Useful Work for Unskilled Women: A Unique Milwaukee WPA Project [Paperback]

Mary Kellogg Rice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2003

Mary Kellogg Rice describes a unique Milwaukee project in the post-Depression years which trained thousands of unskilled, uneducated women in the production of a variety of handicrafts. These articles were displayed in schools, universities, hospitals and other public institutions around the country.

Distributed for the Milwaukee County Historical Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Distributed for the Milwaukee County Historical Society

About the Author

Mary Kellogg Rice assisted in the planning of a 1935 WPA project that gave employment to unskilled women who were receiving public assistance from Milwaukee County. She has also collaborated on another book, The Art of Japanese Resist Dying, published in Japan in 1983.

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Milwaukee Co. Historical Society (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0938076183
• ISBN-13: 978-0938076186
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 9.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,329,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Welfare to work in 1930's vs. 2003, December 7, 2003

By 

Peggy Serrano (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Useful Work for Unskilled Women: A Unique Milwaukee WPA Project (Paperback)

This is a great story, illustrated with 130 historic black-&-white pictures and drawings and 34 color photographs. Mary Kellogg Rice has written a first-person account of her experiences guiding a remarkable Works Progress Administration (WPA) project for unskilled women in Milwaukee during the Great Depression. She was the project's art director and was involved from the 1935 inception of the Handicrafts Project. African American women worked side-by-side with white women, there were black as well as white dolls, and Ms. Rice insisted that the articles to be made be well designed, no matter how simple the article or how inexpensive the materials. These unique characteristics set the Handicrafts Project apart from many other WPA projects.

Ms. Rice recounts her visit to a stark, colorless county home for children and the desperate need for beauty and color in that harsh environment. She personally approved every design prior to production. The unskilled workers, under the supervision of designer-forepersons from the art department of the Milwaukee State Treachers College, manufactured toys, draperies, furniture, book bindings, Braille books, woven fabrics, block printed textiles, and dolls with clothes children could button and shoes they could tie. The manufactured articles were used in schools, hospitals, and public institutions (which only paid for materials) throughout the United States.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited the project in 1936 and wrote one of her "My Day" syndicated columns about the workers and the high quality of the articles. The Handicrafts Project employed more than 5,000 workers during its eight year lifespan. Ms. Rice, who is now in her 90's, gives us a model for employing persons who aren't highly skilled in the production of simple, elegant, useful articles. This model, which is not being followed in 2003 government work programs, not only trains workers but also gives them pride in the fruits of their labors. Society benefits from such inspired programs. Would that there were more such programs today, under the direction of leaders with the vision of Ms. Rice.

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful Work for Unskilled Women, August 4, 2011

By 

Judi Ward "Doll designer and maker" (Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Useful Work for Unskilled Women: A Unique Milwaukee WPA Project (Paperback)

This book was sent very fast and and I have enjoyed it a lot.
The history of the WPA projects in Milwaukee are very interesting and have begun a journey for me, as a doll designer, to create similar dolls and to work with the Museum in Milwaukee to see about recreating some of them from the original patterns.
SIncerely
Judi Ward