The Living New Deal in 2014

In January 2013, I made my first submission to the Living New Deal, and by the end of December, the number had grown to 62.  The first submission was the Houston, Mississippi post office and mural.

Used with permission of USPS

The 62nd submission that year was for the Mt. Pleasant Texas Golf Course, designed by golf course architect Perry Maxwell.

Submissions in 2014 more than tripled to 213, and 33 of them involved road trips to take photographs.  Just around the corner from Mt. Pleasant, the first submission of the year for 2014 was the Miller County Courthouse in Texarkana, Arkansas.

I had 79 Mississippi submissions, and 12 road trips for their photographs.  Arkansas was second at 47 submissions, and 7 road trips, followed by Tennessee at 45 submissions, but only 2 road trips.  Louisiana ranked fourth with 24 submissions, and 3 road trips.  Texas brought up the rear at 19 submissions, but 9 road trips, earning it number 2 in road trips to photograph submissions.

My favorite piece of research was the work on the resettlement communities, including Lake Dick and Plum Bayou in Arkansas.  The one I spent the most time on, digging for confirmation that it was a WPA project was the Newcastle gymnasium.  I remembered the old rock gymnasium, and Dad remembered it was built by the WPA, but I could not find confirmation.  I knew the year 1931 on the marker could not be correct.  I finally located the references to its construction in 1937 in newspaper archives, making it almost 2 years that I searched for information.

A few of my favorite photographs of the past year's research for the New Deal work:

former Post Office, Crossett, Arkansa

Wortham Gymnasium, Oak Grove, Arkansas

WPA Amphitheater, Mineral Wells, Texas

Collierville, Tennessee High School

Ruston, Louisiana High School

Hempstead County Courthouse, Hope, Arkansas

Signing of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, Macon, Mississippi Post Office; Image used with permission of USPS