In 1938, the Arizona State Library was ready for a new, bigger home. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded an addition to the original Capitol building, and in 1939, the State Library had moved into its new home. Although it looked like the original Capitol from the outside, on the inside the library's walls were lined with murals by young artist Jay Datus, also funded by the WPA. These murals depicted Datus’ vision of Arizona’s past and future, and, like the library, can still be found in the 1938 addition to this day.
Read About It
Use the document analysis sheet and the photograph analysis sheet to uncover clues about the people that created the documents.
- Copy of the minutes of a meeting of the Board of Directors of State Institutions, February 6, 1939
- Copy of a letter from Mulford Winsor to Jay Datus, November 6, 1941
- Letter from Jay Datus to Mulford Winsor, November 12, 1941
- Photograph of construction on the 1938 addition to the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix (Ariz.)
- Letter from Jay Datus to Mulford Winsor, September 13, 1939
- Copy of a letter from Mulford Winsor to Jay Datus, September 9, 1939
- Photograph of a mural depicting early White settlers of the state
- Photograph of a mural representing the Native Americans of the state
- Backhoe excavating the basement of the 1938 Arizona Capitol Addition
- Photograph of the construction of the Research Library at the Arizona State Capitol, Phoenix (Ariz.) in 1938
- Frame of the 1938 Arizona Capitol Addition
- Frame of the 1938 Arizona Capitol Addition
- Workmen constructing the basement of the 1938 State Capitol Addition
- Photograph of the Jay Datus murals depicting the various phases of Arizona history
Understand It
- When was the State Capitol Addition built? Which builder was it built by?
- How does Datus depict Arizona’s past and future in his murals? How is his representation of Arizona and its peoples different than Lon Megargee’s representation?
- If you had been commissioned by the WPA to paint murals for the Arizona State Library, what would you have painted, and why?
Explore More
Visit the websites below to learn more. Based on this new information, have your answers to the questions above changed?