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Historic Rare Photos, Autographs, Programs Thomas Hart Benton, 1934 NRA, WPA, :
$1700.00
I continue my Living Estate Sale with a magnificent historic collection from Kansas City. I will cut to the chase. The personally signed & inscribed photo of Thomas Hart Benton is indeed a rare and favorite piece. But, the true historic rarity is found in the one-of-a-kind multi-autographed annual program from the anniversary dinner meeting of the National Recovery Administration. The century of provenance which ties all these fantastic pieces together is the common link to Charles F. Horner. Perhaps it is best that I walk through chronologically. Horner came to prominence in 1906 with the formation of the Redpath/Horner Chautaugua Lyceum Bureau. A very progressive program bringing social awareness and entertainment to the communities of the Mid-West United States. The pair of aged photograph of William Jennings Bryan (one signed) came from these early years. Bryan and William Howard Taft were regular lecturers on the Redpath circuit.I then jump to August 21, 1921 with a rare Underwood & Underwood 5th Ave., N Y photo of William Gibbs McAdoo signed by McAdoo with a salutation of \"With My Warm Regards\". McAdoo was the Secretary Treasurer of the United States from 1913 to 1917 serving under Woodrow Wilson. Charles Horner headed the Speaker Bureau in both of Wilson\'s presidential campaigns.in 1933 Horner left Kansas City and moved to Washington when he accepted an appointment by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to be the Special Assistant to the Administrator in the newly created historic National Recovery Administration, which was formed through the passage of the National Recovery Act of June 16, 1933. Horner served under the Roosevelt appointed Administrator General Hugh S. Johnson. This brings me to the 3rd and rarest historic piece in the group. It is a program from the FIRST AND ONLY annual dinner meeting of the NRA which was held on June 16, 1934. On the cover Hugh Johnson applied a photograph and wrote a very warm paragraph along with his signature to Charles F. Horner in thanks for his contributions. On the back side of the program is an original artwork sequence showing the hatching of the NRA by Roosevelt and its\' maturity into the \"Blue Eagle\" trademark logo of the agency. Underneath this artwork there are 25 signatures of the dinner meeting attendees. It is a \"Who\'s Who\" of the agency. To date I have identified the name and appointment of 16 of the signatures. These include: Charles F. Horner, Hugh S. Johnson, Boaz Long, Leon Henderson, Linton M. Collins, Barton W. Murray, Alvin Brown, Louis E. Kirstein, A. R. Glancy, Edward F. McGrady, Charles Michelson, James A. Farley, C. R. Churchill, G. A. Lynch, George Leonard Berry and William Averell Harriman. I will continue to research the others. On the inside centerfold there is a wonderful story depicting the beginnings of the concept and agency as well as a wonderful complete evenings menu. A 7 course affair completed with Coffee, Nuts, Cigars (Cuban Robert Burns Panatellas), Cigarettes (Camels, Luckys, and Chesterfields), and a variety of beverages including Sherry, Champagne, Port and Beer with humorous tags of \"ad lib, within reason, after the storm and for those who can handle it.In the description \"LOOKING BACKWARD\" general Johnson stated he could start with 85 people. Perhaps that is indicative of the number in attendance at the dinner meeting. I do not know if that is on record or not. I do know that with the agency being shut down by the Supreme Court in May of 1935 that this is truly one of the rarest historic mementos of the critical albeit short lived agency whos\' concepts and visions went on to reshape many pursuant employment and economic policy agendas.That brings me close to the end with another fantastic historic piece. It is the rare signed photo of Thomas Hart Benton. On the face it is autographed (signed) by Thomas H Benton to Charles F. Horner. on the verso Thomas Hart Benton\'s name again appears and it is addressed to Horner-Moyer Inc. 3005 Harrison, Kansas City, MO.. When the NRA was shut down, Roosevelt appointed Horner special advisor to the N Y office of the WPA. Benton was very influential in the WPA arts movement and that is where their friendship blossomed. I am quite sure Charles mailed this autographed photo back to his son Bryan, who had taken over the 3005 Harrison office. It is nearly impossible to value this one of a kind collection, but I have assigned a price seeking a new appreciative home. As always I include free shipping, a charity donation and utilize the \"Best Offer\" format to give full consideration to all fair buyer offers. Arthur
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