Post Office Mural - Chicopee Falls MA

City:: Chicopee, Chicopee Falls, MA
Site Type:: Art Works, Murals
New Deal Agencies:: Arts Programs, Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA)
Completed:: 1938
Artist:: Ernst Halberstadt

Description

The historic New Deal post office in the Chicopee Falls community in Chicopee, Massachusetts contains a 1938 Section of Fine Arts mural by Ernst Halberstadt entitled “History of Chicopee Falls.”

Richly detailed vignettes of the history of Chicopee Falls with Indians and Pilgrims on the left with game and initial settlement, progressing to a covered bridge and buildings on the right. The center is dominated by an eagle clasping the banner of US Mail Chicopee Falls. The scale is small with many locations and events pictured.

Ernst Halberstadt was born in Germany and immigrated to Boston where he studied at the Massachusetts College of Art. He was a supervisor for the WPA, worked on the Detroit murals with Diego Rivera , and a mural in the Radio City Music Hall.