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Tag: Works Progress Administration

Berenice Abbott’s Changing New York

“The camera alone can catchthe swift surfaces of thecities today and speaks alanguage intelligible to all.” Berenice Abbott The work of Greenwich Village photographer Berenice Abbott (July 17, 1898-December 9, 1991) stands as an important bridge between the photographic circles and cultural hubs of Paris and New York. Born in Springfield, Ohio, Abbott moved to […]

Documenting New York ca. 1940 via ‘Tax Photos’

From 1939 until 1941, the New York City Department of Taxation collaborated with the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) to take photographs of each building in the five boroughs. Known then as the “Real Property Tax Card Record System for the City of New York,” the initiative started in 1938 when the Department of Taxation […]

    #SouthOfUnionSquare, the Birthplace of American Modernism: Mary Fife Laning

    “South of Union Square, the Birthplace of American Modernism” is a series that explores how the area south of Union Square shaped some of the most influential American artists of the 20th century. Throughout the 20th century, the area south of Union Square attracted painters, writers, publishers, and radical social organizations, many of whom were challenging accepted […]

    #SouthOfUnionSquare, the Birthplace of American Modernism: Edward Laning

    “South of Union Square, the Birthplace of American Modernism” is a series that explores how the area south of Union Square shaped some of the most influential American artists of the 20th century. Throughout the 20th century, the area south of Union Square attracted painters, writers, publishers, and radical social organizations, many of whom were […]

    The New Deal is Still Living

    The subject of how much government can and should invest in infrastructure and public works is a hot topic of debate, especially now. Such conversations often point back to the era of the New Deal when the federal government channeled our tax monies to local investments and funded and built much of New York City’s […]

      Greenwich Village at the White House

      This picturesque wintry scene of Christopher Street was painted by Greenwich Village resident and artist Beulah Bettersworth in 1934. Looking west from Hudson Street along Christopher, it shows the Ninth Avenue El Christopher Street Station and St. Veronica’s Church beyond. Currently, this painting is part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  […]

      USPS’ Landmark Legacy: the Cooper Station Post Office

      On July 26, 1775 the United States Postal System was established by the Second Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General.  Franklin, in his turn, put in place the foundation of many aspects of today’s mail system.  Today, the U.S. Postal Service is one the nation’s largest civil employers, with over 40,000 […]

      Berenice Abbott and the Legacy of the New Deal

      The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act was passed by Congress on April 8 in 1935, five years into the Great Depression. The name of the legislation may sound foreign, but most likely you are quite familiar with some of the programs it enacted. The New Deal’s WPA, or Works Progress Administration, was one of those programs. […]

        Community Cornerstones: The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation

        Tucked away on an unassuming block on LaGuardia Place is the former studio and home of sculptor Chaim Gross and his wife Renee. Gross, whose art can be found in the permanent collections of such institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, worked and lived in the Village for […]

        My Favorite Things: Archive Edition II

        One of the most frequent questions we get at GVSHP is where to find historic photographs. We have focused on this topic before here at Off the Grid, but the newly created online gallery at the New York City Municipal Archives is such an excellent resource, we thought it deserved another look.

        The WPA Today

        On April 8 1935, the creation of the Works Progress Administration was approved by Congress as a part of FDR’s New Deal.  The New Deal was born at the height of the Great Depression as a series of economic programs that focused on the three R’s- Relief (for the unemployed and poor), Recovery (of the […]