Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Fri, 05/23/2008 - 10:52am.
Thomas Hart Benton had a much looser and more fluid style than the stiff and somewhat formal scenes here. It is also not typical of Benton that he would have posed iconic figures such as Moses The Lawgiver (I think) over the doorway. This is much more in the style of the Capitol Rotunda.
[See below for what might be the artist's signature. The art instructor at McKinley was Alexis B. Many (1879-1937). - Dave]
Submitted by Joe Manning on Thu, 05/22/2008 - 2:45pm.
This is most likely McKinley Tech High School. My mother graduated from there in 1936, so when I saw the photo, my heart almost stopped. But she was not one of the girls in it.
So many books available to browse, several panels, statues, those murals. I know I would be unable to study here, too many distractions; on the other hand with some additions it would make the perfect cafeteria for academics and artists.
But definitely not the place to prepare for my finals.
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Thu, 05/22/2008 - 1:04pm.
I'd love to know who the muralist was. This looks like the murals the WPA painted in many courthouses in the 30s. The librarian looks disapprovingly at the photographer disturbing the Golden Silence of "her" library
One of the great mysteries of life is how old maid librarians reproduce. However they do it, it must happen, since there seems to be a never ending supply of spinster librarians.
