"St. Louis: A City in Decay" in Forum Magazine (November 1939); Also "California's 'Grapes of Wrath'."
New York: Forum Magazine, 1939. Quarto. Item #028166
This article shows why St. Louis was already in decay though at the time it was the eighth largest city in the country. There is a reason its Art Museum never flourished, and its director was fortunate to escape to the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago. It is understandable that T.S. Eliot and Tennessee Williams both flourished once they left the intellectual sterility of the city. This article traces the roots of that problem. P. 200-206. Strangely there is also an article by Frank J. Taylor, "California's 'Grapes of Wrath'," which attempts to deny the reactionary attempt to create the repression against the Oakies and their companions whose main crime was attempting to find economic survival in a system weighed against them. In reality, the power brokers in Bakersfield forced the Public Library system to remove all their copies but they did send them to all the other libraries in rural California. It is difficult to believe but the ad on page 1 offers signed original lithographs of Grant Wood "Fertility", Thomas Hart Benton "Frisky Day", and others at $5 each from the Associated American Artists. Bound in red, white and black paper wraps, some wear to spine ends, yapped edges with tiny edge tear. A very good copy.
Price: $60.00