The Underground Railroad (mural study, Dolgeville, New York Post Office)

James Michael Newell, The Underground Railroad (mural study, Dolgeville, New York Post Office), ca. 1940, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Internal Revenue Service through the General Services Administration
, 1962.8.97
Copied James Michael Newell, The Underground Railroad (mural study, Dolgeville, New York Post Office), ca. 1940, oil on paperboard, sight 15 3827 78 in. (39.070.7 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Internal Revenue Service through the General Services Administration , 1962.8.97

Artwork Details

Title
The Underground Railroad (mural study, Dolgeville, New York Post Office)
Date
ca. 1940
Dimensions
sight 15 3827 78 in. (39.070.7 cm.)
Credit Line
Transfer from the Internal Revenue Service through the General Services Administration 
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on paperboard
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group
  • Landscape — time — night
  • African American
  • History — United States — Civil War
  • History — United States — Underground Railroad
  • Landscape — New York — Dolgeville
  • New Deal — Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture — New York State
  • State of being — other — enslaved
Object Number
1962.8.97

Artwork Description

On receiving a commission for the Dolgeville, New York post office mural, Newell read extensively on the history of the Mohawk Valley, and found, he wrote, "some of the most interesting and exciting American material I have ever looked into." In Underground Railroad Newell captures a moment of democratic idealism important in Dolgeville history. His painting depicts an abolitionist farmer hurrying escaped slaves out of sight as dawn breaks at the Brockett Farm, one of two Underground Railroad stations near the Dolgeville village limits.

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James Newell had produced several public murals by 1940 when the U.S. Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts commissioned him to create a mural for the post office in Dolgeville, New York. He researched the history of Dolgeville before designing a mural for the post office. As he read about the Mohawk Valley, he wrote that he had found “some of the most interesting and exciting material I have ever looked into.” He decided to paint a scene of an abolitionist farmer helping escaped slaves as day breaks at Brockett Farm, one of the two Underground Railroad stops near Dolgeville. Newell chose a muted palette of browns, blues, and greens to convey the secrecy and danger involved in this activity. He structured his composition so that the expansive hills stretch into the background, symbolizing the long journey the runaway slaves had made through the night. Newell highlighted the heroism of the slaves and the people who helped them by showing a man leaning into lantern light to read a flyer offering a reward for his capture. He created the final piece, which can be seen today in the Dolgeville post office, using a technique known as fresco by painting on a thin, wet layer of plaster. (“Dolgeville Mural Painting Depicts Historic Scene,” Utica Observer Dispatch, August 11, 1941)