As
a microcosm of the American landscape, 19th century Bridgeport, Connecticut
embodied the Victorian concepts and ideals that inspired and motivated the still
developing nation. An age of progress was upon the western world, and numerous
social and industrial barons of the era saw this as a time of great expectation
and adventure, open to invention and opportunity. There seemed to be, “no
machine man could not make, no task his machine could not perform, no activity
he could not master. The conquest of the material world had begun, and
few doubted that it would be to man's unqualified benefit.”1 Industrialization,
urbanization, immigration, and the construction of social structure molded the
facade of society, establishing a sense of spirit and place that has come
to define the features of Bridgeport today. The
Age of the New Deal
With the stock market crash in 1929, the era of
the Great Depression held the nation in the greatest economic and social turmoil
since the Civil War of the 1860s. Lasting for more than ten years, the unprecedented
economic collapse, during the depression years, forced progressive reform, creating
new political initiatives that ultimately altered the face of American economic
policy forever.
“I pledge you, I
pledge myself, to a new deal
for the American people.”
Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, 1932
Upon his election as President of the
United State of American in 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt fervently called for
government to aggressively intervene in an effort to stimulate the economy and
encourage relief, recovery, and reform. In 1933, Roosevelt initiated a series
of relief programs to address the instability of the economy by constitutionally
expanding federal power. Having no preconceived ideology for recovery, the origin
of Roosevelt’s New Deal was experimental and pragmatic; it called for the
creation of cooperative relationships and alliances in government and government
agencies, and brought together a trust of academic advisors, and policy authorities.
Roosevelt worked with a special session of Congress during
the first "100 days" to pass recovery legislation that set up agencies
to assist and support farming, business and labor, aid in the unemployment crisis,
insure bank deposits, regulated the stock market, and subsidized home and farm
mortgage payments. These measures revived and encouraged confidence in the economy.
In 1935, a new series of New Deal legislation was introduced, and on May 6, 1935,
the Works Projects Administration (WPA) was formally established.
Art
As
one of the largest aid departments, the WPA created millions of jobs, employing
both skilled and unskilled workers across many industry fields. Seven percent
of the WPA’s budget was allocated to the arts, providing free concerts, theater,
artwork, and literature to the American public while offering out-of-work artists,
musicians, writers, and actors jobs.
In an attempt
to boost the country’s morale, the WPA hired a number of artists to produce
murals, posters, illustrations, and sculptures under the Federal Art Project.
Considered “Public Art” these works were exhibited throughout all types
of public buildings, including libraries, schools, post offices, town halls, and
in some cases national parks and open spaces.
The Federal
Art Project was considered a major success and artists such as Louis Schanker,
Eleanor Coen, Jackson Pollack, and William Gropper produced much of their work
under the program. Local artists such as Robert Lamdin, Ralph Boyer, James Daugherty,
Lowell Balcom, and Kerr Eby were all employed by the WPA to produce murals and
artwork in the greater Bridgeport area, as well as Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk,
Westport and Milford.
As part of the WPA, the Federal
Government also encouraged local businesses, such as Bridgeport Brass, to support
artists by hiring them for independent design work within their companies. Robert
Lambdin (1886-1981), a Westport based artist, was formally commissioned by Bridgeport
Brass in 1942 to produce a series of murals entitled Brass Through the Ages.
 |
"Over
5,000 Years Ago..."
Robert L. Lambdin, c. 1943
Oil on board
Discovery
Museum and Planetarium |
 |
Tube
Mill
Ralph L. Boyer, c. 1950
Oil on wood
Discovery Museum
and Planetarium |
Also
commissioned by Bridgeport Brass in 1942, Ralph Boyer (1879-1958), created a number
of works for the company. Boyer continued his work at Bridgeport Brass for ten
years, continually sketching and recording daily factory life. His work with the
company was finally realized in 1950 when he produced a series of murals. Assembly
Line (below) which, along with works of Lambdin, were first formally exhibited
at the Museum of Science and Industry in New York City in January of 1944.
 |
Assembly
Line
Ralph L. Boyer, c. 1950
Oil on wood
Discovery Museum
and Planetarium |
Industry
BRIDGEPORT
BRASS COMPANY
“from ingot to finished product”
“For the
true test of an institution is more than its age. It is how much the institution
has written into the progress of the work and how its achievements have contributed
to the well-being of those it has always attempted to serve. Judged by this standard,
the Bridgeport Brass Company has richly justified its existence, and while profiting
by the experience of each passing year it has yet retained the spirit of youth
and progressiveness which has characterized the company’s activities from
the beginning.” 2
 |
Seamless
Roll of Sheet Copper
Bridgeport Brass Company
c. 1920
Brass Binding Belt
and
Copper Sheet
The Barnum Museum Collection |
On
November 2, 1865, the Bridgeport Brass Company was incorporated and established
themselves as one of the city’s largest manufacturing plants, located on
Crescent Avenue and East Main Street. Brass, having unique properties, could be
produced in various ways being “drawn, stamped, pressed, cast, spun, welded,
ground, hardened, rolled thin as tissue paper, polished, finished in a thousand
ways and have the capacity to withstand the elements for thousands of years.”
3
Bridgeport Brass was one of the unique and diverse manufacturers
in Bridgeport’s industrial legacy, and there were few manufacturing companies
who did not employ the metal for production. The list of products requiring brass
fittings was lengthy. Seamless tubing, clock movements, decorative and utility
lanterns, bicycle accessories, blocks for galley printing plates, insulated copper
wire for electrical purposes, copper for photo engraving, electric wire for trolley
services, “Hard Drawn” copper wire for telegraphic, and telephonic
purposes, and fasteners for hoop skirts and clothing were some of the various
goods supplied by Bridgeport Brass Company.4
The
advent of the 20th century brought new invention and need for progressive
innovation. Manufacturing needs altered to accommodate demands
of new industries. Automobile production, electrical device manufacturing,
and demand for the production of war related materials, forced numerous established
Bridgeport industries to reinvent their assembly lines.
Bridgeport
Brass responded to the new age and began developing and manufacturing new products
ranging from kerosene lamps and flyfans to electric light sockets and automobile
tire valves. Their adaptability allowed them to fill and manufacture more than
just brass products, and by 1895 they were producing copper and bronze materials.
As World War I broke out in Europe, the company began producing brass shell casings,
car parts, acetylene search lights, and later on flashlight parts. With the increasing
demand for wartime supplies, the Bridgeport Brass Company reported employing approximately
3,250 men and women in 1936, making them one of the largest manufacturing firms
in Bridgeport.5During
the industrial boom of World War II, Herman Steinkraus, President of Bridgeport
Brass,
officially contracted Robert Lambdin, Kerr Eby, and Ralph Boyer
as artists for the company. Previously contracted as freelancers in the Bridgeport
Brass Company’s illustration department, both Lambdin and Boyer initiated
the creation of industrial murals for the company’s board rooms and factories.
In an Office of War Information (OWI) radio broadcast, Steinkraus recounted his
first meeting with Eby and Boyer:
“At our plant I
could cite many examples of similar adaptation, but the most unusual one is that
of two well-known artists, Kerr Eby and Ralph Boyer. Both of these men came to
me over a year ago and said they did not feel they were doing their bit for the
war, and they wanted jobs in our factory helping make ammunition. My reply was,
“Why don’t you use the talent which God has given you to help the war
effort?” 6
Continuing to work for
the company for the next six years, Lambdin and Boyer drew their inspiration from
the assembly lines, and compiled numerous studies of Bridgeport Brass employees
hard at work. The culmination of Robert Lambdin’s work resulted in a massive
two part mural entitled Brass Through the Ages. The first part of the series
entitled Over 5,000 Years Ago Primitive Man Found Copper Genesis of our Civilization,
depicts the impact that metals have had on human civilization ranging across religions,
cultures, and throughout ancient history.
“One
outstanding feature in this war is the remarkable demonstration that no matter
what your particular talent may be, it can be used somewhere.” 7
Herman
Steinkraus, January 25, 1944
Notes:
1Burchell,
S.C., Age of Progress, ed. the Editors of Time-Life Books, (New York: Time,
Inc., 1966).
2 Guion, A.D, “The History and Development of the Bridgeport
Brass Company,” The Metal Industry: With Which are Incorporated the Aluminum
World: Copper and Brass: The Brass founder and Finisher, Electroplaters
Review 23, No. 8 (August 1925).
3 Ibid.
4 Waldo, George C, History
of Bridgeport and Vicinity, Volume I and II. (New York-Chicago: The S.J. Clarke
Publishing Company, 1917), 199.
5 Danenberg, Elsie Nicholas, The Story of
Bridgeport. (Bridgeport, Connecticut: The Bridgeport Centennial Inc., 1936),
130.
6 Steinkraus, Herman, “To the Peoples of Conquered Lands, Overseas,”
Office of War Information Radio Broadcast, 25 January 1944, Museum Records,
Discovery Museum and Planetarium, Bridgeport.
7 Ibid.
It
is with much appreciation we thank,
Congressman
Christopher Shays, Mayor John Fabrizi and the City of Bridgeport Office of the
Mayor, Central Grants Department, Public Facilities Department, Office of Planning
and Economic Development, the staff of The Barnum Museum, Bridgeport Public Library,
and the Bridgeport Public Library Historical Collections Department, Discovery
Museum and Planetarium, and special thanks to Sylvia Dahl, Art Harris, Dietrich
Loescher, Joseph Matteis, and Richard Neelans for their dedication to this
very important project.
And
all the volunteers who took part in
Bridgeport’s Big Read
The
Barnum Museum would like to thank the
following sponsors for making this exhibition
possible:
The City of Bridgeport
The
Discovery Museum and Planetarium
The Bridgeport Public Library
National
Endowment for the Arts
Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
People’s
Bank
The Big Read Southwestern-Connecticut
Collaborative
The
Big Read is an initiative of the
National Endowment for the Arts in partnership
with the Institute of Museum and Library Service and Arts Midwest
The
Barnum Museum
820 Main Street, Bridgeport Connecticut
203·331·1104
Listed
on the National Register of Historic Places,
The Barnum building is owned by
the City of Bridgeport
“The Noblest
Art is that of Making Others Happy”
P.T. Barnum, 1891
Also
visit the New Haven Colony Historical Society Exhibition:
Federal
Art Project in New Haven: The Era, Art & Legacy
