This post is by Lee Ann Potter, director of Professional Learning and Outreach Initiatives at the Library of Congress.
In the November/December 2024 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), our “Sources and Strategies” article featured a series of posters created in 1936 by Vera Bock, a painter, illustrator and graphic designer employed by the Federal Art Project’s Poster Division in New York City.
The Federal Art Project (FAP) was part of the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program established by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1935 to put millions of unemployed Americans, during the Great Depression, back to work (its name was changed to Work Projects Administration in September of 1939).
Each of Bock’s posters celebrated specific milestones in the early history of New York City and its services for all residents. For example, one highlighted the year 1656 and the founding of the fire department by the Dutch director-general, Petrus Stuyvesant; two celebrated 1658, when the city’s first public well was dug and when the Rattle Watch was established (a group of watchmen that would patrol the streets at night, rattling keys and wooden rattles to scare would-be troublemakers). Another looked at 1731, when a fire engine was used for the first time. Others celebrated 1841, when a steam engine was used to fight fires for the first time in NYC and 1936, when an average of 930,000,000 gallons of water was consumed in the city each day.
Eight of Bock’s posters in her civic services series are available online from the Library of Congress. They include:
- History of civic services in the city of New York Police No. 1: The rattle watch.
- History of civic services in the city of New York Water supply No. 2: The tea water pump garden.
- History of civic services in the city of New York Fire Department No. 4 : Up-to-date machinery, efficiency, speed.
- History of civic services in the city of New York Fire Department No. 1 : Fire department founded by Petrus Stuyvesant.
- History of civic services in the city of New York Fire Department No. 2 : A fire engine was used for the first time.
- History of civic services in the city of New York Water supply No. 1 : The first public well was dug opposite the fort.
- History of civic services in the city of New York Fire Department No. 3 : A steam engine was used for the first time.
- History of civic services in the city of New York Water supply No. 4 : An average of 930,000,000 gallons is consumed daily.
The teaching activities we suggested in the article included:
- sharing the posters with students and encouraging analysis of them;
- leading a class discussion about the civic services that are provided to residents in your community today;
- encouraging opportunities to introduce or revisit the social contract or compact theory, and
- suggesting that students conduct original research into the history of local services and create posters highlighting the relevant milestones to be shared with the class.
If your students made interesting discoveries as a result of examining these posters, we would love to hear about them.
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