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The Works Progress Administration (later Work Projects Administration, abbreviated WPA), was created on May 6, 1935 by Presidential order (Congress funded it annually but did not set it up). It was the largest and most comprehensive New Deal agency, employing millions of people and affecting every locality. wpa File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
wpa File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
The New Deal was the name President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to the series of programs between 1933–1938 with the goal of relief, recovery and reform of the United States economy during the Great Depression. ...
It continued and extended the FERA relief programs started by Herbert Hoover and continued under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Headed by Harry L. Hopkins, the WPA provided jobs and income to the unemployed during the Great Depression in the United States. It built many public buildings and roads, and as well operated a large arts project. Until it was closed down by Congress in 1943, it was the largest employer in the country — indeed, the largest employer in most states. Only unemployed people on relief were eligible for most of its jobs. The hourly wages were the prevailing wages in the area, but workers could not work more than 30 hours a week. Before 1940, there was no training involved to teach people new skills. Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was the committee established as a result of Federal Emergency Relief Act. ...
Herbert Clark Hoover, (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964), the 31st President of the United States (1929–1933), was a world-famous mining engineer and humanitarian administrator. ...
FDR redirects here. ...
Harry Lloyd Hopkins Harry Lloyd Hopkins (August 17, 1890 – January 29, 1946) was one of Franklin Roosevelts closest advisors and one of the key architects of the New Deal. ...
The Great Depression was a decade of unemployment, low profits, low prices, high poverty and stagnant trade that affected the entire world in the 1930s. ...
Fabian Bock
Types of Projects About 75 percent of employment and 75 percent of WPA expenditures went to public facilities such as highways, streets, public buildings, airports, utilities, small dams, sewers, parks, libraries, and recreational fields. The WPA built 650,000 miles of roads, 78,000 bridges, 125,000 buildings, and 700 miles of airport runways. Seven percent of the budget was allocated to arts projects, presenting 225,000 concerts :) to audiences totaling 150 million, and producing almost 475,000 artworks.[1]
Though some 90% of WPA projects were directed at unskilled blue-collar workers, it also took in many unemployed white-collar artists, musicians, actors, doctors, and writers in such projects as the Federal Theater Project and the Federal Writers' Project. Scene from Orson Welles Voodoo Macbeth The Federal Theatre Project (FTP) was a project to fund theater performances in the United States during the Great Depression. ...
Poster advertising a Federal Writers Project publication. ...
Over 8,500,000 Americans were hired through the WPA mostly to work in manual labor, building roads and making parks. Unemployed artists and writers were given work through a branch of the WPA known as the Federal Writers’ Project. Among the most compelling products of the Writers' Project are the interviews with former slaves.[2] A sampling of projects includes:
 Michigan artist Alfred Castagne sketching WPA construction workers. (May 19, 1939) Image File history File links Wpa_workers_1939. ...
Image File history File links Wpa_workers_1939. ...
The West Wing, see NSF Thurmont (The West Wing). ...
Categories: Historical stubs | New Deal ...
Poster advertising a Federal Writers Project publication. ...
The Historical Records Survey (HRS) was a project of the Works Progress Administration New Deal program in the United States. ...
Poster for Festival of American Dance, Los Angeles Federal Theatre Project, WPA, 1937 The Federal Theatre Project (FTP) was a New Deal project to fund theater and other live artistic performances in the United States during the Great Depression. ...
East Side West Side Exhibition of Photographs, New York City Federal Art Project, WPA, 1938 The Federal Art Project (FAP) was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era New Deal WPA Federal One program in the United States. ...
Midsummer Night Symphonies, Southern California Federal Music Project, WPA, ca. ...
The Mathematical Tables Project brought together hundreds of unskilled people to compile a large number of tables of all sorts of mathematical information. ...
This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...
Lapham Peak is a Wisconsin State park located in the Kettle Moraine State Forest park system. ...
The Mendocino Woodlands State Park (MWSA) is a campground in California. ...
West end Timberline Lodge is a mountain lodge at 6,000 ft (1,800 m) on the south side of Mount Hood in Oregon, USA, about 60 miles (95 km) east of Portland, Oregon. ...
For the community named Mount Hood, see Mount Hood, Oregon. ...
Lake Afton Park occupies a 720-acre site 25 miles southwest of Wichita, Kansas. ...
Dealey Plaza (Warren Commission exhibit #876) Dealey Plaza (IPA pronunciation: ), in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA), is infamous as the location of the John F. Kennedy assassination on November 22, 1963. ...
Nickname: Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: Country United States State Missouri County Boone Government - Mayor Darwin Hindman Area - City 59 sq mi (138. ...
Worker Profile The target recipients were household heads on relief (about 15% of whom were women). Youth programs were operated separately by the National Youth Administration, or NYA. The average worker was about 40 years old (about the same as the average family head on relief). The National Youth Administration (NYA) was a New Deal agency in the United States. ...
The WPA reflected the strongly-held belief at the time that husbands and wives should not both be working (because they would take one job away from a breadwinner.) A study of 2,000 women workers in Philadelphia showed that 90% were married, but wives were reported as living with their husbands in only 15 percent of the cases. Only 2 percent of the husbands had private employment. "All of these [2,000] women," it was reported, "were responsible for from one to five additional people in the household." In rural Missouri 60% of the WPA-employed women were without husbands (12% were single; 25% widowed; and 23% divorced, separated or deserted.) Thus only 40% were married and living with their husbands, but 59% of the husbands were permanently disabled, 17% were temporarily disabled, 13% were too old to work, and the remaining 10% were either unemployed or handicapped. An average five years had elapsed since the husband's last employment at his regular occupation. [Howard 283] Most of the women worked in sewing projects, where they were taught to use sewing machines and made clothing, bedding and supplies for hospitals and orphanage.
Relief for Blacks The share of FERA and WPA benefits going to blacks exceeded their proportion of the general population. The FERA's first relief census reported that more than two million black Americans were on relief in early 1933, a fraction of the black population (17.8%) that was nearly double the proportion of whites on relief (9.5%). By 1935, there were 3,500,000 blacks (men, women and children) on relief, almost 30 percent of the black population; plus another 200,000 black adults were working on WPA projects. Altogether in 1935, about 40 percent of the nation's black families were either on relief or were employed by the WPA. [3] Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was the committee established as a result of Federal Emergency Relief Act. ...
Civil rights leaders initially complained that black Americans were proportionally underrepresented. African-American leaders made such a claim with respect to WPA hires in New Jersey: "In spite of the fact that Negroes indubitably constitute more than 20 per cent of the State's unemployed, they composed 15.9 per cent of those assigned to W.P.A. jobs during 1937." [Howard 287] Nationwide in late 1937, 15.2% were African American. The NAACP magazine Opportunity check referencehailed the WPA: [February, 1939, p. 34. in Howard 295] Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ...
It is to the eternal credit of the administrative officers of the WPA that discrimination on various projects because of race has been kept to a minimum and that in almost every community Negroes have been given a chance to participate in the work program. In the South, as might have been expected, this participation has been limited, and differential wages on the basis of race have been more or less effectively established; but in the northern communities, particularly in the urban centers, the Negro has been afforded his first real opportunity for employment in white-collar occupations.
Employment
 Some WPA programs included adult education. The goal of the WPA was to employ most of the unemployed people on relief until the economy recovered. Harry Hopkins testified to Congress in January 1935 why he set the number at 3.5 million, using FERA data. At $1200 per worker per year he asked for and received $4 billion. Image File history File links WPAAdultEducation. ...
Image File history File links WPAAdultEducation. ...
Many women were employed, but it was a mere amount compared to men. Many women were unemployed at this time. "On January 1 there were 20 million persons on relief in the United States. Of these, 8.3 million were children under sixteen years of age; 3.8 million were persons who, though between the ages of sixteen and sixty-five were not working nor seeking work. These included housewives, students in school, and incapacitated persons. Another 750,000 were persons sixty- five years of age or over. Thus, of the total of 20 million persons then receiving relief, 12.85 million were not considered eligible for employment. This left a total of 7.15 million presumably employable persons between the ages of sixteen and sixty-five inclusive. Of these, however, 1.65 million were said to be farm operators or persons who had some non-relief employment, while another 350,000 were, despite the fact that they were already employed or seeking work, considered incapacitated. Deducting this two million from the total of 7.15 million, there remained 5.15 million persons sixteen to sixty-five years of age, unemployed, looking for work, and able to work. Because of the assumption that only one worker per family would be permitted to work under the proposed program, this total of 5.15 million was further reduced by 1.6 million--the estimated number of workers who were members of families which included two or more employable persons. Thus, there remained a net total of 3.55 million workers in as many households for whom jobs were to be provided." [Howard p 562, paraphrasing Hopkins] The WPA employed a maximum of 3.3 million in November 1938.[4] Worker pay was based on three factors: the region of the country, the degree of urbanization and the individual's skill. It varied from $19/month to $94/month. The goal was to pay the local prevailing wage, but to limit a person to 30 hours or less a week of work.
 WPA summarized its achievements Total expenditures on WPA projects through June, 1941, totaled approximately $11.4 billion. Over $4 billion was spent on highway, road, and street projects; more than $1 billion on public buildings; more than $1 billion on publicly owned or operated utilities; and another $1 billion on welfare projects including sewing projects for women, the distribution of surplus commodities and school lunch projects. [Howard 129] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1681x1959, 410 KB) Summary WPA poster 1940 USA Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1681x1959, 410 KB) Summary WPA poster 1940 USA Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Criticism and favoritism The WPA had numerous conservative critics unlike the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was quite popular. One of the principal criticisms was that the program wasted federal dollars on projects that were not always needed or wanted. A relic of this criticism survives today in the form of a satirical observation that WPA workers were hired 'to rake leaves in the park.' White-collar WPA projects in particular were often singled out for their sometimes overtly left-wing social and political themes. One criticism of the allocation of WPA projects and funding was that they were often made for political considerations. Congressional leaders in favor with the Roosevelt administration, or who possessed considerable seniority and political power often helped decide which states and localities received the most funding. The most serious criticism was that Roosevelt was building a nationwide political machine with millions of workers. The Hatch Act of 1939 was designed to forbid political activities on government time but the WPA remained politically manipulated by left-wing interests. CCC workers on road construction, Camp Euclid, Ohio 1936 The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program for young men from unemployed families established on March 19, 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first hundred days. ...
The Hatch Act of 1939 is a United States federal law whose main provision is to prohibit federal employees (civil servants) from engaging in partisan political activity. ...
Some who experienced work in the WPA referred to it as "We Poke Along," "We Piddle Along" or "We Putter Around." This is a sarcastic reference to WPA projects that sometimes slowed to a crawl, because foremen on a government project devised to maintain employment often had no incentive or ability to influence worker productivity by demotion or termination. This criticism was due in part to the WPA's early practice of basing wages on a "security wage," ensuring workers would be paid even if the project was delayed, improperly constructed, or incomplete. Other denigrating references to the WPA in popular culture include:
- A typical joke was repeated in Harper Lee's 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Bob Ewell, the resident slacker of Maycomb County, is described as "the only person fired from the WPA for laziness."
- Ex-Dodger and Giant pitcher Billy Loes, who was selected by the Mets in the 1961 expansion draft, was credited with this ungrammatical quotation: "The Mets is a good thing. They give everybody jobs. Just like the WPA."
Nelle Harper Lee (born April 28, 1926) is an American novelist, best known for her Pulitzer Prize–winning 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird. ...
To Kill a Mockingbird is a semi-autobiographical Southern Gothic novel by Harper Lee. ...
Major league affiliations National League (1890–present) West Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 2, 4, 19, 20, 24, 32, 39, 42, 53 Name Los Angeles Dodgers (1958–present) Brooklyn Dodgers (1932-1957) Brooklyn Robins (1914-1931) Brooklyn Dodgers (1911-1912) Brooklyn Superbas (1899-1910), (1913) Brooklyn Grooms...
Major league affiliations National League (1883–present) West Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers NY, NY, 3, 4, 11, 24, 27, 30, 36, 42, 44 Name San Francisco Giants (1958–present) New York Giants (1885-1957) New York Gothams (1883-1885) Troy Union Cities / Trojans (1879-1882) Ballpark AT...
For the current season, see 2007 New York Mets season. ...
Evolution and termination In 1940 the WPA changed policy and began vocational educational training of the unemployed to make them available for factory jobs. Previously labor unions had vetoed any proposal to provide new skills. Unemployment disappeared with the onset of war production in World War II, so Congress shut down the WPA in late 1943. The United States home front during World War II covers all the developments inside the United States, 1940-1945. ...
See also The Hatch Act of 1939 is a United States federal law whose main provision is to prohibit federal employees (civil servants) from engaging in partisan political activity. ...
The New Deal was the name President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to the series of programs between 1933–1938 with the goal of relief, recovery and reform of the United States economy during the Great Depression. ...
CCC workers on road construction, Camp Euclid, Ohio 1936 The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program for young men from unemployed families established on March 19, 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first hundred days. ...
NRA Blue Eagle poster. ...
The Great Depression was a time of economic down turn, which started after the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. ...
The Civil Works Administration was established by the New Deal during the Great Depression to create jobs for millions of the unemployed. ...
References
Notes - ^ Nick Taylor
- ^ Former Slave Interviews
- ^ John Salmond, "The New Deal and the Negro" in John Braeman et al, eds. The New Deal: The National Level (1975). pp 188-89
- ^ According to Nancy Rose' Put to Work.
Scholarly studies - Jim Crouch, "The Works Progress Administration" Eh.Net Encyclopedia (2004)
- Hopkins, June. "The Road Not Taken: Harry Hopkins and New Deal Work Relief" Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 29, (1999)
- Howard; Donald S. The WPA and Federal Relief Policy (1943), detailed analysis of all major WPA programs.
- Lindley, Betty Grimes and Ernest K. Lindley. A New Deal for Youth: The Story of the National Youth Administration (1938)
- McJimsey George T. Harry Hopkins: Ally of the Poor and Defender of Democracy (1987)
- Meriam; Lewis. Relief and Social Security The Brookings Institution. 1946. Highly detailed analysis and statistical summary of all New Deal relief programs; 900 pages
- Millett; John D. and Gladys Ogden. Administration of Federal Work Relief 1941.
- Rose, Nancy E. Put to Work (Monthly Review Press, June 1994, ISBN 0-85345-871-5)
- Singleton, Jeff. The American Dole: Unemployment Relief and the Welfare State in the Great Depression (2000)
- Smith, Jason Scott. Building New Deal Liberalism: The Political Economy of Public Works, 1933-1956 (2005)
- Williams; Edward Ainsworth. Federal Aid for Relief 1939.
External links Superscript text --> Project Gutenberg logo Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works via book scanning. ...
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