KATHERINE MILHOUS (1894-1977)
163
●
VISIT PENNSYLVANIA / WHERE PRE - REVOLUTION COSTUMES STILL SURVIVE.
Circa 1936.
24x19 inches, 61x48
1
/
2
cm. Federal Art Project, Pennsylvania.
Condition A: minor restoration in margins.
The centerpiece of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal program to help America cope with the
ravages of the Depression in the 1930s, was the Works Progress Administration, or WPA. The
organization, which took the name Works Projects Administration in 1939, put millions of Americans
to work at a time when employment was unlikely to be found anywhere else. Primarily involved in the
construction of roads and public buildings, the WPA also had an exceptionally active arts branch. The
Federal Art Project, as it was known, was established in 1935 and soon existed in all 48 states. The FAP
employed over 5,000 artists who were involved with all different aspects of the arts, including murals,
sculpture, paintings, prints and posters. WPA 302, Posters for the People p. 74.
[1,000/1,500]
KATHERINE MILHOUS (1894-1977)
164
●
PENNSYLVANIA. Circa 1936.
23
3
/
4
x19 inches, 60
1
/
2
x48 cm. Federal Art Project, Pennsylvania.
Condition A-: minor restoration in top margin. Woodblock.
“Katherine Milhous created some of the most distinctive posters produced by the WPA. She was a
supervisor of the FAP [Federal Art Project] in Philadelphia (her birthplace and lifelong home) from 1935-
1940. . . Her deep affection for the locality’s history and people is apparent in her depictions of the Amish
and Mennonites” (WPA p. 164). WPA 304, Posters for the People p. 93.
[1,200/1,800]
163
