Collection Information
Size: 0.6 Linear feet
Summary: Handpainted, illustrated plates of period costume designs throughout history, accompanied by descriptive handbooks recounting the historical context of the costumes.
Federal Art Project (Pa.)
Size: 0.6 Linear feet
Summary: Handpainted, illustrated plates of period costume designs throughout history, accompanied by descriptive handbooks recounting the historical context of the costumes.
Museum projects were programs of the Work Projects Administration instituted during the Depression to increase employment opportunities, particularly among the white-collar worker. By 1941, museum projects came under the jurisdiction of the Federal Art Program (originally the Federal Art Project) of the WPA. Plates of historical costumes as well as dioramas, costumed dolls and craft objects were often prepared for educational purposes.
Donated by Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. It is unclear how the materials came to M-W-P.
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Museum extension project costume plates, 1940-1943. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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