EXHIBIT: "The Omar Project" at Chief Logan State Park

"The men were dressed up - they weren't working that day. They all worked together and were close. They all belonged to the union. Their lives depended on one another." (Photo by Ben Shahn, October 1935)

EXHIBIT: The Omar Project: Not a Simple Story," at Museum in the Park at Chief Logan State Park. Free reception and talk by Betty Rivard from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 5. Open through October.

The Museum in the Park at Chief Logan State Park has unveiled "The Omar Project: Not a Simple Story," featuring 20 black and white photographs of everyday life in the Logan County community of Omar. The photographs were taken in 1935 and 1938 by Ben Shahn and Marion Post Wolcott, photographers employed by the Farm Security Administration. On Thursday, Oct. 5, the Museum hosts a reception and gallery presentation by Betty Rivard, exhibit coordinator.

The FSA's primary goal was to combat the social and economic dislocations felt by farming families and communities during the Depression years. The visits to Omar were part of a larger project to take photographs across American between 1935 and 1943. The photographers were employed to publicize conditions of the rural poor in America, as well as the successes of New Deal programs and everyday life in America in
general. Fifteen photographers took more than 2,000 photographs in West Virginia.

The exhibit will move to the Southern WV Community and Technical College campuses in Logan and Williamson, the West Virginia University Library, and back to the Museum in the Park. It is also available for showing in other venues. For more information, contact Adam Hodges, site manager for the Museum in the Park, at (304) 792-7229.


"This was called the big row. The houses were used by the superintendent, the president, and the general managers. The back of the row opened to the Junior Mercantile Store, with back door deliveries to the houses. There were cooks and chauffeurs." (Photo by Ben Shahn, October 1935, from "The Omar Project: Not a Simple Story.")