Harlem Hospital Murals

The murals at Harlem Hospital trace their roots to the federal art element of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA program. The murals, created over a series of years beginning in 1936, were the first WPA commission granted to African American artists. Following a 2012 restoration, all murals are on view in the hospital's Mural Wing.

Pursuit of Happiness, by Vertis Hayes, is an eight-panel mural tracing an arc of African-American history from an African village to an American city showcasing people in zoot suits and white nurse's uniforms. Modern Medicine, by Charles Alston, shows the contrast between traditional and modern healing. Recreation in Harlem, by Georgette Seabrooke Powell, was commissioned for the nurses’ recreation room at the Harlem Hospital Center and displays 1930s community life in and around Harlem. Modern Surgery and Anesthesia, by Alfred D. Crimi, is unique among the Harlem Hospital murals—it depicts only white subjects, and Crimi was the only white artist commissioned for this project.