Enlightened Librarian: When the government had its hands in the art of the nation

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When the government had its hands in the art of the nation · Dec 23, 02:15 PM

If you’ve seen Cradle Will Rock you will have encountered the Work Projects Administration, a key component of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. Like the Federal Theatre Program depicted in the movie, the Federal Art Program put creative types to work on projects to encourage civic renewal. In 2000, the Library of Congress’s American Memory project launched a digital collection of 908 colour posters from that program. The collection is featured in this month’s D-Lib Magazine.

Many of the posters are stunningly beautiful, and well worth taking some time to browse. The collection represents a lost era of civic engagement, and a unique period in American graphic design.

Starting today, I’ll be gradually compiling an annotated list of some of my favourite digital library collections, many of them showcased in D-Lib Magazine. At the same time, I’ll make an index so they can be located easily. There are many fantastic resources out there, but they’re maddeningly difficult to find amongst all the chaff.

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