Pershing Hall
Governors Island
Constructed in 1934, Pershing Hall functioned continually as an Army and Coast Guard headquarters building until 1996. It was named in honor of John E. Pershing, General of the Armies and First Commander of the First Army in 1918. Pershing led all the American Army forces in World War I. The architect of Pershing Hall was Lorimer Rich, once an employee of the firm McKim, Meade & White, whose Island-wide plans and designs for many of its largest buildings shaped the look of 20th century Governors Island. Rich is best known for his design of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the National Cemetery at Arlington, Virginia.
During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was created to provide jobs for the country’s masses of unemployed. Part of this initiative was the Federal Arts Program (FAP), giving employment to countless artists and craftspeople. Many Governors Island buildings were updated or expanded as part of the WPA program, and Pershing Hall benefited from a FAP commission to Tom Loftin Johnson for murals to adorn its principal hallways. Major Johnson, a well-known muralist, went on to paint a famous mural on the history of warfare for a dining hall at West Point Military Academy. He later became an art instructor there.
Johnson’s 90 foot mural in Pershing Hall depicts American military history including General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox in the American Civil War, the War of 1812 and the building’s namesake General Pershing on the battlefield during World War I.
Visitors can view these unique murals just up the stairs in the building’s main halls.
Marker is on Andes Road, on the left when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
