Telegraph Hill
Coit Tower
WPA Murals
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California Industrial Scenes by John Langley HowardThis mural gives us several juxtaposed scenes indicative of any society, but especially poignant during such difficult times.
There are the solemn workers of the May Day demonstration, a woman doing laundry on the rocks, and an elderly woman sawing logs by hand, while the great symbols of hydroelectric power are there in her sight. There is a migrant family with their broken down Model-T next to a group of observers with chauffeur and furs. Notice the hobo on the train trestle, and the worker leaning on the culvert with newspapers around him that read “Relief Rolls Reach New All Time Peak” “I’m A Tough Guy, Franklin Roosevelt warns Congress” and “I learned a lot from the barracudas and the sharks, Roosevelt tells crowd at Station”.
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John Langley Howard (1902-1999) was the son of John Galen Howard, prominent architect, and brother Robert Howard, sculptor. He attended the University of California and the California School of Arts and Crafts as well as the Art Student’s League of New York. This is his only mural although he continued to paint, especially for sports magazines, depicting tools and machines in meticulous detail.