History Day - Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)

In 1935, the Federal government established the Works Progress Administration as the central agency in control of relief projects for the unemployed in the nation. When the Federal Emergency Relief Administration closed in late 1935, the WPA replaced it. In 1939, the agency’s name changed to Work Projects Administration. In Connecticut, main offices for the WPA were in New Haven and district offices were in major cities. It was abolished on June 30, 1943 and liquidated a year later. This group primarily documents the Writers’ Project and associated “white collar” projects. It contains correspondence, working papers, research reference materials, directives, circulars, manuals, completed survey forms, contracts, maps, photographs, clippings and scrapbooks, drafts of interviews and reports, field notes, scripts of radio programs, administrative and financial records, and manuscripts of unpublished works. Areas of activity include Connecticut: A Guide, ethnic histories, town and city histories, histories of city parks, Historic Buildings Survey, Church Records Survey, Manuscripts Inventory, the Federal Art Project, American Imprints Inventory, history of the Hartford Flood of 1936, and a variety of guides.

In 1935, the Federal government established the Works Progress Administration as the central agency in control of relief projects for the unemployed in the nation. When the Federal Emergency Relief Administration closed in late 1935, the WPA replaced it. In 1939, the agency’s name changed to Work Projects Administration. In Connecticut, main offices for the WPA were in New Haven and district offices were in major cities. It was abolished on June 30, 1943 and liquidated a year later. This group primarily documents the Writers’ Project and associated “white collar” projects. It contains correspondence, working papers, research reference materials, directives, circulars, manuals, completed survey forms, contracts, maps, photographs, clippings and scrapbooks, drafts of interviews and reports, field notes, scripts of radio programs, administrative and financial records, and manuscripts of unpublished works. Areas of activity include Connecticut: A Guide, ethnic histories, town and city histories, histories of city parks, Historic Buildings Survey, Church Records Survey, Manuscripts Inventory, the Federal Art Project, American Imprints Inventory, history of the Hartford Flood of 1936, and a variety of guides.

LOC: "This online presentation includes items selected from the Federal Theatre Project Collection at the Library of Congress. Featured here are stage and costume designs, photographs, posters, playbills, programs, and playscripts, including productions of Macbeth and The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus as staged by Orson Welles, and Power, a topical drama of the period. Selected administrative documents from the project are also available."

Library of Congress (LOC) American Folklife Center: "This list of selected resources contains references to publications by or about the New Deal programs that focus on folk and traditional culture — especially fieldwork and contributions of the Federal Writers' Program's Folklore Project. It also includes subsequent books, articles, and internet sites that draw upon materials collected by Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Farm Security Administration (FSA) fieldworkers and researchers. The list is based on the 1979 Library of Congress reference aid "Folklore and the W.P.A.: A Preliminary Bibliography" compiled by Joseph C. Hickerson with the assistance of Herbert Halpert."