Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 09:44:42 -0400 (EDT)
THE WPA
An Exhibition of Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Literature and Art from the Collections of the
Bienes Center for the Literary Arts
OCTOBER 6-DECEMBER 31, 1998
The exhibit contains 261 books, pamphlets, ephemera,
works of art, and other items produced through the
Works Progress Administration (WPA). Established by
the federal government in the 1930s, the WPA provided
jobs for the unemployed, first in the construction
industries and later for artists, performers, musicians,
writers, librarians, and other white collar professionals.
Most of the items in the library exhibition were
generated by two sub-agencies of the WPA, the Federal
Writers' Project (FWP) and the Federal Art Project (FAP).
The exhibit features the FWP's tour guides to the (then)
48 United States and Alaska and Puerto Rico. Each state
guide's dustjacket is illustrated in the 88-page catalog.
Also part of the display are two paintings by the WPA
artist Paul R. Meltsner; two architectural models from
the Pennsylvania WPA; and several books with bindings
by the Milwaukee Handicraft Project. Of particular local
interest is a selection of 54 Florida books, pamphlets,
and ephemera, with titles including BROOMCORN GROWING,
FLORIDA SEAFOOD COOKERY, THE NEGRO SINGS, and SPANISH
LAND GRANTS IN FLORIDA.
The catalog accompanying the exhibition also includes
the texts of three previously unpublished Florida Writers'
Project works: THE HISTORY OF BROWARD COUNTY, by Frances
H. Miner; LAUDERDALE, by Williamson; and PORT EVERGLADES
by [anonymous]. A reprint of the journal article, TOURING
FLORIDA THROUGH THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT is also
included.
Almost all of the printed pieces in the exhibition were
donated to Broward County Library in 1986 by Jean
Fitzgerald, a former Broward County Library Advisory
Board member and a founder of the Broward Public Library
Foundation. His gift of about 600 titles forms the core
of the 1400-item WPA collection now housed in the Bienes
Center for the Literary Arts. At an opening reception on
October 6, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Fitzgerald will discuss
the evolution of his interest in the Federal Writers'
Project materials, and Margaret Bing will present an
overview of the WPA and its various agencies.
The reception and exhibition are free and open to the
public. The exhibition is open during regular Main Library
hours, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday; 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday; noon to 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
(The exhibit will also be available on the Bienes Center's
web site, listed below, as of Oct. 15, 1998).
To order a copy of the 88-page illustrated catalog, send
a check or money order payable to the Bienes Center for
the Literary Arts, for $15.00 (includes shipping and
handling) (institutions will be billed) to the address
below:
James A. Findlay
Librarian
The Bienes Center for the Literary Arts
The Dianne and Michael Bienes
Special Collections and Rare Book Library _______
Broward County Library /______/(
100 S. Andrews Ave. (_______(
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301 (________(
WEB SITE
Document URL:
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/wpa-exhibit.html
Last
modified: Thursday, 31-May-2007 09:41:27 EDT