"Old Time Camp Meeting"
Lewisburg is the seat of Greenbrier County and today boasts a vibrant and close-knit downtown. The Greenbrier post office was established in 1794 and was recognized as Lewisburg[h] in 1838. In the 19th century, Lewisburg served as a hub of postal routes, with a routes shooting off to White Sulphur Springs, the James River and Kanawha Turnpike, Blue Sulphur Springs, and Union. Other post offices in the county were located at Anthony, Spring Creek, Mazeville, and Clintonville.
The Lewisburg post office moved several locations within the city limits until 1936, when $8,500 for a new federal building was appropriated from the Emergency Construction Public Buildings Act. The government purchased a plot of land that faced Washington Street and ran back toward Randolph Street in downtown Lewisburg from Hallie M. Sibold, a widow, in July 1937. The new post office building was completed in 1938.
In July 1939, Robert Gates was invited to submit a mural design to adorn the space above the Postmaster's door, on the basis of "competant work performed under the Section." The letter from Edward Rowan, Assistant Chief of the Section, does not mention a committee or contest to choose the contract winner. Presumably, if the Commissioner of Public Buildings approved of Gates' design, he would be awarded the commission. Compensation for the project totaled $700 and followed this pay schedule: $200 upon approval of the first sketch, $250 upon approval of the full-sized cartoon, and $250 upon completion, installation, and approval by the Postmaster and Section officials. The contract required the mural be completed within a year's time of signing.
Gates provided material and thematic information to the Section, in order to prepare his formal contract. These prep sheets were completed sometime between July 1939 and January 1940, when his contract was issued. Gates includes information important to the artistic analysis and care of the mural. He used tempera on canvas, of which he provided a sample. He also provides his tempera emulsion recipe: 1 part whole egg, 1 part linseed oil, and 1 part oil. Additionally, he lists all colors used in the mural, which include burnt umber, burnt sienna, ultra blue, cadmium yellow, cadmium red, and titanium white. Question number ten asks the artist to describe their technique. Gates answered: "Underpaint in a warm and cool half-tone over a toned ground. Then lay in the light and darks. The whole procedure in tempera."
"Old Time Camp Meeting" is darker than "Buckwheat Harvest" and Gates seems to have used cooler colors to achieve the difference. The scene is mostly shaded by tall trees and features a preacher underneath a wooden structure, similar to those in the historical photographs on the previous page. Men and women are dressed in 19th century clothing, giving the viewer historical context without needing to know the mural's title. In the foreground on both sides, men and women listen to the sermon, but the women simultaneously care for children. Women and men in the foreground and surrounding the trees in the right background face each other, as if they were chatting or discussing the sermon. A pair can be seen walking, perhaps taking a break from the meeting, in the clearing between the trees to the right of the pulpit. Taken as a whole, there is more activity and movement than simply listening to a sermon. Gates captures both the social and spiritual connections fostered at camp meetings in his idyllic mural. For Lewisburg residents, the mural may have served as a nostalgic reminder of a tradition that connected both religion and community.