Chipmunk Hollow Trail at Burnett Woods photograph

Dated ca. 1935-1940, this photograph shows the entrance for the Chipmunk Hollow Trail at Burnett Woods in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a long stone staircase surrounded by trees. Burnett Woods is located at 3251 Brookline Drive, Cincinnati Ohio, and is adjacent to the University of Cincinnati. In 1871 Robert W. Burnet and William S. Groesbeck suggested they lease Burnett Woods from the city, which was done the following year. In 1875, and artificial lake was added and by 1881 the land was purchased. Subsequent acquisitions put the park at 89.3 acres. The historic bandstand was built in 1911. 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