Thursday, February 20, 2020
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
What's up with that mural in the Columbia Post Office? Here's the story
Columbia History - Did you know?
Did you know the mural in the Columbia Post Office lobby was commissioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury? It's true!
The painting "Columbia Bridge" by artist Bruce Mitchell was commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture (later named the Section of Fine Arts) in the 1930s. "The Section," as it was known, funded such murals as part of the cost of new post office construction, with 1% set aside for artistic enhancements. Mitchell completed the oil-on-canvas painting in 1938, three years after the completion of the post office at 53 North 4th Street. The canvas is attached to the inside north wall of the post office, just above the door to the postmaster's office.
The mural depicts 1850s Columbia Borough and shows a man astride a horse, carrying a bag marked "U.S. MAIL." The horse and rider are positioned before a red building, presumably a post office. A Conestoga wagon pulled by two horses is about to enter a covered bridge via a snow-covered road. A small train is also about to enter the bridge, on an attached side structure. In the center of the painting, a small footbridge connects to an islet containing a small red building. Government authorities initially thought the rendition of the bridge was inaccurate, but the artist prevailed despite the criticism. Mitchell noted that the bridge was the longest such structure in the world at the time. The bridge depicted is almost certainly the second Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, which was completed in 1834 and burned on June 28, 1863 during the Civil War. [The actual bridge piers can still be seen today, just north of the Veterans Memorial Bridge.]
Unlike other New Deal programs such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the mural commissions were not a relief program but were selected from the winners of national and local art competitions. Almost 850 artists were commissioned to paint 1,371 murals, most of which were installed in post offices; 162 of the artists were women and three were African American.
Artists were asked to paint in an "American scene" style, depicting ordinary citizens in a realistic manner, and were encouraged to produce works appropriate to the communities where they were to be placed while avoiding controversial subjects. The murals were intended to boost the morale of Americans enduring the Great Depression by depicting uplifting subjects. Some people objected to the murals, however, believing the very idea was communist, because Soviet Russia was also making them at the time.
More than 1,200 original works of art were commissioned for post offices nationwide. Of those, 88 were in Pennsylvania and about 80 survive today. Of the original 88, about half were sculptures. Murals were usually painted on canvas but sometimes as frescos. Pennsylvania has the second largest number of such murals, behind New York.
Sources:
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/historical_architecture_main/3573/
https://newdealartregistry.org/artist/Mitchellbruce/
https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-office-columbia-pa/
http://www.wpamurals.com/pennsylv.htm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_post_office_murals
https://lancasteronline.com/news/such-a-deal/article_2ab0cfa5-6b5b-553b-b4f6-7e43615bf992.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia%E2%80%93Wrightsville_Bridge
Did you know the mural in the Columbia Post Office lobby was commissioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury? It's true!
"Columbia Bridge" by Bruce Mitchell is displayed at the Columbia Post Office.
The painting "Columbia Bridge" by artist Bruce Mitchell was commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture (later named the Section of Fine Arts) in the 1930s. "The Section," as it was known, funded such murals as part of the cost of new post office construction, with 1% set aside for artistic enhancements. Mitchell completed the oil-on-canvas painting in 1938, three years after the completion of the post office at 53 North 4th Street. The canvas is attached to the inside north wall of the post office, just above the door to the postmaster's office.
The mural depicts 1850s Columbia Borough.
Unlike other New Deal programs such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the mural commissions were not a relief program but were selected from the winners of national and local art competitions. Almost 850 artists were commissioned to paint 1,371 murals, most of which were installed in post offices; 162 of the artists were women and three were African American.
Artists were asked to paint in an "American scene" style, depicting ordinary citizens in a realistic manner, and were encouraged to produce works appropriate to the communities where they were to be placed while avoiding controversial subjects. The murals were intended to boost the morale of Americans enduring the Great Depression by depicting uplifting subjects. Some people objected to the murals, however, believing the very idea was communist, because Soviet Russia was also making them at the time.
More than 1,200 original works of art were commissioned for post offices nationwide. Of those, 88 were in Pennsylvania and about 80 survive today. Of the original 88, about half were sculptures. Murals were usually painted on canvas but sometimes as frescos. Pennsylvania has the second largest number of such murals, behind New York.
Sources:
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/historical_architecture_main/3573/
https://newdealartregistry.org/artist/Mitchellbruce/
https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-office-columbia-pa/
http://www.wpamurals.com/pennsylv.htm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_post_office_murals
https://lancasteronline.com/news/such-a-deal/article_2ab0cfa5-6b5b-553b-b4f6-7e43615bf992.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia%E2%80%93Wrightsville_Bridge
After slow start, Columbia tops Lancaster Mennonite 68-58 in District 3 Class 3A boys basketball quarterfinals
After twice beating Lancaster Mennonite in the regular season to capture the L-L Section Five crown, Columbia completed the season sweep of the Blazers with Monday's win.
With the victory, Columbia (17-7) advanced to the district semifinals for the sixth time in nine years, second time under fourth-year coach Kerry Glover, and first time since 2017. Columbia also qualified for the PIAA Class 3A tournament.
Monday, February 17, 2020
Counterfeit $100 bill suspect | Columbia Borough Police Department
At 6:34 P.M. on Sunday February 16, 2020, a male suspect entered the Grand China Restaurant at 156 Lancaster Ave. in Columbia Borough. The male ordered food and paid with a $100 bill. The male returned at 6:55 p.m. to pick up his order. As he left the restaurant, an employee realized that the $100 bill was fake and followed the male outside. The employee confronted the male over the fake bill and the male ran away on Cherry St. toward 5th St. Attached photos are of the male suspect.
Anyone with information regarding his identity is encouraged to contact Columbia Borough Police through the Crimewatch app or by calling 717-684-7735.
Date: Sunday, February 16, 2020
Case Status: Current Case
Type: Criminal
Source: Columbia Borough Police Department
Sourced via CRIMEWATCH®: https://lancaster.crimewatchpa.com/columbiapd/10552/cases/counterfeit-100-bill-suspect
Sourced via CRIMEWATCH®: https://lancaster.crimewatchpa.com/columbiapd/10552/cases/counterfeit-100-bill-suspect
What IS the name of that bridge, anyway?
A while ago, while researching the upcoming Veterans Memorial Bridge project, Columbia Spy contacted the offices of PennDOT. A woman who answered the phone seemed confused as to which bridge we were referring to. We offered several of the well-known and correct names for the bridge, but she remained dumbfounded. When we explained it was the bridge where Route 462 crosses the Susquehanna River, she insisted it is called the "Wrightsville Bridge." She said she knew this to be true, because she has lived in this area for years. We could not convince her that the bridge is not now - nor has it ever been - known as the "Wrightsville Bridge," and that it is in fact the Veterans Memorial Bridge, previously (and sometimes still) known as the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge.
To assure our readers we are correct, we took the following photos of several plaques currently mounted on the bridge, three of which display the bridge's name.
A plaque placed on the bridge at the completion of construction in 1930 displaying its name: COLUMBIA-WRIGHTSVILLE BRIDGE
A plaque commemorating Armistice Day 1930
(Armistice Day is now known as Veterans Day.)
A 1931 plaque with bas-relief image of the Susquehanna and environs
A 1984 plaque from the American Society of Engineers denoting the bridge as a historic civil engineering landmark and calling it the COLUMBIA-WRIGHTSVILLE BRIDGE
However, the American Society of Engineers must have missed this 1980 plaque commemorating the rededication of the bridge as the VETERANS MEMORIAL BRIDGE.
Google Maps denotes the bridge as the VETERANS MEMORIAL BRIDGE.
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