DM - WPA 7/18/13 10:20 PM Page iii 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) v DM - WPA 7/18/13 10:20 PM Page vi 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 vi DM - WPA 7/18/13 10:20 PM Page vii 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 vii.