Hamilton Ohio post office
803. Aug. 13, 2003 -- Post office murals work of accomplished artist :
Journal-News, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2003
Post office murals work of accomplished artist
By Jim Blount
The work of a nationally recognized artist goes unnoticed here despite its prominence in a public building in downtown Hamilton. His six murals, depicting local history and industry, aren't included in listings of City of Sculpture attractions. For decades, local postal officials haven't been able to identify the creator of the murals.
Richard Zoellner was commissioned by the U. S. Treasury Department in late 1935 to brighten the lobby of the new Hamilton post office. Unfortunately, 68 years later his work needs cleaning and improved lighting to be fully appreciated.
The mural project was part of a federal relief program during the Great Depression. The post office at the southeast corner of S. Front and Court streets, opposite the historic courthouse, had been dedicated June 14, 1933, and opened for business the next day.
Starting in December 1933, the Civil Works Administration allocated funds for the Public Works of Art Project that had two goals -- enhance public buildings erected under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, and provide income for unemployed artists.
A 1935 newspaper report said five of Zoellner's Hamilton murals "measuring eight and one-half feet by three feet will be painted above the doorways . . . and a larger one, measuring 14 feet by three feet, above the office of the postmaster."
The largest panel depicts the building of Fort Hamilton in 1791. The smaller scenes represent agriculture, stove making, printing, paper making and a foundry.
The native of Portsmouth, Ohio, sought advice from Postmaster Henry B. Grevey before starting the Hamilton murals.
Zoellner, whose studio was in Cincinnati from 1933 to 1942, was the recipient of several private and public commissions from the treasury department's Section of Fine Arts from the early 1930s until the start of World War II in 1941.
Besides Hamilton, he completed murals in post offices in Cleveland, Georgetown, Medina and Portsmouth in Ohio and Mannington, W. Va.; paintings in U. S. marine hospitals; and murals for the Cincinnati Zoo and the Greenhills library. The five Greenhills murals highlight the influence of the Ohio River on the Cincinnati area. Two paintings in his hometown PO in Portsmouth also feature river scenes.
Zoellner, who had worked for a sign painter while still in high school, graduated from the Cincinnati Art Academy and also studied in New York City and Mexico.
In a career that extended more than 70 years, he won numerous awards. His work has been featured in exhibits in Europe, Asia and South America, and his drawings, canvasses, sculptures and lithographs are among private collections and the holdings of several museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Library of Congress in Washington.
One of his earliest patrons was Mrs. Winston Churchill, who purchased a watercolor in 1942 while Zoellner was working on a promotional exhibit for a tourist agency in the American Virgin Islands.
"Teaching was another of his gifts," emphasized an obituary in the Tuscaloosa News.
"In 1945, Zoellner established at the University of Alabama one of only two fine art printmaking programs in the Southeast. At that time, UA's art program was part of the department of home economics." He was a member of the UA art faculty for 33 years before retiring in 1978.
"Throughout his storied career, Zoellner rode the currents and upheaval in modern art, much as he canoed the [Ohio and] Mississippi river from Cincinnati to New Orleans in 1928," noted the Tuscaloosa News. "Line and color, texture and symmetry, harmony and contrast, these were the tools of his trade," the newspaper said.
The 94-year-old artist-teacher was still painting in his Tuscaloosa studio until a few weeks before he died March 6, 2003.
There are six paintings inside the doors of the Hamilton Ohio post office painted by Richard Zoellner.
United States post office murals were produced in the United States from 1934 to 1943, through commissions from the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. The principal objective was to secure artwork that met high artistic standards[1] for public buildings, where it was accessible to all people.[2] The murals were intended to boost the morale of the American people suffering from the effects of the Depression by depicting uplifting subjects the people knew and loved.[3]
Murals produced through the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture (1934–43) were funded as a part of the cost of the construction of new post offices, with 1% of the cost set aside for artistic enhancements.[4] Murals were commissioned through competitions open to all artists in the United States.[5] Almost 850 artists were commissioned to paint 1371 murals, most of which were installed in post offices;[4] 162 of the artists were women and three were African American.[4] The Treasury Relief Art Project (1935–38), which provided artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings, produced a smaller number of post office murals.[1] TRAP was established with funds from the Works Progress Administration. The Section supervised the creative output of TRAP, and selected a master artist for each project. Assistants were then chosen by the artist from the rolls of the WPA Federal Art Project.[6]:62–63
Artists were asked to paint in an "American scene" style, depicting ordinary citizens in a realistic manner. Abstract and modern artstyles were discouraged. Artists were also encouraged to produce works that would be appropriate to the communities where they were to be located and to avoid controversial subjects.[5] Projects were closely scrutinized by the Section for style and content, and artists were paid only after each stage in the creative process was approved.[6]
The Section and the Treasury Relief Art Project were overseen by Edward Bruce, who had directed the Public Works of Art Project(1933–34). They were commission-driven public work programs that employed artists to beautify American government buildings, strictly on the basis of quality.[2][6]:58–59 This contrasts with the work-relief mission of the Federal Art Project (1935–43) of the Works Progress Administration, the largest of the New Deal art projects. So great was its scope and cultural impact that the term "WPA" is often mistakenly used to describe all New Deal art, including the U.S. post office murals.[2][6]:63–64
The murals are the subject of efforts by the United States Postal Service to preserve and protect them. This is particularly important and problematical as some of them have disappeared or deteriorated. Some are ensconced in buildings that are worth far less than the artwork.
United States post office murals were produced in the United States from 1934 to 1943, through commissions from the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. The principal objective was to secure artwork that met high artistic standards[1] for public buildings, where it was accessible to all people.[2] The murals were intended to boost the morale of the American people suffering from the effects of the Depression by depicting uplifting subjects the people knew and loved.[3]
Murals produced through the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture (1934–43) were funded as a part of the cost of the construction of new post offices, with 1% of the cost set aside for artistic enhancements.[4] Murals were commissioned through competitions open to all artists in the United States.[5] Almost 850 artists were commissioned to paint 1371 murals, most of which were installed in post offices;[4] 162 of the artists were women and three were African American.[4] The Treasury Relief Art Project (1935–38), which provided artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings, produced a smaller number of post office murals.[1] TRAP was established with funds from the Works Progress Administration. The Section supervised the creative output of TRAP, and selected a master artist for each project. Assistants were then chosen by the artist from the rolls of the WPA Federal Art Project.[6]:62–63
Artists were asked to paint in an "American scene" style, depicting ordinary citizens in a realistic manner. Abstract and modern artstyles were discouraged. Artists were also encouraged to produce works that would be appropriate to the communities where they were to be located and to avoid controversial subjects.[5] Projects were closely scrutinized by the Section for style and content, and artists were paid only after each stage in the creative process was approved.[6]
The Section and the Treasury Relief Art Project were overseen by Edward Bruce, who had directed the Public Works of Art Project(1933–34). They were commission-driven public work programs that employed artists to beautify American government buildings, strictly on the basis of quality.[2][6]:58–59 This contrasts with the work-relief mission of the Federal Art Project (1935–43) of the Works Progress Administration, the largest of the New Deal art projects. So great was its scope and cultural impact that the term "WPA" is often mistakenly used to describe all New Deal art, including the U.S. post office murals.[2][6]:63–64
The murals are the subject of efforts by the United States Postal Service to preserve and protect them. This is particularly important and problematical as some of them have disappeared or deteriorated. Some are ensconced in buildings that are worth far less than the artwork.
WPA Writings:
Writers were among those distressed by the Great Depression of the 1930s, and a few were among the millions of unemployed Americans who benefited from government assistance programs. Some found work in Butler County. A sampling of their work was noted in a 1936 Journal-News article.
"By the long and diligent search by members of the Federal Writers Project, M. E. Kennel, editor for Butler County, another interesting story of early Butler County settlers and their experiences with the Indians has been uncovered," the newspaper said.
One of the tales recorded by FWP workers involved Thomas Carr, described in the newspaper account as settling in 1795 between what became Oxford and Hamilton. "Here he had built for himself a one-room log cabin and ventured about his daily task of clearing his land and putting what he had cleared under cultivation."
"It so happened," the report continued, "that one evening a band of Indians stopped and asked for lodging for the night. Being aware of their cunning, he made each Indian of the group hand over his firearms and knives, after which he proceeded to fix for them a bed about the fireplace."
Carr, "after being careful that he had every weapon tucked carefully behind his bed, put out the light except that which was produced by the glowing embers in the fireplace, and all were ready for the night."
"Many times during the night he was awakened by one or other of the Indians who tried to sneak to the corner where the weapons were concealed. Not to be outdone, the pioneer would jump out of bed and crack the Indian's head against the floor."
"After several futile attempts to gain possession of their weapons, the night was gradually fading into dawn when bright and early, Carr awakened his guests and, with his horse, followed the braves two miles into the woods, where upon he returned to them their firearms and knives."
"The outwitted braves went into the woods, jokingly admitting to one another that they were completely beaten. Because of his act of bravery, Indians never again bothered Carr or his frontier home," the report concluded.
Another story told to the WPA writers concerned the great grandmother of a Butler County woman. The Indian encounter also took place about 1795 in this area.
"One night, when she was left alone in the cabin," the article said, the pioneer woman "carefully had all doors and windows barred for safety. Late in the night she heard a noise on the roof of the cabin and concluded that the Indians were trying to enter the cabin by way of the chimney."
"Almost immediately, she placed a feather bed on the coals in the fireplace and, in a short time, the intruders were driven off the roof. One of the Indians was badly burned."
"For many years after," the legend goes, "she was known to the Indians as 'the Fire Maiden.' "
The Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration was created in June 1935. It involved more than 300 writers in 24 states whose efforts included collecting oral histories from more than 10,000 people between 1935 and 1942.
A product of the FWP was the American Guide series, books that focused on the history, culture and economy of cities, states and regions of the United States.
The Ohio Guide -- which includes brief sections on Hamilton and Oxford -- was part of the series. It was published in 1940 by the Oxford University Press under the sponsorship of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society (now the Ohio Historical Society).