Charles Verschuuren
(American, born Netherlands. 1891–1955):
Selections from our WPA Poster Collection

Free Music Instruction, St. Johns Music Center, NY. W.P.A.
The Federal Music Project, c. 1938
14 x 11" (35 x 27.9 cm)

Today we feature several posters designed by Charles Verschuuren (American, born Netherlands. 1891–1955). Verschuuren was one of the thousands of artists employed by FAP (the Federal Art Project) under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s WPA initiative (Works Progress Administration; later renamed Work Projects Administration). This selection of fourteen posters highlights the range of programs sponsored by the WPA including music, theater, safety, health, sports, community activities, and education. For more WPA posters in the collection, see our May 2020 online exhibition, American Posters of the WPA-Era: 1935-1943. 

Unless otherwise noted, all posters are silkscreen on card and measure
22 x 14” (55.8 x 35.5 cm).

 Left: WPA Federal Music Project will Present 8 Roof Garden Concerts at Jamaica YMCA Free to the Public, 1936

Right: Pre-Bach to Moderns: W.P.A. Concerts of Unusual Music: 8 Consecutive Wednesday Evenings, 1936

Sunday Evenings of Negro Music: Past and Present, 1939

Left: Federal Theatre – Marionette Theatre presents [revival of] "R.U.R."
[Robots universels de Rossum, by Karel Čapek of 1922]. Remo Bufano director, 1936

Right: "Fun To Be Free" by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. A fundraising pageant for the Fight for Freedom Committee, an organization advocating preemptive U.S. military action to oust Hitler, held at Madison Square Garden (October 5, 1941), 1941

Left: “Pins and Needles: A Musical Revue” produced by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) with music and lyrics by Harold Rome.
Labor Stage, New York (November 27, 1937), 1937

Right: Unity House: Reunion in Manhattan. International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) (March 15, 1939), 1939

Left: Keep Yards and Courts Clean, c. 1934–38
Sponsor: Tenement House Dept. of The City of New York

Right: Fire–Retard Halls and Stairways. Tenement House Department of the
City of New York, c. 1934–38
Sponsor: Tenement House Dept. of The City of New York

Left: Your Family Needs Protection Against Syphilis. New York State
Department of Health, 1936

Right: Protect the Baby Molars. The Health of Your Children’s Teeth
Depends on You, [between 1936–1943]
20 1/4 x 13" (51.4 x 35.5 cm)

Second Annual World Labor Athletic Carnival, Randall’s Island, New York
(July 11, 1937), 1937

Left: Youth Challenges the War–Makers, Columbus, Ohio
(December 27, 28, 29, 30, 1938), 1938
Sponsor: Youth Committee Against War

Right: Know The World You Live In: Free Informal Study Groups.
Workers Education Project, New York. W.P.A., [1936 or 1937]

February 8, 2022