About the Object

This pencil sketch, completed in the Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Plant in Buffalo, New York, features the rows of lights in the ceiling. Crawford’s notations on color mention “blue light,” “d. gr. gree. lightest,” “d. gr. greenish (middle tone),” “P.U.3,” “P.U.2,” “pink viol.,” “deep gray (greenish) deepest,” “6 rows,” and “3 rows lights.” Crawford drew on both sides of the page; the verso includes additional color notations for “yellow lights,” “Blue gr. Lights,” and “violet windows,” alongside the War Department letterhead.

Additional Information

In December 1944, Crawford received a commission from Burton Tremaine, president and chairman of the Miller Lighting Company, to commemorate the installation of nine miles of continuous fluorescent lighting in the Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Plant in Buffalo, New York. Crawford was given special permission to photograph inside the plant, taking a least a dozen pictures and creating dozens of drawings, many of which were drawn on the back of War Department letterhead.