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Jobs were few and far between in Southern Illinois during the Great Depression even for skilled coal miners like Fred E. Myers of West Frankfort. But Myers' talents as a woodcarver gave him a chance to earn a living thanks to the federal government's Works Progress Administration (WPA) program, which put artists on the government payroll in the late 1930s. At the same time, officials at what was then called Southern Illinois Normal University were seeking exhibits for the University Museum. Myers' genius as a woodcarver might have faded into obscurity were it not for art historian George Mavigliano and photographer Richard Lawson who collaborated on a book about Myers published by the SIU Press. Today the University Museum houses 28 pieces of Myers' exquisitely carved work. In this segment, Mavigliano and WSIU's Jak Tichenor tour the Myers collection at the museum's archives.

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