While the FTP had regional groups and tour groups that played widely, the center for theater was New York, and it was in New York that the FTP was most innovative. Businesses and banks had closed, production and sales of goods and services had been severely reduced. Schlesinger, Jr., Arthur M. The Coming of the New Deal. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was an ambitious employment and infrastructure program created by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935, during the bleakest days of the Great Depression. In 1926 she became the second woman in history to serve in Mississippi's legislature. This alone was very controversial. The residential programs were less effective than the student work programs. Cahill was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. 75 percent of the WPA workforce worked on engineering and construction projects. Following his inauguration as President of the United States in March 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (served 19331945) initiated a series of work relief programs that culminated in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935. Some of this was intentional. This was in keeping with their view of the role (or potential role) of the federal government to directly support the needs of society. "Works Progress Administration 1935-1943 Beyond the criticism of specific groups, many people raised concerns about the effectiveness of the program. There were no requirements for even the lowest standards of quality. A play depicting the struggles of a family in a contemporary New York City tenement could be just as meaningful and just as much art as a play written three hundred years earlier. Track course progress. In order to pay for the WPA, the U.S. Government had to levy taxes. Watkins, T.H. Luther Evans (19021981). Roosevelt and Hopkins supported the WPA and believed that work relief is what a society that aspires to be the best provides for its citizens during a time of great distress. Which of the following was a criticism of the Works Progress Administration (WPA)? Hiller, Megan (Ed.). NYA workers spruced up schools, landscaped parks, read to the blind, and worked as teacher's aides. Highway workers are often deplored as wasting time and prolonging projectsnot unlike the criticisms of the WPA workers digging a hole just to fill it. The WPA arts programs led to the later creation of the National Foundation of the Arts. Oral histories are the memories of a time or event, told in the individual's voice. The agencys construction projects produced more than 650,000 miles (1,046,000 km) of roads; 125,000 public buildings; 75,000 bridges; 8,000 parks; and 800 airports. Senator from Mississippi from 1898 to 1901 and served in the U.S. House of Representatives briefly before that. . 392394). Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. At its height, Federal One employed 5,300 visual artists and related professionals. It was one of a group of New Deal arts programs known collectively as . Created by President Franklin Roosevelt to relieve the economic hardship of the Great Depression, this national works program (renamed the Work Projects Administration beginning in 1939) employed more than 8.5 million people on 1.4 million public projects before it was disbanded in 1943. Somewhat more controversial was the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) led by Henry Alsberg. 12 Apr. Ellen Woodward, who headed the Women's Division of the FERA and the CWA and later the Women's Division of the WPA, proposed 250 job categories appropriate for women. A month after taking office, the Roosevelt Administration launched the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Hopkins was a social worker with years of experience directing relief and work relief programs, many of those years for Roosevelt in New York. Many writers found other work. A certain arrogance of American ingenuity also gave rise to the WPA. But it wasn't. It was built by the PWA, the Public Works Administration. Toward the end of the hearings, Hallie Flanagan, director of the Federal Theatre Project was called to testify. A civilized society provided for its people. . Works Progress Administration 1935-1943 by damaging factory machines how did striking labor unions often prevent companies from using scabs in the 1930s? Eleanor Roosevelt raised concerns regarding the message the country was sending to unemployed youth Mrs. Roosevelt became a strong advocate for the National Youth Administration. Flanagan, the director of Vassar College's Experimental Theatre, was recruited by Harry Hopkins to lead the Federal Theatre Project. Roosevelt intended Federal One (as it was known) to put artists back to work while entertaining and inspiring the larger population by creating a hopeful view of life amidst the economic turmoil. Retrieved April 12, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-and-education-magazines/works-progress-administration-1935-1943. Through his guidance the FAP employed 4,300 artists in 40 states. A remarkable woman with many notable accomplishments, Bethune was born into a family of former slaves. Is it true, as you so often hear, that people on relief acquire the habit of living at ease and thenceforth refuse to go to work? Federal Cultural Programs of the 1930s: Websters World of Cultural Democracy. It was with this belief in the universal importance of art and music that programs such as the WPA's cultural programs for artists, musicians, writers, and actors would take root. Flanagan defended her program before a Congressional Committee, but the FTP was disbanded in 1939. The cultural work relief programs gave voice to the America of the timeangry, scared, defiant. Each industry itself likewise should bear a part of the premium for this insurance, and the State, in the interest of its own citizens, and to prevent a recurrence of the widespread hardship of these days, should at least supervise its operation. Take a look at them, if you have not, and see who they are. In 1936 Woodward became WPA director for writers, musicians, artists, and actors. Are they hoboes and ne'erdowells? This requirement had the unanticipated outcome of discriminating against those who held out the longest against going on the dole. Many of the states were too impoverished to address the poverty of their own people. Many labor shortages reported at the present time are recurring problems which first arose long before the WPA and have continued through the depression. Many of the projects completed under Federal One documented some aspect of American culture such as its folklore or its music. Flanagan asserted that for theatre to be good, it had to push accepted standards. More importantly, the Federal Theatre Project introduced thousands of Americans to theatre during a challenging time in America. The Federal Arts Project, Federal Writers Project, and Federal Theater Projectall under WPA aegisemployed thousands of artists, writers, and actors in such cultural programs as the creation of art work for public buildings, the documentation of local life, and the organization of community theatres; thousands of artists, architects, construction workers, and educators found work in American museums, which flourished during the Great Depression. The WPA Guides: Mapping America. And some of us have the only chance we will ever again in our life have to do this job for all the people. The Federal Theatre in New York included the Living Newspapers, the Popular Price Theatre, an Experimental Theatre, a Negro Theatre, and a Tryout Theatre. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. ." A criticism of the works progress administration's creation and infrastructure jobs was that the program gave too much power to the government. Murals depicted workers and, sometimes, union organizers. Oklahoma City, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. The idea of unionizing American workers was gaining acceptance in some areas. The WPA was a large and comprehensive organization. The. Harry Hopkins, who had headed the state organization under Roosevelt, now headed FERA. Like many other FTP productions, Triple-A Plowed Under was a great success, but was criticized as Communist propaganda because of its themes of hunger and starvation. Even among those who were judged unemployable by these boards, one in eight was able to find work in the prosperous period of 1937 , There can, of course, be a scarcity of labor and a surplus at the same time, because workers are not all alike. example in defense of the WPA, the following excerpts are from an article by David Cushman Coyle published in the March 1939 issue of the journal Forum entitled "The WPALoafers or Workers?" With a deficiency appropriation of $790,000,000, it is contemplated that $655,000,000 would be made available for the Works Progress Administration, including the National Youth Administration. Mangione, Jerre. Draden, Rena. Roosevelt and Hopkins also believed that work relief should not be demeaning, especially in this time of high unemployment. The program provided homes for the youth in dormitory-type housing, education and training opportunities, and employment. More than five thousand cases of alleged job refusals (of both WPA and private assignments), reported since 1935, have been investigated by agents of the federal government. Hearings were held and passionate defenses were offered. The largest and most important of the New Deal cultural programs was the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a massive employment relief program launched in the spring of 1935 -- the beginning of FDR's "Second New Deal," as his second term came to be known. On the other side of the political spectrum came criticism from liberals. Historic Events for Students: The Great Depression. By early 1933, 25 percent of the workforce was unemployed amounting to over 12 million people. As the administrators studied the situation of Depression-era youth, however, they determined that many had dropped out of school, often before completing the eighth grade. A significant number had become homeless and hoboes. The HRS was extraordinarily prolific, preparing bibliographies of American history and literature, an atlas of congressional roll-call votes, an index to unnumbered executive orders, and a list of the collection of presidential papers. Construction included more than five hundred municipal water systems, almost three hundred hospitals, and more than five hundred schools. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Woodward left the WPA in December 1938 when President Roosevelt appointed her on the Social Security Board. In addition many people had a difficult time seeing singing and dancing as a real job. President Roosevelt had a strong belief in the possibilities afforded by appropriate exercise of the powers of the federal government, but without the arrival of the Great Depression his activism would likely have taken a different form. Director of the Historical Records Survey of the WPA, Evans, a Southerner from Alabama, was known for his efforts to promote racial equality within the program. She started regional theatre groups all over the United Many women on relief did not have a work history and were not, therefore, considered part of the labor force. Such agencies as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) were established to dispense emergency and short-term governmental aid and to provide temporary jobs, employment on construction projects, and youth work in the national forests. De Hart, Jane. In addition to Pollock, the WPA employed a number of other abstract and experimental artists that would go on to form the New York School, an avant-garde art movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The committee searched for communist influence the WPA projects. The New Deal: America's Response to the Great Depression. Boston, MA: Little, Brown & co., 1993. The Hungry Years: A Narrative History of the Great Depression in America. The Works Progress Administration. The administrators of the WPA disqualified almost all of them. Not only did many people credit the program with helping them to survive the Great Depression, but many people also highlighted that the United States was left with many buildings, art, and a richer history because of the workers of the WPA. Bethune led the NYA Division of Negro Affairs. Liberals felt that the low wages were unacceptable. But the women's projects, which were indoors, had to be entirely segregated, making them more costly to run. New York: St. Marin's Press, 1999. The NYA had a better record than many federal agencies of the time in providing assistance to black American students. As such the WPA regulations required that 90 percent of those hired had to come from relief rolls. American stage. The following quote is from a press conference in the summer of 1935 soon after the program had begun (as quoted in Charles, p. 131). The Federal Music Project largely realized its vision, performing thousands of low-cost concerts in theaters and schools across the country, and introducing thousands of Americans to different kinds of music. They built 6,000 athletic fields and playgrounds, 770 new pools, 1,700 new parks, fairgrounds and rodeo grounds, 5,584 new school buildings, repaired 80 million library books, and served 900 million school lunches. One of the lasting contributions of the Works Progress Administration was that of the Federal Writers' Project. The astonishing thing is that so little trace of lost morale can be found in the records. Work Projects Administration (WPA), former U.S. government agency, established in 1935 by executive order of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the Works Progress Administration; it was renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939, when it was made part of the Federal Works Agency. Women had a difficult time qualifying for and receiving work relief under the WPA. Initially, the NYA provided part-time employment opportunities to youth who were still in Flanagan, with the support of Hopkins, designed an incredibly ambitious program for the FTP. Williams served as head of the NYA until 1943 when it stopped operation. The WPA also had a requirement that only one member of a family could be employed, which inadvertently discriminated against women. The Woodrum Committee heard several months of testimony, and, like the HUAC committee in the 1950s, was often more concerned with influencing public opinion against communism than finding the truth about Federal One. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), WPA workers repairing sidewalks. Engendering Culture: Manhood and Womanhood in New Deal Public Art and Theater. These programs, collectively called Federal One, allowed the various types of artists to work in the areas of their profession. In New York he gained an education from Columbia University and the New School for Social Research. Harry Hopkins, who had been chief of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration during 1933 and 1934 . He had created military youth groups in support of him and his programs. Their writing from the FWP is still available and provides insightful portraits of life in the 1930s. It seemed that there was nothing Americans could not do. Williams was well noted for his never-ending efforts of bringing youth and minorities into the New Deal work relief projects. Would all the art be propaganda? The WPA avoided cost-saving technologies and machinery in order to hire more workers. Studies showed that beyond the meager income the WPA provided, many workers reaped significant psychological benefits from working compared to accepting relief. Everyone one of us in this room is being paid for by the nation, they pay us, we work for all the people. It was Olive Stanton, the actress who was to sing the opening song. The Works Progress Administration (WPA). Works Progress Administration (WPA), also called (193943) Work Projects Administration, work program for the unemployed that was created in 1935 under U.S. Pres. At the same time, it was seen as a way to prevent political opportunists from realizing more radical responses to the Great Depressionmore general relief or even a Communist revolution. These programs employed 250,000 workers. Many writers who were employed by the Federal Writers' Project would go on to become famous including Ralph Ellison, John Cheever, Conrad Aiken, Richard Wright, Saul Bellow, Studs Terkel, Dorothy West, and Zora Neale Hurston. Housema, Lorraine Brown (Ed.). By 1935 nearly 500,000 women were employed in work relief involving sewing, gardening and canning, and public healthcare among other activities. Furthermore the conservatives criticized the WPA and other New Deal programs as being an inappropriate use of government. The economy would in turn be stimulated by the increased purchasing power of the newly employed, whose wages under the program ranged from $15 to $90 per month. Only forty-two of these refusals, or less than 1 per cent, were found to be real cases of an individual's not wanting to work . The act of critiquing also reminds us to be humble. If the pace of criticism is urgent and may demand immediate action, critique can be slow and indirect, and often raises more questions than it answers. Southern states did particularly poorly employing women in the WPA, especially black American women. Is it true that WPA workers cling to their soft snap and refuse to take jobs in private employment? Also in 1933, the Roosevelt Administration created the Public Works Administration (PWA) under the direction of Secretary of Interior Harold L. Ickes. However, the date of retrieval is often important. TAG Archives: WPA Women: The Living New Deal. In the first few months of his presidency Roosevelt introduced the New Deal, a vast array of federal social and economic programs to bring relief to the struggling nation. In 1939 the Works Progress Administration altered its name to Work Projects Administration. February 2000, v. 34:17. By design the subjects many painted were subjects from everyday life: a fishery, or steel workers, or the poor. Despite these attacks, the WPA is celebrated today for the employment it offered to millions during the darkest days of the Great Depression, and for its lasting legacy of smartly designed, well-built schools, dams, roads, bridges and other buildings and structuresmany of which are still in active use across the United States. The WPA shut down in June of 1943. In that year increasing charges of mismanagement and of abuse of the program by workers led to a reduction in appropriations, and a strike by construction workers against wage cuts was unsuccessful. The Works Progress Administration in 1935 was a prime example of this effort. The New Deal, including the WPA, resonated throughout U.S. society ever since the Great Depression. Part of this had to do with segregation requirements. Some Americans felt that these people were simply avoiding getting a "real job.". It put four million people to work within four weeks. A pretty tough race of people, these Americans, and hard to kill. From 1922 to 1929 six million families42 percent of the families in the United Statesmade less than $1,000 a year. In January 1937 Harry Hopkins provided testimony before a congressional committee. The WPA Oklahoma Slave Narratives. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. wages, the Roosevelt Administration was in fact delaying recovery. Holger Cahill, a former director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, was the national director of the Federal Arts Project throughout its duration. It was the first real federal program in work relief and a precursor to 1935's Works Progress Administration. Many had lost not only their jobs, but their also their savings and homes and were dependent on relief money from the government to survive. Much of the art, especially the many murals from the Federal Art Project, are still adorning public buildings around the United States. Following World War II Williams continued working against racial discrimination in the South for the next 20 years. Parrish, Michael E. Anxious Decades: America in Prosperity and Depression 19201941. Between 10 and 12 percent of those who participated in the NYA were black Americans, amounting to about 300,000 black men and women. Others raised concerns about the employment by the federal government of such a large number of people. Jacksonville, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1999. The extraordinary contribution of the WPA workers significantly improved the infrastructure of the United States within a relatively short time. Americans were increasingly organizing to fight for improvements in their daily lives. The aim of critique is to open up what we can imagine. Employing almost seven thousand writers, researchers, and librarians in its peak year of 1936, the FWP sought to document many aspects of American life. 13. The FWP sent thousands of writers out to talk with American Indians, frontier women, Appalachian miners, and other individuals from various cultural groups around the United States. Bascom, Lionel C. The architecture of many U.S. buildings constructed as part of Great Depression relief projects is often referred to as PWA Moderne (for Public Works Administration, another New Deal program) or Depression Moderne. The style blended neoclassical and Art Deco elements. As a result accusations of "communism" grew toward the end of the 1930s. Many people believe the Triborough Bridge in New York was built by the WPA, the Works Progress Administration. Born in Oxford, Mississippi, Woodward's father was a U.S. After the surprise attack by Japan on U.S. military installations at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Federal Writers' Project became part of the Writers' Unit of the War Services Division of the WPA. They also wanted the common art of the people to gain new respect. Women engaged in sewing projects made up about seven percent of the national WPA workforce. Would creativity be constrained? "Legacies of the New Deal," in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Following a difficult childhood that led to him leave home at age of 13, Cahill moved to New York City to become a journalist. In the wake of the hearings, Congress passed the 1940 Emergency Relief Appropriations Act. Communists had taken over Russia, forming the Soviet Union. From 1935 to 1943 the WPA provided millions of people with work and money during a very difficult time, however, it was never able to reach more than about one third of those eligible to receive its benefits. When it was at its largest, the Works Progress Administration employed 30,000 administrators and an average of 2.3 million workers per year between 1935 and 1940. Artists created motivational posters and painted murals of U.S. national parks and American scenes in public buildings. . New York: Random House, 1941. The Federal Theatre Project received the most virulent criticism for undermining traditionally held American values by the U.S. Congress. The Historical Records Survey (HRS) was part of the Federal Writers' Project dedicated to cataloging national records. Some of them later became world-renowned. The disagreements regarding the trade-offs involved in the public support of art, however, remained much the same in the 1990s as in the 1930s, with questions as to what federal agencies like the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) should and should not be funding. Houseman and Welles were determined that the show would go on, and searched for an alternative venue. To reduce Works Progress Administration employment to 1,600,000 workers, therefore, it will be necessary for 260,000 Works Progress Administration workers to find jobs over and above seasonal expectations. Despite contrary evidence, public workers were often criticized for being overpaid and lazy. A significant aspect of the Works Progress Administration was the Federal Project Number One, which had five different parts: the Federal Art Project, the Federal Music Project, the Federal Theatre Project, the Federal Writers' Project, and the Historical Records Survey. 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