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Chicago, circa 1940[/caption]
While library services have been changed with technology through the years, our mission remains the same, to provide communities with a space to convene, discuss, educate, challenge, and enlighten. Don't believe us? In today's Flashback Friday, one of a three part series, we explore government funded artwork for libraries across the United States.
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Pennsylvania, circa 1936-1937[/caption]
We start with these charming and eccentric Great Depression era silkscreen posters. Created by artists working in the Work Projects Administration between 1936 and 1943, most of these posters wouldn't feel out of place in a library today.
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Iowa, circa 1936-1939[/caption]
The Work Projects Administration (WPA), one of Franklin D. Roosevelt's pioneering and controversial New Deal programs, employed thousands of artists from to create art which promoted community services. Over 900 of these iconic posters created by the WPA have been digitized into an easy to search digital collection by the Library of Congress (via
Fox at
dh support). Whether you are an art aficionado, a lover of 20th century American history, or just interested in great design, this collection of high-contrast, vibrantly colored posters are a great contrast to the typical images we associate with The Great Depression.
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![Books are weapons Read about... "The negro in national defense," "Africa and the war," [and] "Negro history and culture" at the Schomburg Collection of the New York Public Library Books are weapons Read about... "The negro in national defense," "Africa and the war," [and] "Negro history and culture" at the Schomburg Collection of the New York Public Library](http://180insm.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/books-are-weapons.jpg?w=192)
New York, circa 1941-1943[/caption]
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Chicago, circa 1936-1940[/caption]
Take a look at some more of our favorites, or find your own at WPA Posters Digital Collection at the Library of Congress.
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