MARCH/APRIL 2021 Post Taste Appreciating historic post office murals GYM CLASS GOLDEN Basketball landmarks OPPORTUNITY on the rebound Saving Brookville’s Valley House FROM THE PRESIDENT STARTERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS Olon F. Dotson Muncie Hon. Randall T. Shepard Honorary Chair Melissa Glaze Roanoke Sara Edgerton Tracy Haddad Respect Chair Columbus Parker Beauchamp In Praise of Progress Past Chair David A. Haist Wabash for Rustic Doris Anne Sadler “PROGRESS MAY HAVE BEEN all right once, but it went on Vice Chair Emily J. Harrison SPANNING OVER 15,000 Attica Marsh Davis too long.” There may have been a time when Ogden Nash’s President Sarah L. Lechleiter acres, Brown County State Indianapolis witty quip characterized the historic preservation movement. Hilary Barnes Park qualifies as the state’s Secretary/Assistant Treasurer Shelby Moravec LaPorte Such is no longer the case. If the last year has taught us any- Thomas H. Engle largest historic district after Assistant Secretary Ray Ontko its addition to the National thing, it’s that change and progress are not only inevitable, they Richmond Brett D. McKamey are imperative. That holds true for historic preservation, if it is Treasurer Martin E. Rahe Register of Historic Places Cincinnati, OH to remain relevant. Judy A. O’Bannon in December. The area’s Secretary Emerita James W. Renne One obvious and dramatic change can be found in the way Newburgh spectacular natural views we gather. Virtually all of our meetings now are, well, virtual. DIRECTORS David A. Resnick, CPA attracted artists at the Sarah Evans Barker Carmel While we sorely miss the in-person contact, we now regularly Morgantown George A. Rogge turn of the twentieth cen- The Rt. Rev. Jennifer Gary tury, drawing even more interact with colleagues across the state and nation, eliminat- Baskerville-Burrows Sallie W. Rowland ing travel time and expense. This week, for instance, members Indianapolis Zionsville visitors after it became the Bruce W. Buchanan Peter J. Sacopulos of our affiliate council of local preservation organizations Indianapolis Terre Haute Brown County State Game Candace Chapman Robert L. Santa assembled in Zoom conferences that were well attended and no Preserve in 1924. In the ©BOTTLEWORKS HOTEL Evansville Bloomington less substantive than if we had met in person. Edward D. Clere Charlitta Winston 1930s, Civilian Conservation More importantly, we seek changes in the way the his- New Albany Indianapolis Corps crews helped define Mike Corbett John D. Zeglis toric preservation movement addresses our shared heritage. Noblesville Culver the park’s architecture, Ellen Swisher Crabb Beau F. Zoeller creating gatehouses and Auction to the Rescue! Looking back, we recognize how much we need to examine Indianapolis Henryville hough we can’t gather in person for our annual Rescue the motivations for choosing what we have preserved and Cheri Dick shelters in the park rustic Zionsville how those places are interpreted. Looking forward, we must style—even shaping its Party this spring, you can still help us save endangered seek ways to broaden the scope of what we preserve, hasten- trails and lakes. Indiana places by bidding in online auctions this April. Items up OFFICES & HISTORIC SITES Tfor bid will include exclusive overnight packages at two of the ing the arc of change that now celebrates not only high-style Landmarks staff authored state’s most celebrated restored destinations: West Baden Springs landmarks of affluence but places that reflect the wonderful Headquarters Southeast Field Office the nomination, part- Indiana Landmarks Center Aurora Hotel and the recently opened Bottleworks Hotel, located in diversity of our land. In so doing we will connect with new gen- 1201 Central Avenue (812) 926-0983 nering with the Indiana Indianapolis, IN 46202 Southwest Field Office Department of Natural Indianapolis’s historic Coca-Cola bottling plant. Both packages erations of preservationists and ensure that our work remains [email protected] Evansville (317) 639-4534 (812) 423-2988 Resources and supported feature extras including private tours, dining, entertainment, and relevant. (800) 450-4534 Western Regional Office by local preservation group more. Learn more on p.19. We speak of historic preservation as a movement. That, of Northwest Field Office Terre Haute Gary (812) 232-4534 Peaceful Valley Heritage. (219) 947-2657 course, suggests motion—and, hopefully, forward motion, oth- Huddleston Farmhouse erwise known as progress. Central Regional Office Cambridge City Indianapolis (765) 478-3172 (317) 639-4534 Morris-Butler House Eastern Regional Office Indianapolis Cambridge City (317) 639-4534 (765) 478-3172 Veraestau Northern Regional Office Aurora South Bend (812) 926-0983 (574) 232-4534 Marsh Davis, President French Lick and West Northeast Field Office Baden Springs tours Wabash (866) 571-8687 (toll free) (800) 450-4534 (812) 936-5870 Indiana post offices received Southern Regional Office New Albany murals through the federal (812) 284-4534 Section of Painting and Sculpture from 1936 to 1942. Read about A detail from Hay Making by Marguerite Zorach in Monticello’s post ©2021, Indiana Landmarks; ISSN#: 0737-8602 how the New Deal program left its On the office, one of 37 murals created statewide through a New Deal-era Indiana Landmarks publishes Indiana Preservation bimonthly Culver post office Cover program. Learn more on pp. 4-5. PHOTO BY LEE LEWELLEN for members. To join and learn other membership benefits, mark on post offices around the visit indianalandmarks.org or contact memberships@ state on pp. 4-5. indianalandmarks.org, 317-639-4534 or 800-450-4534. To PAIGE WASSEL LEE LEWELLEN offer suggestions for Indiana Preservation, contact editor@ indianalandmarks.org. 2 INDIANA PRESERVATION indianalandmarks.org 3 MATTER OF STYLE Lake, Indiana, centers around Solon Powell contacted local preservation nonprofit Saving Robinson, the city’s founder, and Historic Orange County (SHOC), which solicited permission Chief Mewonitoc, the eponym of from the postal service’s federal preservation officer to pursue Robinson’s 1867 novel on his inter- the mural’s conservation. The group raised $5,000 in grants actions with Native Americans in Post office murals and private donations to hire Parma Conservation of Chicago northwest Indiana. In Alexandria’s often depict arche- to clean the mural, revealing its rich original colors. SHOC typical Americans, post office, Roland Schweinsburg’s fictional charac- used the opportunity to raise public awareness, inviting area art The Sleighing Party includes James ters, and real local teachers to bring their students to observe the conservators at Whitcomb Riley’s “Raggedy Man.” people. Installed work and commissioning a plaque for the post office explain- Pay to artists ranged from $600 to in 1938, Jessie Hull ing the mural’s origins. The artist’s son and his wife came to the Mayer’s The Arrival $1,000 for work that could take up to of the Mail in Culver plaque dedication and donated one of Rost’s drawings, which a year. By December 1942, as the pro- (below) references now hangs in the local library. The group also borrowed a gram neared its end, the Section had the nearby military traveling exhibit on post office murals by the Indiana Historical spent about $1.8 million (an estimated academy, farming Society for display in the post office lobby. community, and $30 million today) on 1,047 murals lakeside recreation. Not long after the Monticello Post Office received Indiana’s and 268 sculptures nationwide. PHOTO BY LEE LEWELLEN last mural in November 1942, the federal government’s public New Deal Leaves Stamp on Local Post Offices MOST PEOPLE GO TO THE POST OFFICE TO MAIL established the Section of Painting and Sculpture, aimed at a package or pick up a book of stamps, but lucky patrons may decorating public buildings, enriching the cultural experience of also have a chance to stop and admire a beautiful piece of art. If Americans, and offering financial relief for unemployed artists. your post office was built in the 1930s and 1940s, the next time Reasoning that most people visited post offices, the Section you step into the lobby, look up. You may be in for a treat! focused on commissioning murals and sculptures at post offices During the Depression, the federal government sought to across the country. Two years later, Indiana received its first post put people to work through a number of initiatives as part of office murals, a pair painted by Henrik Martin Mayer in Lafayette. the New Deal, including funding for public art projects. In order to promote high-quality art, the Section selected art- In 1934, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., ists via state, regional, and national competitions, asking them to submit proposals that reflected the host community, even encour- A Depression-era aging artists to interview residents and postmasters for inspiration. federal program Though some artists failed to win the competition they commissioned murals and entered, they were invited to create murals for smaller build- sculptures for ings, often in the same general region. After Indianapolis new post offices, artist Jessie Hull Mayer lost the contest to create murals for creating public the Lafayette post office (her husband submitted the winning Originally, 37 Indiana post offices received murals through art program came to an end. In 1943, as the nation’s industrial art still on display around Indiana. In entry), she was commissioned to paint a mural in the Culver the Section’s program; 36 remain today, according to a survey focus shifted to the war effort, the construction of new post 2012, concerned post office. Completed in 1938, The Arrival of the Mail in completed in 1995. Though murals have been lost to demoli- offices and associated funding for murals came to a halt. citizens led an Culver depicts students from Culver’s military academy looking tion or deterioration around the U.S., in Indiana appreciation For further reading, check out The Living New Deal, effort to clean at their letters.