Greenbelt's Utopian Ideal

by Hannelore Quigley



The town of Greenbelt was created with a specific purpose: to be as close as possible to a utopian community. The streets and sidewalks were designed to be as utilitarian yet as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Provisions were made for everything from children's play areas, to convenient shopping. Residents were carefully selected from a narrow group of applicants, and everything was thought of in order to make the planned community as close to an ideal or utopian environment.

The concept of utopia is even reflected in the ideals expressed by much of the public art in Greenbelt. Lenore Thomas Straus, the artist responsible for the stone scenes which decorate the edifice of the Center School, and for the large "Mother and Child" sculpture in the town square, reflected the ideals of what should be expected from the utopian citizen.

Feel free to browse "Virtual Greenbelt," the on-line museum, by clicking on the picture to the left.




The town of Greenbelt was commissioned in 1937 by FDR under the New Deal. The idea of a town close enough to the city to commute, yet nice enough to raise a family was a response to the overcrowding in the heavily over-industrialized cities. Modeled after the Garden Cities in England, the planned community of Greenbelt was named after the "belt" of trees wherein it is nestled.

Below are pictured photos of the Lenore Thomas Straus friezes which adorn the Center School in the town of Greenbelt. Please feel free to click on the individual pictures to read more about that frieze.



The city was one of one of six planned communities in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area. The concept of the city was to make it a haven for families and children, and a utopia for the working man and his family.

The city's layout was designed in terms of the ultimate form and function. Lush landscapes gave way to groves of trees and playgrounds for the kiddies. Houses were close enough to let people get to know thy neighbor, yet families also had access to their own gardens.

The artwork in Greenbelt's public square and on the school buildings was also modeled after the utopian ideal, as it existed in the 1930s.




Lenore Thomas Strauss was commissioned in 1937 to ornament the edifice of the aptly named "Center School." Strauss, who designed most of the public art in Greenbelt, constructed a series of friezes for the school, extolling the ideals of the 1930s.

The series of "friezes" she designed for the Center School demonstrate the utopian concept of "work shall set you free," an ideal outlined in George Orwell's 1984.

In his prophesy of a utopian future, Orwell examines the idea that one could find happiness in becoming part of a working team. Overshadowing this idea is the omnipresent involvement of the state.






These "friezes," or stone profiles, in the wall of the school depict various people, from industrial workers to farmers to housewives. Underneath the sculptures are captions from the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Each picture over the caption depicts a scene in which characters are acting out the phrase mentioned in the captions.

The friezes are positioned facing the courtyard and the basketball courts of the Center School, where the schoolchildren would see them when they were going to school, or when they would play.

The location of the statues on the edifice of the school is relevant to their meaning. The students were meant to constantly be reminded of the utopian ideals outlined in the U.S. Constitution.




As public art functions only within its location, the location of the friezes in front of the school is particularly relevant. The art was meant to teach, to instruct, on the proper way to pursue American ideals, like the ideals set forth in the planning of Greenbelt.

These were the ideals of post-depression New Deal America, however, which included fixed roles for women, laborer work for men, and the steadfast promotion of family and cooperation, and the glamorization of the government. < br>
Just as Greenbelt was meant to adhere to the mold of a utopian society, so were the citizens. Women in Straus's friezes are always pictured with children, and the men are always in a uniform of some sort, be it a little league uniform, one of a schoolchild, a farmer, or an industry worker. The individual always functions as a part of a team. Through the re-occuring motif of uniforms in her art, Straus expresses the importance of teamwork in a utopian community.

Like Orwell, Aldous Huxley, a writer in the 1930s, also wrote about utopian communities. He believed that science was destroying human and political values, a common viewpoint in the over-industrialized Depression Era. Huxley attacked the importance of industry over humanity in the satirical novel, Brave New World.

The Orwellian theme of "work shall set you free" is particularly prominent in Lenore Thomas Straus's friezes. Straus uses the notion of teamwork in subtle ways. Men are pictured as a function of what they do for a living (industrial worker, farmer, businessmen), as are women (mothers). Straus interprets the U.S. Constitution to illustrate the important role of the worker and the mother in the scheme of a utopian community.




The idea of a selection process seems archaic by 1990s' standards, but in order to assure the good intensions of the early settlers of the planned community of Greenbelt, a process by which to eliminate "undesirables" seems necessary to any concept of utopia.

For more about the history of racism in 1930s Greenbelt, please feel free to read Carlos's project.

The idea of utopia outlined in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World included the same kind of upper and lower echelons depicted in Straus's art. The social hierarchy of the field laborer, the industrial worker, and the businessman are used in the friezes to represent how the different economic strata are meant to fit together in the ideal society.

The planned community of Greenbelt was founded on certain socialist ideals, among which included less dependence on outside industry, and more reliance on the community from within. Greenbelt's economy relied on self-containment, specifically the Greenbelt co-op. For more about the Greenbelt co-operative and socialism in general, feel free to browse through Chris's project.

For more on the creation and completion of Straus's friezes, please feel free to browse through Rob's project on the edifice of the Center School.