In our study, we will explore common symbols as well as create a set of easily recognizable and decodable symbols. Where do these symbols come from and what is their origin? Further, why are some recognized universally by people worldwide, and others remain obscure? During our course of study, we will explore symbolism and probe the meanings of the symbols widely painted by both Mexican and American artists during the 1920's and 1930's.
Use of "worker caps and hard hats" came to symbolize the workers of the industrialized world. Many symbols are the results of political or humanitarian activities, such as the use of Uncle Sam to represent the United States or the flag of the International Red Cross. Some of these symbols are as obvious as the skull and cross bones sign on a bottle of poison. Symbolic communication was used for thousands of years to convey meaning, share experiences, record events, and influence other humans. From such experiences, I decided that I wanted to develop a unit using art as a medium for teaching history. Here was one of the first places that I recognized the power of visual images. Along the railroad tracks from Georgia to Washington, all people, black and white, shamelessly wept at the nation's loss. In school, I saw movies showing Roosevelt's funeral train. I wondered in recent years if President Roosevelt would have approved of his likeness seated in a wheelchair at the World War II monument. Prior to the Americans with Disabilities Act, such a condition was considered a sign of weakness and perhaps unfitness for the job. As evidence of the power of images, there were very few photographs of Roosevelt being carried or assisted.
I studied history and learned that this man, the most powerful leader of the free world, was crippled much of his adult life. Here, in what amounted to a shrine for most Georgians, I saw the "Unfinished Portrait" in the very bedroom where President Roosevelt slumped over in his chair and died unexpectedly. When I was older, Grandmother took me to the "Little White House" in Warm Springs, Georgia. Roosevelt as if he were a deceased uncle. They watched I Love Lucy and the evening news, which always ended with "Goodnight Chet, Goodnight David." Like all southerners, they voted Democratic until the 1960's, and they spoke of Franklin D. My grandparents both read the Atlanta Constitution and the Atlanta Journal each day cover to cover until the paper consolidated into one daily edition. She was the oldest of 8 children and I was fortunate enough to know 7 of them. If someone did something really awful she would say that "they had a good heart." She never worked outside of the home, so I spent a lot of time with her. Grandmother was optimistic and positive about everything. I was the oldest grandchild and I actually got to know them before they got too old to remember who I was.
You regularly visited your Grandparents, who lived close by. Those were the things that you could count on. There were ice cream churns hand-cranked on Sunday afternoons, holiday eggnog that was "for adults only," and sweet tea with dinner. But, the best thing about living around your extended family is the knowledge that you always have them "watching your back" as young people would say today.
I was the first of all my cousins to move away from Atlanta to Savannah and later to semi-tropical Florida. The Influence of Mexican Muralists on Wpa Art by Donna Sussman