John Steuart Curry's Hoover and the Flood

In 1940, John Steuart Curry painted a scene of Herbert Hoover directing relief efforts after the Mississippi River flood of 1927 as part of a series of paintings depicting modern American history commissioned by Life magazine. In this in-depth case study, Eldredge examines the story of the artist and his painting as well as the American cultural and political era in which it was made.