On this 2023 Memorial Day we present a Civil War-era uniform designed in watercolor by Milwaukee Handicraft Project (MHP) costume designer Mary Holan and scanned for our digital collection Wisconsin Arts Projects of the WPA from volume 1 “Period - Men” of our Costume Design portfolios, which were produced between 1935 and 1939 by artists working with the Federal Theatre Project. These original costume designs were created by MHP's costume design group for use by local theater and school groups. The designation "School Board" written in pencil at the top of the image seems to bear this out.
Also written on the front is "Infantry Overcoat Union Army." Because of its color, it looks more Confederate to us. On the back of the plate is written "Pageant of America v7," which we believe refers to volume seven, "In defense of liberty," from the 15-volume pictorial history of the development of the United States, The Pageant of America: A Pictorial History of the United States, edited by Ralph Henry Gabriel and published by Yale University Press from 1925 to 1929. We checked the digitized collection of The Pageant of America at The New York Public Library, but could not find the source. So, we will take the Union designation at face value to represent U.S. fallen service members on this Memorial Day.
The MHP was founded in 1935 by Harriet Clinton, head of the Women’s Division of Wisconsin’s WPA to help unskilled women laborers provide income for their families. Clinton hired Elsa Ulbricht, an art professor at the Milwaukee State Teacher’s College (one of UWM’s predecessor institutions), to direct the project. The MHP hired around 5,000 people in total throughout its highly successful seven-year existence. Read More about the Project.
The Wisconsin Arts Projects of the WPA digital collection was made possible with generous financial support from The Chipstone Foundation.
View more posts from the Milwaukee Handicraft Project.
More forgotten throwbacks -- Olive Palebelly enjoying her very own desk chair!
Yes, I bought my elder friend her own, smaller desk chair, so she'd stop stealing mine during work-from-home. Aside from sleep in hers while I worked, she only used it to easy-jump up to the desktop, then immediately jumped down again -- into my chair.
Gotta problem with that, you hairless North American Ape?
Hz. Peygamber Efendimiz (SAS.) Cuma günü hakkında şöyle buyurmuştur:
Cuma günü günlerin efendisi ve Allah katında da en mühim olanıdır.
O, Kurban ve Ramazan bayramı günlerinden daha mühimdir.
Cuma gününde şu meziyetler vardır:
Allah (C.C.) , Âdem’i o günde yarattı.
Allah(C.C.), Âdem’i yeryüzüne o günde indirdi.
O günde öyle bir an vardır ki kul haram bir şey istememek kaydıyla Allah’tan ne isterse mutlaka Allah verecektir.
Kıyamet o günde kopacaktır.
Yüce makâma erişen melekler, gök, yer, rüzgârlar, dağlar ve deniz cuma günü (heybeti)nden korkarlar.”
HADİS-İ ŞERİF
(İbn-i Mace, Ahmed b. Hanbel, Taberani)