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Defining Moments the WPA — putting America to Work
Jeff Hill
155 W. Congress, Suite 200 Detroit, MI 48226 DM - WPA 7/18/13 10:20 PM Page v
Table of Contents
Preface ...... ix How to Use This Book ...... xiii Research Topics for Defining Moments: WPA—Putting America to Work . . . . .xv
NARRATIVE OVERVIEW Prologue ...... 3 Chapter One: A Nation Unemployed ...... 7 Chapter Two: The First New Deal Work Programs ...... 27 Chapter Three: Formation of the Works Progress Administration ...... 43 Chapter Four: WPA Construction Projects ...... 55 Chapter Five: The WPA Arts, Service, Women’s, and Youth Programs . . . .71 Chapter Six: The End of the WPA ...... 89 Chapter Seven: The Legacy of the WPA ...... 103
BIOGRAPHIES Mary McLeod Bethune (1887-1955) ...... 121 Educator, Civil Rights Leader, and Director of the NYA’s Office of Negro Affairs Martin Dies Jr. (1900-1972) ...... 125 Conservative Congressman and Chair of the House Un- American Activities Committee (HUAC)
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Defining Moments: The WPA—Putting America to Work
Harry Hopkins (1890-1946) ...... 129 Director of the Works Progress Administration from 1935 to 1938 Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) ...... 133 Texas Director of the WPA’s National Youth Administration and President of the United States from 1963 to 1969 Mr. Mahoney (1883-?) ...... 137 Works Progress Administration Employee during the Great Depression Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) ...... 141 Painter and Member of the WPA Federal Art Project Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) ...... 145 President of the United States from 1933 to 1945 and Champion of the New Deal Orson Welles (1915-1985) ...... 150 Director and Actor in the WPA Federal Theatre Project Ellen S. Woodward (1887-1971) ...... 154 Director of the Women’s Division of the Works Progress Administration
PRIMARY SOURCES Chronicling the Difficulties of Depression-Era Unemployment ...... 161 Walter Lippmann Urges a New Approach to Work Relief ...... 171 President Roosevelt Discusses the Works Progress Administration ...... 174 Residents of the Southern United States Recall the WPA ...... 179 Hallie Flanagan Describes Harry Hopkins’s Ideas about Work Relief . . . . .183 The WPA Explains Its Mission ...... 187 A Young Artist Describes His Experiences with the WPA’s Federal Art Project ...... 197 An Actor in the Federal Theatre Project Recalls the Staging of The Cradle Will Rock ...... 201
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Table of Contents
The FTP’s “Living Newspaper” Plays—Insightful Commentary or Government Propaganda? ...... 204 Herbert Hoover Condemns the Works Progress Administration ...... 208 President Roosevelt Discontinues the WPA ...... 213 Comparing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to the WPA ...... 215 Important People, Places, and Terms ...... 219 Chronology ...... 227 Sources for Further Study ...... 233 Bibliography ...... 235 Photo and Illustration Credits ...... 239 Index ...... 241
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