Milwaukee Handicraft Monday
Today, October 2nd, is National Custodial Workers Day. The custodians of the Golda Meir Library(the official name of the UWM Libraries’ building) work hard to make sure we always have a well-maintained building, and we certainly appreciate all their work! The Milwaukee Handicraft Project depended on the hard work of their “Brush Brigade” as well. This photograph was digitized from its original in the Elsa Emile Ulbricht Papers, 1905-1978, UWM Manuscript Collection 59. Thanks @uwmarchives.
View our other Milwaukee Handicraft Project posts.
The MHP was founded in 1935 by Harriet Clinton, head of the Women’s Division of Wisconsin’s WPA to help unskilled women laborers provide income for their families. Clinton hired Elsa Ulbricht, an art professor at the Milwaukee State Teacher’s College (one of UWM’s predecessor institutions), to direct the project. The MHP hired around 5,000 people in total throughout its highly successful seven-year existence.
Read More about the Project. The Wisconsin Arts Projects of the WPA digital collection was made possible with generous financial support from The Chipstone Foundation.
– Katie, Special Collections Graduate Intern
