The WPA & the Golden Age · Reading & the Stage
Hall Johnson's famous negro music-drama "Run, little chillun"
Federal Theatre Project / Work Projects Administration, 1938
What it is
A Federal Theatre Project poster for Hall Johnson's music-drama "Run, Little Chillun" at the Savoy Theatre in San Diego, showing two men singing and two women dancing.
Why it matters
The Library of Congress dates it only as between 1936 and 1941 and records no designer, crediting the Work Projects Administration Poster Collection. Hand silkscreened in flat colour on board. Johnson's choral drama first reached Broadway in 1933 and was among the best-known works the Federal Theatre revived.
What to notice
Two singers, two dancers, and a silkscreened call to the Savoy Theatre in San Diego.
Made by artists on the public payroll — art the country already owned.
Provenance
- School
- WPA — Federal Art Project (United States)
- Format
- Theater poster
- Poster published
- Federal Theatre Project / Work Projects Administration, 1938
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division · LCCN 98519086 (cph.3f05692)
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. government program work (WPA Federal Art Project), any year. Gated by the poster’s own publication year. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-18.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 18x24" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
