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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, January 31, 2018 | Ferndale Record

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A New Deal artist paints a Lynden pioneer Mordi Gassner likely never visited Lynden Post Office murals across America were a Depression public works project This article by local author Jo Dereske was printed in the December 2017 Whatcom County Moments and Memoirs of the Lynden Pioneer Museum. During the devastating Depression years of 1933 to 1943 the U.S. government’s New Deal created several job programs that funneled money directly to suffering U.S. citizens. The Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to paint and sculpt thousands of works of art to grace public buildings from coast to coast. “Artists have got to eat like other people,” Harry Hopkins, a Roosevelt administrator, responded when the arts program was criticized. The most popular and enduring projects of the New Deal art programs were the post office murals. Fourteen hundred post office murals were painted in the U.S., mostly in small towns, many now lost or damaged. Lynden’s “The Three Ages of Phoebe Goodell Judson” is the only New Deal post office mural in Whatcom County and is one of 18 painted in Washington state. All 18 still exist, while 16 remain as originally installed. Lynden’s mural is located on the east wall of the post office (the Art Deco-style post office on Front Street was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991). Phoebe Goodell Judson (1831-1926), the first nonnative woman to live in Lynden, is fondly recalled as the “Mother of Lynden.” The intent of the New Deal post office murals was to depict local life and history in a “classical, if heroic” style, often celebrating local scenes and events, giving hope and encouragement to people who’d suffered under the weight of the Depression. Artists were chosen through an anonymous competition judged by a national jury. Mordi Gassner (1899-1995) was awarded the Lynden post office commission in July 1941, based on an earlier design he’s submitted in a New York competition. Originally from Brooklyn and educated at Parsons School of Design, he also painted other post

Lynden’s Depression-era Post Office mural continues on display today in relatively good condition. (Courtesy photo /Jo Dereske)

office murals in the eastern U.S. According to Karal Ann Marlin in "Wall-to-Wall America," Gassner was surprised to receive from Lynden a crate of materials already laying out a theme and plan for the mural, as well as its title, “The Three Ages of Phoebe Goodell Judson.” Although they were encouraged to, many artists didn’t visit the communities where the post offices were located and instead painted murals in their studios before shipping them to the appointed post offices. No record of Gassner having visited Lynden could be found. In July 1942 the Lynden Tribune announced the “beautiful new mural” was on its way to Lynden. “The Three Ages of Phoebe Goodell Judson” was mounted in the post office by A. Vander Hoek and Sons, but the job couldn’t be completed until December 1942. The painting was too large for its designated wall and, according to the Tribune, “several inches had to be cut from each side” to fit into place. The Mural: In vivid colors, Phoebe Judson’s life sweeps across the mural, portrayed, as its title declares, in three stages. Against the backdrop of Mount Baker and the Nooksack River, she alights from a canoe onto the shore of what will become Lynden, her “ideal home” (referencing her popular memoir, “A Pioneer’s Search for an Ideal Home”). She is accompanied by three children and two Native Americans. The scene then shifts to a

more mature Phoebe seated at a desk writing her memoirs with a quill pen — actually published in the 1920s — while her husband, Holden Judson, leans over her, gazing at a fistful of pages. The final third of the painting depicts a progressive Lynden during the closing years of Phoebe’s life: modern industry and advanced agricultural methods, as well as her large family. To quote the Lynden Tribune, “the dove of a peaceful, contented home life flutters from the hands of the happy children.” As Marling stated in “Wall-to-Wall America,” the post office murals were fraught with controversy from “a public that screamed in protest, smiled in satisfaction, or merely yawned when they saw these New Deal stories in paint.” And to quote Patricia Raynor of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, “Many of these murals sparked local controversy when they were installed and caused heated conversations on whether the subject matter was accurately portrayed. Especially through a retrospective lens ... these artworks continue to provoke thoughtful discussion and debate to this day.” “The Three Ages of Phoebe Goodell Judson” was no different, inciting both detractors and defenders. Recent renewed interest in New Deal artwork has led to restoration and recovery of lost works as well as preservation of those in existence. Lynden’s post office mural is listed in several website and print guides that allow travelers to map a route across the United

States, or just through Washington State to view these historic treasures. Who owns “The Three Ages of Phoebe Goodell Judson”? The mural is federal property and belongs to the United States Post Office. A 1975 agreement with the Smithsonian Institution provides for the relocation of murals if a post office moves or sells its building. The General Services Administration continues to catalog, identify and protect New Deal works of art. Sources: * Lynden Tribune, 1939-1943 * Marling, Karal Ann. "Wall-to-Wall America," University of Minnesota, 1982 * National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Lynden Main Post Office * Raynor, Patricia. “Off the Wall” and “Exploring a Community’s Past through its Post Office Mural.” Smithsonian National Post Office Museum * Mahoney, Eleanor. “The Great Depression in Washington State.” http://depts.washington.edu/depress * Takisaki, Tracie Byrne, “Indians at the Post Office.” Smithsonian National Postal Museum * New Deal WPA Art in Washington. http:// www.wpamurals.com/washington.htm * “Post Office Murals” http://uca.postofficemurals The search term “post office murals” brings up several fascinating internet sites.