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Poster design by Katherine Milhous for a Federal Art Project Exhibition of Pennsylvania artists. Work Projects Administration Poster Collection, Library of Congress.

The WPA, a product of the Roosevelt administration, was an ambitious public works program that sought to employ millions of people after the Great Depression and economic downturn. About 2% of funded positions were allocated to visual artists, musicians, and performers. The object of the FAP was to provide art for non-federal government buildings like schools, hospitals, libraries, etc. The work of the FAP was divided between art production, art instruction, and art research. Dox Thrash was the first African American asked to head up one of the FAP’s Graphic Division of Arts and he no doubt participated in all three realms of the FAP’s objectives.

Thrash continued to have a successful career with the FAP in Philadelphia through the 1950s. In Chicago as well as Philadelphia, Thrash participated in large communities of African Americans who made productive strides in the fight against racial, civic, and social injustices. He was also a prominent member of the Pyramid Club, which sought to promote civic, cultural, and social engagement of African Americans. His work was shown in numerous exhibitions during this decade. Many of these works engage with issues of social injustice. His print After the Lynching looks to the racial injustices, still present in the rural south at this time.

Dox Thrash (American, 1893-1965), After the Lynching, ca. 1938-1939, carborundum mezzotint on paper, courtesy of Dolan/Maxwell, Philadelphia

In fact, the United States legal system offered no formal protection from this act until 1968 despite numerous anti-lynching campaigns. A larger watercolor, Untitled (Strike) captures the energy and passion of a crowd gathered in protest.

Dox Thrash (American, 1893-1965), Untitled (Strike), ca. 1939, watercolor on paper, Collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.