Country Village (WPA)

Joseph Leboit

Joseph Leboit views a small country village from the graveyard, through the tombstones of former residents - citizens, soldiers, children, immigrants. This lithograph was done for the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration (FAP-WPA) around 1935, during the Great Depression and between America's actions in World War I and World War II. The village could exist anywhere in the world, as could the graveyard.

A couple embrace while sitting before a tombstone, memories flooding back and their history flashing through their thoughts. This is something that is repeated daily throughout the world, and will continue through our eternity.

Leboit, like many of his WPA colleagues, turned his attention to the common people and their particular trials and successes during the Depression years - the hardships, the commonality and the solutions.