Some are calling our government's Cash for Clunkers program a success. The program allowed you to turn in an old, gas-guzzling vehicle for a deal on a new, more fuel-efficient model. What the long-term results will be from this promotion remain to be seen.
More than 70 years ago, another government program that had been initiated during the Great Depression is still visible in many places. Artists were given commissions to do work in public places and inside buildings, such as sculptures, paintings and murals. One noteworthy and award-winning art project can be seen in Delhi's Post Office. It's the Anti-Rent mural seen over the postmaster's door.
During President Roosevelt's New Deal, it was thought that art might actually help people to weather the Depression by giving them meaningful and hopeful symbols. There were plenty of artists out of work, so this New Deal program gave many an artist some relief.
Between 1933 and 1943, the government employed and commissioned more than 10,000 artists, many young and mostly unknown, as well as established and famous artists _ nearly all were in desperate need.
Mary Earley was from New York and was the creator of Delhi's post office mural. She had studied painting in New York City at the Art Students League and had additional training in Italy and Mexico.
Earley wasn't simply picked at random to create this mural. It was announced in The Delaware Republican of June 29, 1939, that the village of Delhi was being honored, "having been the only town in the Empire State selected to have a mural painting placed on the wall of the new Post Office. A nationwide contest is announced, open to all American artists; from the designs submitted 48 murals will be selected "" one for each state."
This announcement was made by the Section of Fine Arts of the U.S. Treasury Department. The government decided to make the murals mirrors of local communities. Artists could submit as many designs as they chose.
The designs submitted were exhibited in several locations including galleries in Washington, Ottawa and London. The designs were judged by a jury of mural painters.
Mary Earley's design called "The Down Rent War" was New York's winner. It portrayed a chapter of Delaware County's history of the 1840s, which was important because it brought about the end of the feudal land system in New York that had tormented farmers for many years.
The mural depicts men dressed as Calico Indians, meeting in predawn hours near Andes. Farmers looked out for one another, as the sheriff would often come to a farm to be dispossessed. A farmer would sound a tin horn, alerting other farmers to come to the scene to tell the sheriff to be on his way, or else. If he refused, tar and feathers were the penalty.
Earley's mural was featured in the Dec. 4, 1939, issue of the then-popular Life magazine. It was one of the few murals painted by a woman. It was painted on the post office wall in 1940 for about $690.
After 60 years of dirt, grime and cigarette smoke, the historic mural was restored in 2003. At the time, it was one of between 1,000 to 1,200 still in existence from the time they were commissioned during the Great Depression. More than 4,000 murals were commissioned. Many were lost because of the high cost of conserving them and were painted over.
This weekend, a Merchants Carnival in Oneonta 100 years ago was much more than just buying items in the stores.
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City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.
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