Amna Nawaz
@PBSNewsHour·5.3M subscribers·62.2K videos
WATCH: Why New Deal-era art is disappearing from U.S. Post Offices
Posted
February 18, 2026
Views
13,814
Likes
608
Engagement
4.40%
February 18, 2026
13,814
608
4.40%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
4:33Now PlayingNearly 200 pieces of New Deal-era artwork once on display in our nation’s post offices are missing or significantly damaged.
A part of then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s push to raise America’s stature on the global art stage, and provide employment amidst the Great Depression, nearly 1,700 murals hung in U.S. post offices.
But over time, and as the U.S. Postal Service faced serious financial challenges, some of the art has vanished, been painted over or is unaccounted for. That’s according to new reporting from the Washington Post’s Jacob Bogage.
PBS News’ Geoff Bennett spoke with Bogage about this project and why efforts to preserve these pieces of American history haven’t materialized.
Sign up for Here's The Deal with Lisa Desjardins
Subscribe for exclusive content in our newsletters
PBS News podcasts
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app
Find more from PBS News at
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
New Deal art programs established American identity
Nearly 200 New Deal murals missing or damaged
Postal Service lacks obligation to preserve art
Postal Service inadequate steward of art history
Postal Service financial constraints prevent art preservation
Coordinated preservation efforts for murals have failed
Some New Deal murals featured offensive depictions
New Deal art represents shared American cultural identity
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
