Join expert speakers to learn how New Deal-era architecture and art were conceived as an integrated whole and how they have been preserved at the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building since the 1940s. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places and on the DC Inventory of Historic Sites in 2007, the building has legal protections under the National Historic Preservation Act and local historic preservation laws. However, in 2025, its art and architecture became endangered through the passage of a provision by Congress mandating its sale, through its unexpected inclusion on the GSA’s federal properties “accelerated disposal” list, and through credible rumors that it has been slated by the administration for demolition.
In this webinar, we will take a virtual tour of the site and engage in a detailed discussion of the materials and ideas used to express and celebrate the meaning of Social Security beginning with Charles Z. Klauder’s architectural design and meandering through its ornamentation: exterior granite relief sculptures by Henry Kreis and Emma L. Davis, hallways and elevator banks lined with Antique Vermont Verde marble, and gorgeous mural paintings by Ben Shahn, Seymour Fogel, Philip Guston, and Ethel and Jenne Magafan.
Register for the webinar here.