United States Post Office Coalgate
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United States Post Office Coalgate | |
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| Location | 38 N. Main St., Coalgate, Oklahoma |
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| Coordinates | 34°32′21″N 96°13′4″W / 34.53917°N 96.21778°WCoordinates: 34°32′21″N 96°13′4″W / 34.53917°N 96.21778°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1940 |
| Architectural style | Moderne |
| MPS | Oklahoma Post Offices with Section Art MPS |
| NRHP Reference # | 09000214[1] |
| Added to NRHP | April 17, 2009 |
The United States Post Office Coalgate is a post office in Coalgate, Oklahoma. It contains a mural, Women Making Pishafa, painted by artist Acee Blue Eagle. The post office is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[2]
History
Coalgate's plans to build new post office were approved by the federal government in 1937.[3] A New Deal program, the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture, required that a portion of the money designated for the construction of federal buildings be used to pay for artists to decorate them.[4] The post office was completed in 1940.[4] A mural by Creek-Pawnee artist Acee Blue Eagle was commissioned, which he completed in 1942.[4][5] The post office is one of only three in Oklahoma to have a mural painted directly onto its plaster wall.[4] Blue Eagle was a significant Native American painter who helped to establish the style known as Traditional Indian Painting, which was the predominant style of Native American art in Oklahoma through the 20th century.[4] The post office is significant because it is representative of historic New Deal politics, government, and art, and the post office and mural together show how a local New Deal project was realized.[4] The post office was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[2]
Architecture
The post office's supervising architect was Louis A. Simon.[4] The building is in the Art Moderne style with a flat roof and an asymmetrical front.[4] The entrance to the building is centered, but the windows around it are not; there are four large windows, two to the left, one to the right, and one above the entrance.[4] There is an additional smaller window on the far right side of the building.[4] The name of the building is off-center; instead of being directly above the entrance, it is instead centered over the four large windows.[4] The exterior is in buff-colored brick with occasional darker orange-shaded bricks.[4] The entrance to the lobby is through a wood-and-glass-enclosed vestibule.[4] The lobby is I-shaped, with service bays on the wall opposite the entrance.[4]
Women Making Pishafa
The mural is located above the door to the postmaster's office.[4] Blue Eagle used tempra and acrylics to paint the mural.[4] The painting is an example of the style known as Traditional Indian Painting.[4] It is painted directly onto the plaster wall of the building.[4] The mural is named Women Making Pishafa, and it depicts people preparing pah sho fah, a flint corn beverage that is made by Creek and other Southeastern tribes.[4] A woman on the right side of the painting pounds corn into cornmeal.[4] In the center, two women separate the corn husk from the corn pulp.[4] A table behind them is set with bowls and a coffee pot, which shows that pishafa can be a soup or a beverage.[4] While the women work, a boy plays with a toy horse, and a man on the left side of the painting shoots an arrow at a flock of birds overhead.[4] During 1964 renovations to the post office interior, dust and dirt damaged the painting.[4] Fred Beaver, a Creek artist, restored the mural.[4]
References
- ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- 1 2 State Historic Preservation Office: Oklahoma Historical Society.Oklahoma's National Register Handbook. April 1, 2015. Accessed July 2, 2015.
- ↑ Clark, Orville Verdell. "Coalgate," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society, Accessed July 2, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Alyson Greiner (March 4, 2009). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: United States Post Office Coalgate" (pdf). National Park Service. "Accompanying 19 photos, from 2007." (pdf). National Register of Historic Places Inventory.
- ↑ McLerran, Jennifer. A New Deal for Native Art: Indian Arts and Federal Policy, 1933-1943, University of Arizona Press: Tucson, Arizona, 2009. p. 266.
