Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
For several decades, a painting has hung in the Madison County Post office. The painting, entitled "Long Staple Cotton" was commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts in the late 1930s and completed in 1937. The painting depicts workers preparing cotton to be bailed and shipped out. The painting pays tribute to the long staple cotton industry that was the economic engine that drove much of North Florida, including Madison County, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to an article in the Florida Historical Quarterly, Madison was "one of the centers for ginning and shipping of Sea Island cotton in the late 19th century."
During the 1930s at the height of the Great Depression, many communities had new post offices and other public buildings built as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA was a federal program established by Pres. Franklin D Roosevelt as part of his "new deal" with the purpose of getting the American work force back to work. The WPA built roads, bridges, buildings, etc. At the same time there was a program called the Section of Fine Arts, sometimes called "the Section." The Section was a program that began in 1934 and was administered by the Procurement Division of the U.S. Treasury Dept. The main purpose of the Section was to select high quality art to decorate public buildings, such as the post office in Madison. This served to not only provide support to artists, but it also made fine art accessible to those who otherwise may not have been able to see works of fine art. Many of these paintings are mistakenly thought to be part of the WPA. Although the WPA did support arts programs, such as theatre and other visual arts, the Section was a different program entirely.
An artist named George Snow Hill was commissioned to paint several paintings in U.S. Post Offices, including the one in Madison. Hill also painted a mural that stands in the Perry, Fla. Post Office depicting workers cutting cypress logs. Hill's work has come under fire in recent years because the workers depicted in his paintings are African-Americans.
The painting in the U.S. Post Office in Madison has been covered with plastic. The local Postmaster, Erica Carmichael, was unavailable for comment on the reasons for the painting being covered. The clerks working in the post office also made no comment on the painting. Greene Publishing, Inc. reached out to Tom Billington, District Manager for the Gulf Atlantic District (which covers Madison) of the U.S. Postal Service, but he was unavailable for comment and referred any inquiries to Carol Hunt, Strategic Communications Specialist for the Ft. Worth and Gulf Atlantic Districts for the U.S. Postal Service. We will continue to reach out to Carmichael for comment.
"In past decades, artwork has been placed in Post Office lobbies for permanent public display," said Hunt. "Traditionally, Post Office lobbies were community gathering spots, frequently visited by community members from all walks of life, making those locations particularly accessible display sites.
"The Postal Service respects and embraces the uniqueness and diversity of every individual. And we encourage contributions of people from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, including those of our employees and members of the communities we serve.
"While it is the policy of the Postal Service to preserve and protect the historic artwork in its collection for future generations, we are mindful that certain murals generate strong feelings for some of our employees and customers.
"With that in mind, discussions are being held on how to properly handle and safeguard the future of those pieces. We are evaluating each of the pieces and we will work to ensure that appropriate action is taken on select murals, if deemed necessary.
"If customers have additional questions about publicly displayed artwork in Post Offices, they can refer to the Postal Service's Publication 100: The United States Postal Service: An American History, which is available online here: https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100.pdf."
The Madison Post Office can be reached at (850) 973-6241. The office of Strategic Communication for the Ft. Worth and Gulf Atlantic District for the U.S. Postal Service can be reached at (214) 819-8740.