- City:
- Crystal Springs, MS
- Site Type:
- Art Works, Murals
- New Deal Agencies:
- Arts Programs, Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA)
- Artist:
- Henry La Cagnina
- Marked:
- No
Description
“Harvest” illustrated the important truck farming industry in the Crystal Springs, Mississippi area in the 1930s (Enzweiler, 1992). La Cagnina’s mural featured farm workers and women packers preparing vegetables for shipment. Crystal Springs was known as the “tomatroplis of the world” during that period, and shipped vegetables all over the US via train, apparently providing employment and income that benefitted the community during the years of the Great Depression (Nelson-Easley, 2007).
According to La Cagnina, the mural was inappropriately restored when a preservative glaze was applied, giving the mural a “black tonality” and altering the “original pearly gray tonality” (Enzweiler, describing personal communication with the artist). Enzweiler described it as the obvious commitment of the community to preserve the mural, however short-sited the preservation attempt may have been.
Source notes
Enzweiler, S. M. (1992). National Register of Historic Places nomination form. Retrieved from https://www.apps.mdah.ms.gov/nom/prop/5502.pdf. Nelson-Easley, L. M. (2007). Images of America: Copiah County. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing.Site originally submitted by Susan Allen on March 23, 2013.
At this Location:
Contribute to this Site
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.
Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site
Join the Conversation