Several weeks of reviewing research papers, letters and reports uncovered a college thesis pinpointing a long-forgotten Evansville factory as the manufacturer of a miniature furniture collection now on display at Bracken Library.

"WPA Miniature Furniture: Artisan Products of the Depression Era" may be viewed through Jan. 6 on the second floor of Bracken Library outside of Archives and Special Collections. It is free and open to the public.

"We had these pieces in Educational Resources since the university purchased them in the late 1930s and early 1940s, said Diane Hill, media librarian. "We knew they were made by workers employed through the Works Progress Administration, but we didn't know where."

A portion of a research paper from the 1960s contained information about an Evansville factory that hired unemployed artisans to craft miniature furniture matching the collection.

The paper describes many of the items in detail, which were sitting in different boxes in various parts of storage until the project began earlier this year, Hill said.

"Until the thesis was found by Shawn Abbott, an evening circulation supervisor, we didn't realize the true historical value," she said. "We had full documentation of the collection from the point of purchase, but little before that. We had speculation, but no hard facts."

During the height of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government created the Indiana State Museum Project through the Works Progress Administration.

The WPA employed millions of Americans from its inception in 1935. Its goal was to create 3.5 million jobs for skilled and unskilled workers.

The Evansville factory hired several craftsmen to manufacture miniature furniture for display in museums, libraries and schools throughout Indiana. About 100 pieces were created annually before the project ended in the early 1940s.

The purpose of the project was to preserve in miniature the period furnishings of American homes during the Great Depression. Built on a scale of two inches to the foot, furniture was produced in exact detail and construction as the life-size versions.

Ball State purchased 42 items for display with prices for each piece ranging from 50 cents to $1.50.

There are 42 handcrafted items in the display, including 31 pieces of furniture. Other items include a Conestoga wagon, model homes, spinning wheels, igloos and toys. The Evansville factory created most with the toys coming from a WPA project in Wisconsin.

By Marc Ransford, Media Manager

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Hill at (765) 285-5333.)