Murals of Oklahoma

George Biddle a old classmate of President Roosevelt wrote a letter to him dated May 9, 1933 that noted the achievements of Mexican muralists such as Diego Rivera and suggested that young American artist should be able to express American ideas of history and culture on public buildings and walls of America. Although not a new conscept to the president it did however strike a cord with him and the president then convince the New Deal officials to accept a program that would put the artist back to work as well as “bring art back to the common man” [6]

In 2003-2004 a Thematic survey was conducted by the Department of Geography, Oklahoma State University. Because of this survey it was found that there was 37 art projects from the New Deal Area. The following table shows those 37 art projects and others that were significant to the New Deal.  

CityBuildingAddressArt Work
1TahlequahCherokee Female Seminary1. Kiowa Buffalo Hunt.
2. Kiowa War Dance.
2EnidGarfield County Courthouse114 W. Broadway Street, EnidMural Cycle:
Trail Blazers of the Cherokee Strip; The Hunting Trail; The Exporer’s Trail; The Cattle Trails; The Commerce Trail; The Homemaker’s Trail; The Rancher’s Trail.
3ChickashaHealth and Physical Education Building1700 Blocks of S. 17th Street, ChickashaMural Cycle:
Buffalo Dancers; Moving Camp – Room 201.
Indian Spear Dancer;Dancer with Headdress – Room 202.
Drummer (Destroyed); Thunderbird.
4Oklahoma CityOklahoma Supreme Court House2100 N. Lincoln Blvd, Oklahoma City1. Choctaw 1843 – Spencer Asah. (1937)
2. Secotan 1650 – Spencer Asah. (1937)
3. Kiowa 1920 – Monroe Tsatoke. (1937)
4. Cheyenne 1832 – Monroe Tsatoke. (1937)
5. Kiowa 1832 – Monroe Tsatoke. (1937)
6. Osage 1839 – Monroe Tsatoke. (1937)
7. Kiowa 1900– Monroe Tsatoke. (1937)
8,9. Sheild Designs – Monroe Tsatoke. (1937)
10. Comanche 1880 – Monroe Tsatoke. (1937)
5AnadarkoUS Post Office120 S. First Street, AnadarkoMural Cycle by Stephen Mopope (1937)
6CordellUS Post Office121 E. First Street, CordellThe Scene Changes by Ila McAfee Turner (1938)
7SayreUS Post Office201 N. Fourth StreetThe Opening of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Country by Vance Kirkland (1940)
8VinitaUS Post Office/Courthouse120 E. Illinois Ave.Cherokee History by Randall Davey (1941)
9NowataUS Post Office109 N. Pine StreetThe Rainbow Trail by Woody Crumbo (1943)
10.OkemahUS Post Office418 W. Broadway StreetGrand Council of 1842 by Walter Richard West (1941)
11WatongaUS Post Office121 N. Noble AveRoman Nose Canyon by Edith Mahier (1941)
12WeatherfordUS Post Office107 E. Franklin AveTerminus of the Railroad by Oscar E. Berninghaus (1939)
13NormanJacobson Hall, OU550 Parrinton OvalThirty Carved Oak Panels Illustrating Life and Art Styles from the Cave Man through the Steel Worker by Derald Swineford, Anita Furray, Margaret Giles, and Paul McBride (1934-45)
14Oklahoma CityWilson Elementary School2215 N. Walker AveNursery Rhyme Characters by Audre Yates (1934).
The Circus by Audre Yates (1934).
Dancer attributed to Herbert White Buffalo (1940).
Woman Making Baskets by Acee Blue Eagle (n.d.).
Knife Dancer by Acee Blue Eagle (n.d.).
Ready for the Hunt by Acee Blue Eagle (n.d.).
15NormanAdams Hall, OU307 W. Brooks Street8 Panels originally produced.
16SeminoleUS Post Office120 E. Oak AveSeminole Indian Village Scene by Acee Blue Eagle (1939)
17CoalgateUS Post Office38 N. Main StreetWomen Making Pishafa by Acee Blue Eagle (1942)
18MariettaUS Post Office118 W. Main StreetChickasaw Family Making Pah Sho Fah by Soloman McCombs (1942)
19DrumrightUS Post Office118 N. Ohio AveOklahoma Land Rush by Frank Weathers Long (1941)
20MadillUS Post Office223 W. Lillie BlvdPrairie Fire by Ethel Magafan (1940)
21StilwellUS Post Office16 S. Second StreetCherokee Indian Faming and Animal Husbandry by Olga Mohr (1942)
22SulphurUS Post Office1100 W. Second StreetThe Romance of the Mail / The Mail in the Old Cattle Country by Albert Turner Reid (1939)
23PawhuskaUS Post Office137 E. Sixth StreetOsages (Treaties – Osage Indians) by Olive Rush (1938)
24WaurikaUS Post Office121 W. Broadway AveCanadian Honkers by Theodore Van Soelen (1939)
25HollisUS Post Office120 N. Second StreetMapping the trail by Lloyd Lozes Goff (1941)
26MarlowUS Post Office320 W. Main StreetCattle Days by Lew E. Davis (1942)
27WewokaUS Post Office115 W. Second StreetHistorical Background of Wewoka by Marjorie Rowland Clarke (1941)
28PurcellUS Post Office228 W. Main StreetThe Round-up by Frederick E. Conway (1940)
29PoteauUS Post Office115 N. Witte StreetCotton by Joan Cunningham (1940)
30MuskogeeMcCombs Hall, Bacone College2299 Old Bacone RoadBuffalo Hunt by Stephen Mopope (1934).
War Dance by Stephen Mopope (1934). Were moved from original location)
31MuskogeePalmer Center, Bacone CollegeIndian Pictorial Writing by Acee Blue Eagle (1937).
Sequoyah Teaching His Alphabet by Acee Blue Eagle (1937). No evidence exists that these are New Deal Art and the Current are reproductions.
32TulsaBerryhill Elementary School3128 S. 63rd StreetIchabod Crane by Mary McCray (1934).
Uncle Remus by Mary McCray (1934).
33ClintonCity Hall415 Gary BlvdRace for Land by Loren N. Mozley (1938). (moved from original location of Us Post Office).
34HugoAdministrative Offices, Hugo Public Schools208 N. Second StreetThe Red Man Of Oklahoma Sees the First Stage Coach by Joseph A. Fleck (1937). Move from original location of post office.
35Perry Cherokee Strip Museum2617 W. Fir StreetRange Branding Down by the Big Tank by Thomas M. Stell, jr. (1941). moved from original location of post office.
36EdmondCity Hall100 E. First StreetPre-Settlement Days by Ila McAfee Turner (1939) moved from it’s original location of post office
37IdabelPost Office201 E. Central AveThe Last Home of the Choctaw Nation by H. Louis Freund (1940) moved to new post office (not confirmed)
38TahlequahUS Post Office1101 S. Muskogee AveChoctaw Ball-Play by Manuel Bromberg (1939)
39GoodwellNo Man’s Land Historical Museum207 W. Sewell StreetHarvest by Jay Risling (1939)
40YukonUS Post Office900 Garth Brooks BlvdThe Run, April 22, 1889 by Dahlov Ipcar (1941)
41StillwaterUS Post Office720 South Husband StreetEarly Days in Payne County by Grace L. Hamilton (1963). Although not directly New Deal art, it may represent an enduring legacy of it [2].
42WeatherfordAl Harris Library809 N. Custer StreetKiowa Indian Dancers by Stephen Mopope (1931). Although not commisioned by New Deal art project it represents Stephen Mopope’s earlier work.
43Oklahoma CityOklahoma Museum of History (storage)Indian Friendship by James Auchiah (1934). Moved from original location of Information Room of the Office of the Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes Agency Federal Building, Muskogee.
44 ClaremorePost Office (New)Will Rogers by Randall Davey in 1939.

Sources:

  1. National Archives – https://catalog.archives.gov/id/70170110
  2. Thematic Survey of New Deal Era Public Art in Oklahoma 2003-2004.
  3. New Deal Art: The Oklahoma Experience 1933-1943 by Barbara Kerr Scott Ph.D and Sally Bradstreet Soelle Ph.D.
  4. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_United_States_post_office_murals
  5. 1934: A New Deal for Artists Guide for Educators
  6. Documentation of Mural Building 4720 U.S. Army Field Artillery Center, Fort Sill Military Reservation, Oklahoma, by Joe C. Freeman, 1995.
  7. https://www.historynet.com/the-kiowa-five/

Supported Documents:

Photos: