The WPA & the Golden Age · See America / Cities & States
Philadelphia
Work Projects Administration Poster Collection, 1938
What it is
A WPA tourism poster for Philadelphia centred on Old Swedes' Church (Gloria Dei), silkscreened in color on board.
Why it matters
The Library of Congress names no artist and dates the sheet only as a range, between 1936 and 1941. Printing on board rather than paper was standard for the Federal Art Project poster shops, whose output was meant to be tacked up in post offices and shop windows and then thrown away.
What to notice
Old Swedes' Church in silkscreen flats — Philadelphia's oldest standing church as a travel pitch.
Made by artists on the public payroll — art the country already owned.
Provenance
- School
- WPA — Federal Art Project (United States)
- Format
- One-sheet
- Poster published
- Work Projects Administration Poster Collection, 1938
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division · LCCN 98517356 (digital ID cph.3f05434)
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
