yosemite Village and Curry Village at the east end of Yosemite Valley, in the heart of Yosemite National Park. At the time, these were known as the Old Village, New Village and Camp Curry. At Yosemite Village, the CCC teams installed log curbing, laid out new paths, and planted ferns, trees, and shrubs around the administration building, new hospital, residences, and Yosemite Museum. Some of the landscaping was done with native plants transplanted from various places outside the valley.  CCCers placed flagstones around the telescopes in front of the museum. Under the direction of...
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