Bryn Mawr Club of New York City’s previously sold-out event is now digital! Arthur Rothstein’s photographic glimpse into FDR’s New Deal showcases work commissioned during another time of trial for our country, when federal leadership stepped up to support the arts and encourage employment.
Deborah Gardner ’70 (an established historian at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, who oversees the exhibits tours, and house history) and Dr. Annie Rothstein Segan (a New-York based oral historian, writer, multi-media artists, editor, and daughter of Arthur Rothstein) warmly invite viewers to walk through history, learn about leadership in a time of great tragedy, and celebrate Arthur Rothstein’s work. To learn more about the Roosevelt House where Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR, and his mother lived in co-joined buildings (at 47-49 East 65th Street, New York, NY, 10065) click HERE.
Deborah Gardner writes: “We were so disappointed when we had to cancel the Bryn Mawr visit to Roosevelt House because of the health shutdown. Like many organizations we have shifted to online programming which includes videos of book talks and discussions and now our new exhibit: “A Lens on FDR’s New Deal: Photographs by Arthur Rothstein, 1935-1945”. This is the exhibit that you would have seen and includes the entire text and selected photos. We hope that when we reopen you will be able to visit and see all 150 beautiful photos which document a time when government stepped up to help its citizens and improve their lives”.
Dorothy Samuels ’73 is on the Advisory Board of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute of Hunter College.
After his inauguration in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought out to repair the Great Depression’s devastation on the economy and the nation’s spirit, and launched several key initiatives, under the banner of a New Deal for the American people. To document and widely publicize FDR’s efforts, Roy Stryker, the head of the Historical Section of the Resettlement Administration (later the Farm Security Administration), hired several photographers, among which was the talented and ambitious Arthur Rothstein. From 1935 through 1940, Rothstein and the other photographers worked for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) Photo Unit and shot some of the most significant photographs ever taken of rural and small-town America.
A Lens on FDR’s New Deal: Photographs by Arthur Rothstein brings an unpublished, recently rediscovered book project to light as a photographic exhibition. Although the 150 picture stories in this exhibition were created in the 1930s and 1940s, they are still pertinent today. Topics include land and water conservation, housing, race relations, internal/external migration, treatment of refugee populations and what it means to be American. Perhaps most importantly, Arthur’s picture stories visually describe the good government can accomplish when government works.
For more information, visit:
Roosevelt House
http://www.roosevelthouse.hunter.cuny.edu/exhibits/lens-fdrs-new-deal-photographs-arthur-rothstein-1935-1945/
The Arthur Rothstein Legacy Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/arthurrothsteinlegacyproject/
Arthur Rothstein is known as one of American’s premier photojournalists of the twentieth century. He was born in New York on July 17, 1915 and received a BA from Columbia College where he founded the University Camera Club. During his fascinating 50-year career, he created an indelible visual record of life in the United States, and opened windows to the world for the American people during the golden era of magazine photography.
Deborah Gardner ’70 is a historian at Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College for 10 years, where she oversees the exhibits, tours, and house history.
Dr. Annie Rothstein Segan, Ph.D is a New-York based oral historian, writer, multi-media artist, and editor. In addition to all of her accomplishments, she is the curator of the work of her late father, Arthur Rothstein, who was a renowned documentary photographer known for the most important influential photojournalists in American history.
The Roosevelt House, an integral part of Hunter College since 1943, reopened in 2010 as a public policy institute honoring the distinguished legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Its mission is three-fold: to educate students in public policy and human rights, to support faculty research, and to foster creative dialogue.
WHAT: Digital Exhibition on Arthur Rothstein’s Photographic Glimpse into FDR’s New Deal.
WHERE: Digital Exhibition available on Roosevelt House Website. Click HERE to view now.
HOW MUCH: Free entry.