Summary

DescriptionSeneca Kansas Post Office Mural.jpg	English: US Post Office-Seneca This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 89001651.
Date	8 July 2021, 13:30:20
Source	Own work
Author	Joe Jones 1909-1963

Camera location	39° 50′ 04.12″ N, 96° 03′ 53.04″ W	View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap	39.834478; -96.064732

New Deal mural Men and Wheat, artist Joe Jones (Seneca, Kansas Post Office)

Licensing

This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This image is a work of the United States Department of the Treasury, taken or made as part of an employee's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain in the United States. English ∙ español ∙ eesti ∙ 日本語 ∙ македонски ∙ polski ∙ português ∙ українська ∙ 简体中文 ∙ 繁體中文 ∙ +/− The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain". This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain in the United States. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.

The impressive mural called "Men and Wheat" was pointed by Joe Jones, a struggling 30-year old Missouri artist. It shows a Nemaha County farm scene with a tractor and combine harvesting wheat. After it was installed, the Seneca International Harvester dealer complained that the green painted equipment depicted was an advertisement for his rival, John Deere Company. To settle matters, the artist repainted the combine 'Harverster Red" and painted his own name as a logo on the green tractor. Today, works by Joe Jones are part of collections in major art museums across the nation and at the White House in Washington, DC. The Seneca Post Office is on the National Register of Historic Places. <a href="https://theclio.com/entry/64704" rel="noreferrer nofollow">theclio.com/entry/64704</a>

In 1939, when many New Deal programs were at risk of cancellation for political as well as economic reasons, Edward Bruce and Edward Rowan hoped to save the Section by enlisting popular support. They selected a post office in each state to receive a mural, and launched a nationwide competition. Hundreds of artists submitted designs in the Forty-Eight States competition, and winning sketches, among them Jones’s Men and Wheat, William Bunn’s Mississippi Packets, Jenne Magafan’s Western Town, Edward (Buk) Ulreich’s Advance Guard of the West, and Alton Tobey’s The Last Halt were illustrated in Life magazine. Although an important group of murals resulted, the Forty-Eight States competition did not stimulate widespread public demand for a permanent fine arts program. <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/men-and-wheat-mural-study-seneca-kansas-post-office-12740" rel="noreferrer nofollow">americanart.si.edu/artwork/men-and-wheat-mural-study-sene...</a>

This building, located at 607 Main Street, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Federal financial aid contributed to the construction of the new Post Office in 1938. According to the building cornerstone, Louis Simon was the supervising architect and Neal Melich was the supervising engineer. This is one of twenty-four post offices listed as part of a Kansas Post Office Art Work Thematic Resources nomination (1936-1942) for its mural “Men and Wheat.” The Post Office was selected in a national competition to receive a mural from the Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts. The Seneca Post Office is an example of one of many smaller class C or D type post offices that received artwork in Kansas. <a href="https://theclio.com/entry/64704" rel="noreferrer nofollow">theclio.com/entry/64704</a>