Ralph De Sola, Editor and Photographer, WPA Federal Writers’ Project, 1940. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
The recent blog Because He Had a Camera, featured an interview with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Writers’ Project photographer Clifford Sutcliffe. The interview transcript was filed in the records of Barbara Millstein, curator of the Department of Records & Information Services’ exhibition NYC Work and Working: WPA Photographs. Opened in September 1980, it displayed more than 130 images from the Municipal Archives’ WPA Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) photograph collection. Ms. Millstein’s files also contained correspondence with another FWP photographer and editor, Ralph De Sola. This week’s blog reproduces De Sola’s letter to Millstein, and highlights seven of his photographs. A future blog will feature Ms. Millstein’s interview with FWP photographer Arnold Eagle. These materials add valuable knowledge about the FWP and the provenance of one of the most appealing and enduring collections in the Municipal Archives.
Ralph De Sola to Barbara Head Millstein, March 4, 1980. NYC Municipal Archives
As noted in his letter, De Sola sent Ms. Millstein a selection of photographs he took for various FWP book projects including The Maritime History of New York, Who’s Who in the Zoo, Birds of the World, Reptiles and Amphibians, and American Wildlife Illustrated. The pictures he sent were appended to the original FWP collection that had been transferred to the Municipal Library by the FWP at the conclusion of the project in 1943. (The Municipal Archives, an offshoot of the Municipal Library, was established in 1950 and many collections were transferred from the Library at that time.)
The inventory of the Archives’ FWP photograph collection lists 103 images created by Ralph De Sola. Of these, twenty-four have been digitized and are available in the gallery.
American Eagle, photograph for American Wildlife Illustrated. ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
Old wooden three-story house under the bridge, Water and Dock Street, Brooklyn side, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
Brooklyn Piers near Fulton Street, December 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
Artist, Jack Nelson, with animal paintings, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
Printing press, Brooklyn Museum, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
WPA Bookbinder, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
“What We Have Done,” book covers newspapers, reviews, Harry Hopkins quotation, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
Display of WPA guidebooks at Macy's, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
Clarence Ralph De Sola was born at 64 West 88th Street in New York City on July 26, 1908. His post-WPA career included technical writing and editing. From 1955 to 1968, he taught technical English in the San Diego Unified Colleges. He authored several books including Abbreviations Dictionary, Crime Dictionary, A Dictionary of Cooking, and Worldwide What & Where: A Geographic Glossary & Traveler’s Guide. He died June 8, 1993 in California.