“Early Settlers of Moline along the Mississippi”
Description
“Located at the East Moline post office is a mural entitled “Early Settlers of Moline along the Mississippi” by Edgar Britton. Created in 1936, this mural is considered a “fresco.”
Britton was born in 1901in Kearney, Nebraska. He studied at the University of Iowa from 1918-1920 and was a student of Grant Wood’s from 1920 to 1924. Britton completed seven mural projects for both the WPA and the Section, including a mural in the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. While he is best known for his murals—and was, in fact, Director of the mural division of the Illinois Art Project from 1940 to 1941—Britton also did sculpture work in bronze and landscape painting.”
The post office itself was constructed by the Treasury in 1932, prior to the advent of the New Deal.
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1932 Post Office
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1932 Post Office Cornerstone
Source notes
http://bqc.wikispaces.com/New+Deal+Art+Found+in+the+QC
A Guide to Depression Era Art in Illinois Post Offices: [Pamphlet] Mary Emma Thompson, PH. D.
Personal visit on 8/16/2015 by David, Post Office Fans
Illinois New Deal Post Office List (www.postofficefans.com)
Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal project site.
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