St. John in Lima, Ohio photograph   Save
Ohio Guide Collection
Description: Dated ca. 1935-1940, this photograph shows St. John Church and School in Lima, Ohio, in Allen County. The building was constructed in 1901 and served as both a church and school. Originally, the third floor was used as a church, but the parish quickly outgrew the space. In 1910, the pastor announced that a new church would be built, and the building's basement became the temporary sanctuary for the next ten years. The new church was completed in 1924. The building pictured here was demolished in 1959 in order to build a parking lot for the new school building. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F12_005
Subjects: Catholic schools; Catholic Church; Religion in Ohio
Places: Ohio