Above: A scene from a WPA theatre performance of It Can't Happen Here. Photo from the National Archives.
New Deal of the Day
Periodic posts about the most interesting time in American history: The New Deal!
Thursday, February 6, 2025
... and then they came for me
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
FDR explained how the Democratic Party would destroy itself, but the Democratic Party--and its voters--refused to listen. And now our freedoms of speech and liberty are at extreme risk.
Above: Part of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC. The inscription warns against oligarchy. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, courtesy of the Library of Congress.
"A Democratic Tweedle Dummer"
Thursday, January 30, 2025
MAGA is an exercise in futility, because it fails to confront the primary source of its problems - the investor class
Above: "Back of the Yards," oil on canvas, by Mitchell Siporin, WPA, 1938. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Misplaced Ire
Ever since Donald Trump took office we have learned that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is the cause of all problems - from high prices to wildfires, and everything in between. And from the very beginning of its movement, MAGA (essentially, the Tea Party movement 2.0) has focused most of its anger on immigrants, Black Lives Matter, "libtards," and similar villains. But what it never seems to confront is the investor class - those Americans who make most of their money in the stock markets.
Many in the MAGA movement are lower income (see here, for example), and presumably upset about high prices, the loss of manufacturing jobs, the high cost of healthcare, stagnant wages, and so forth. But instead of recognizing how the investor class has done this to them--through stock buybacks, political donations (i.e., bribery to ensure policy preferences), offshoring jobs to take advantage of cheap labor (or importing cheap labor), wealth hoarding, etc.--MAGA directs most of its anger at other working-class folks, and also at low-income migrant workers (but rarely at the rich who lure migrant workers here, like Donald Trump and his billionaire donors, the Uihlein's).
Indeed, MAGA will soon reward the wealth-hoarding investor class with yet another round of tax cuts, provided courtesy of their president, billionaire Donald Trump, and the rest of the billionaire-owned Republican Party. We will be told the same lie that has been told for the past many decades - that if the wealthy receive tax cuts, they'll invest and create tons of wonderful jobs for everyone. The fact that we've been down this road several times before--via Reagan, Bush Jr., and Trump 1.0--and the fact that people are still economically downtrodden and angry (in fact, even worse so) doesn't seem to faze MAGA voters at all. What's that saying?... about doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results, and insanity?
As long MAGA voters give the investor class a free pass (and indeed, reward them with more and more tax cuts), and focus their attention on DEI, Black Lives Matter, low-income migrant workers, "libtards," and the "Biden Crime Family," their movement will be an exercise in futility. The investor class will continue to prey upon them financially, wrecking them with usury, long-term healthcare costs, high prescription drug prices, high prices for goods and groceries, a constant push to raise the Social Security retirement age, pathetic 401k's instead of fixed pension plans, job outsourcing, and a whole array of regressive taxes, tolls, fees, fines, and utility rates at the state and local level--see, e.g., "Who Pays? 7th Edition" (Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy)--to pay for tax cuts for themselves at all levels of government.
MAGA voters are being duped by the investor class--just as the Tea Party movement was--and we're all going to pay a terrible price for it. And it doesn't help, of course, that the Democratic Party is also bought and paid for by the rich, forcing it to speak out of both sides of its mouth on matters that affect the working class.
"[MAGA] concerns have been exploited and manipulated by Republicans who have traumatized them into believing that liberalism, rather than capitalism, is the source of their ills; that because of the evil policies of liberals, they keep working harder and harder but never seem to break even, much less get ahead."
--Rich Logis, "MAGA's true believers don't understand capitalism — Trump will teach them a hard lesson," Salon, January 26, 2025.
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
The Los Angeles wildfires and our self-destructive New Deal oblivion
Above: CCC men battling a wildfire. From the CCC brochure, Forests Protected by the CCC (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1938).
America's massive firefighting precedent
Reporting on the recent fires around Los Angeles, a Guardian journalist writes: "And building the infrastructure to sustain the firefighting efforts necessary to respond to megafires would be a massive and unprecedented financial and structural undertaking. But walking through the ash-covered sidewalks in Altadena, past the donation centers that residents have created to help their neighbors, I kept wondering why we haven't seen meaningful progress in how we respond to these fires. It seems as if after each blaze, the strategy is instead to simply hope it doesn't happen again." ("I've covered deadly wildfires for seven years. It doesn't have to be this way." January 18, 2025)
But actually, there is precedent for a massive build-up of firefighting infrastructure in the United States.
From 1933-1942, the CCC employed millions of young men in thousands of camps across the U.S. In August 1935, a high point of enrollment, the Corps had 520,000 young men serving in 2,514 camps (Final Report of the Director of the CCC, 1942, p. 24). If we were to scale that up, proportionate to the U.S. population today, we would have about 1.3 million young Americans (men and women) stationed in about 6,500 camps. (The average number of CCC camps at any given time, though, was about 1,000.)
The CCC constructed 126,000 miles of truck roads to, among other things, allow for better firefighting in remote areas. It built over 3,000 fire lookout towers that helped spot fires more quickly. It built 116 new radio stations (that could work with portable radiophones) and strung 88,000 miles of telephone line to speed up communication (and thus fire response time). The Triple C's carved out 68,000 miles of firebreaks, including the massive 800-mile-long Ponderosa Way firebreak in California. They reduced wildfire fuel on millions of acres of land--"actual removal and clearance of dead and down trees, slash, and other highly inflammable material, which, during the dry season, will burn like tinder" (Forests Protected by the CCC, p. 7). They created over 30,000 wells, reservoirs, springs, and similar water sources and containments areas, many of which could be used as firefighting resources. And of course, they fought fires directly. (Most statistics from the Final Report of the Director of the CCC, 1942, pp. 104-107).
The key point to all of the above is: speed. With camps all over, increased manpower, good training, truck roads, improved spotting, better communication, better removal of wildfire fuel, more water sources, etc, the CCC was able to prevent many potential "megafires" from actually becoming megafires. And with respect to the fires that did become very large, it never hurt to have hundreds of CCC men helping to contain and extinguish it.

Above: U.S. Forest Service photo, from: C.C. Averill, "The Civilian Conservation Corps As a Fire Suppression Organization," in "Civilian Conservation Corps Number," The Black Hills Engineer (The South Dakota State School of Mines), December 1937, pp. 38-47.
Forgotten Success
Did all the CCC work and government expense reduce damage caused by wildfire? Unequivocally, yes! Consider the following examples:
--"The San Francisco headquarters of the National Forest Service said [the Ponderosa Way] firebreak stopped nine out of eleven large fires from spreading into the timbered regions..." ("Ponderosa Way Is Lauded By Officials," The Sacramento Bee, December 28, 1934, p. 7)
--"Late in October 1935, the United States Forest Service announced that forest fires had totaled 9,512 for the preceding nine months, as compared to the yearly average from 1929 to 1934 of 7,601. However, the total area burned was only 192,040 acres, as against a 5-year average of 417,603 acres - or a decrease of more than fifty percent. And this decrease was attributed by the forest service 'largely to the fact that the woods were full of CCC boys'" ("Fires and the CCC," The Minneapolis Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), December 31, 1935, p. 6).
--"In 1937 the [U.S. Forest] service was able to report that, while the average number of fires were started, the acreage burned totalled less than any recorded year... Because of the large-scale instruction and training in forest-fire fighting, the C.C.C. is able to provide service that a less well-organised group would find impossible" ("Fighting the Forest Demon: Elaborate Organisation in the U.S.A.," 'The Age' Literary Supplement (Melbourne, Australia), May 27, 1939, p. 11).
--"Largely through the fire control improvements and facilities constructed by the CCC it has been possible for the state foresters in the southern region to provide fire control for millions of acres of privately owned timber lands that otherwise would have continued to suffer severe damage annually. At the beginning of the CCC program in 1933, there were 47 million acres in the south receiving forest fire protection. By January 1, 1942, this area had increased to 75 million acres" (Perry H. Merrill, Roosevelt's Forest Army: A History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942, Montpelier, VT: 1981, p. 51).
Note: Some New Deal programs worked on private property when there was a heightened public interest, for example, areas threatended by wildfires, dams, and farms suffering from soil erosion.

Above: Other New Deal agencies, especially the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the National Youth Administration (NYA) also contributed to firefighting activities. For example, the WPA had 2,700 projects to build, repair, or improve fire stations. They also built water reservoirs and installed fire hydrants in cities and towns all across the country. The above fire station, in San Diego, was constructed by the WPA between 1935 and 1943. Photo from the National Archives.
A media blackout of New Deal history and information
I watched and read the news about the recent Los Angeles wildfires very closely. Not once did I see or hear the words "Civilian Conservation Corps." It's as if the CCC never existed. And this is par for the course in today's mainstream media, and par for the course for most of the media outside the mainstream as well. And it's not just the CCC that is blacked-out; most other parts of the New Deal are erased as well. For example, when was the last time you heard a host on CNN or MSNBC promote the idea of a new WPA for America's ailing infrastructure? I'm going to go out on a limb here, and assume your answer is: "I've never heard that." And this, despite the fact that the WPA's infrastructure work, alongside other New Deal infrastructure work, is perhaps the largest public works initiative in human history. Indeed, not mentioning the WPA alongside infrastructure needs, or the CCC alongside wildfire solutions, is like failing to mention Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth in a discussion about home runs.
This media blackout is probably due to inadequate teaching of the New Deal in our school systems; but sometimes I do wonder if the rich who control the media are purposefully blacking out New Deal history so there won't be public demand for another New Deal - because another New Deal would require much higher taxes on the rich.
Whatever the case may be, our continued lack of awareness of New Deal history, and the media's continued omission, will ensure further catastrophes, further death and destruction, further loss of natural areas, further loss of affordable and adequate home insurance policies, and further toxic air. If we're ever going to get wildfires (and a multitude of other problems) under control, we're going to need the following: History remembrance, public policy imagination, citizen energy, and a journalism that fosters all three.
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
10 ways the New Deal battled drought
Above: "Starvation," a lithograph by Bernard Steffen (1907-1980), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1939. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the University of Michigan Museum of Art.
10 ways the New Deal battled drought
1. Well-Drilling

Above: The New Deal's Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) created 4,927 wells and improved another 1,159 to relieve hardship caused by drought. Article excerpt above from the Nevada State Journal (Reno, Nevada), December 9, 1934 and newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: In work similar to the New Deal's Soil Conservation Service, FERA had a program to help farmers create ponds and switch to terrace farming. Later in the article above, an official notes, "The past summer's drought proved how badly more and larger ponds are needed for stock water and for irrigation of gardens." Ultimately, FERA created / developed 4,390 ponds, water holes, and springs. And the WPA carried on this work after FERA ceased operations in 1935. Article excerpt from Pauls Valley Democrat (Pauls Valley, Oklahoma), October 4, 1934, and newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: Increased farmland (which often meant less trees and/or native vegetation), and less-than-ideal farming methods, frequently resulted in rainwater draining away from parched areas too quickly, thus failing to restore depleted water tables. So, the New Deal created thousands of water conservation dams to impound precious rainfall in various types of reservoirs. Here, WPA workers are creating the "Center Dam" on Square Butte Creek in Oliver County, North Dakota. Notice the WPA work sign on the building. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Here is the near-completed "Center Dam." The description for the photo explains, "Although dam is only partly filled with water at present time, the level of ground water in wells for 1/2 mile around has been raised 2 feet." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The city of Denver, Colorado, doesn't get a lot of rain. And in the early part of the 20th century a drought hit, making things even worse. The city hoped to convert a railroad service tunnel into a large water supply conduit, but couldn't assemble the funds. The New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA) stepped in and got the job done, 1936. And the "Moffat Water Tunnel"--as well as its associated PWA-funded structures (see catch basin above)--still supplies water to Denver today. Other dry areas across the country received PWA assistance too. Touring drought areas in 1934, PWA Administrator Harold Ickes "ordered his forces to expedite all construction projects affecting the dry regions... He said $103,500,000 [about $2.4 billion in 2023 dollars] had been allotted for 32 reclamation and irrigation projects in 12 western states" ("Money Flowing Into Drought Region Today From Almost Every Agency of New Deal," The Cushing Citizen (Cushing, Oklahoma), August 9, 1934). And as part of it's overall water supply initiative, the PWA funded dams that created large reservoirs, for example, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake (or, "Lake Roosevelt"), created by the PWA-funded Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Special CCC camps were set-up to combat drought. Their work included developing springs, creating reservoirs, and revegetating barren areas so that, when rain did come, it would penetrate the ground and raise water tables instead of immediately running off to nearby waterways (with precious soil in tow). Hugh Bennet, chief of the Soil Conservation Service, wrote: "Water running from a grassed or wooded slope finds in its ways a million tiny dams; its speed is slowed; it sinks into the soil. The restoration of grass, the growth of legumes, the forestation of denuded areas, therefore, are moisture conservation measures..." ("Conservation Aid in Drought Fight," Wilmington Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware), August 4, 1936). Article excerpt above from The Butte Daily Post (Butte, Montana), July 28, 1934, and newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: Members of CCC Company 2745--a World War I veterans unit--stationed at Camp BR-1, Minatare, Nebraska. The "BR" label means that this CCC camp was operating in conjunction with the Bureau of Reclamation, a key federal agency in the managaement of water in the United States. Company 2745, and other companies that had been stationed at Camp BR-1, carried out projects related to water conservation. They also made Lake Minatare more hospitable to visitors by building roads, picnic facilities, and restrooms. Photo from Civilian Conservation Corps, Official Annual 1937, Nebraska-South Dakota District, Seventh Corps Area (Direct Advertising Company, Baton Rouge, Louisiana), used here for educational and non-commerical purposes.

Above: Examples of water conservation projects completed by CCC companies working at Camp BR-1, Minatare, Nebraska - spillway, drains, and an irrigation ditch. Photos from Civilian Conservation Corps, Official Annual 1937, Nebraska-South Dakota District, Seventh Corps Area (Direct Advertising Company, Baton Rouge, Louisiana), used here for educational and non-commerical purposes.

Above: The CCC worked extensively with the New Deal's Soil Conservation Service (SCS). The SCS had many soil and moisture conservation projects that helped farmers mitigate drought, water run-off, and soil loss, by way of terrace farming, pond development, and better harvesting methods. Image above from a 1936 WPA report.

Above: The New Deal, through its work-relief programs, hired tens of thousands of farmers devastated by drought, soil erosion, and financial problems. No one got rich on WPA jobs, but it helped many families get through tough times. The description for this 1937 photograph reads, "Family of James Strunk, farmer. Works for WPA (Works Progress Administration), earns forty-four dollars per month, drives twenty-six miles to work fourteen days per month. Car expense comes out of the forty-four dollars. Has eight children, four of them at home. Wheelock, North Dakota." Photo by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: The New Deal's Resettlement Administration (RA) and Farm Security Administration (FSA) hired photographers to document & highlight the plight of drought-stricken farmers and others during the 1930s. The description for this 1936 photograph reads, "Drought farmers line the shady side of the main street on the town while their crops burn up in the fields. 'Hello Bill, when's it gonna rain?'" Photo by Dorothea Lange, Resettlement Administration, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: The RA and FSA also gave emergency loans and grants to farmers suffering from drought. Article excerpt from The Poughkeepsie Eagle-News (Poughkeepsie, New York), September 23, 1939, and newspapers.com. Used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The Resettlement Administration purchased millions of acres of land that was unsuitable for farming and turned them into "forestry, grazing, wildlife conservation, and recreation" areas (Resettlement Administration annual report, fiscal year 1937, p. 9). The description for this 1936 photograph reads, "Back to grazing. The tract on which these buildings stand should never have been farmed, but it took protracted drought to drive that lesson home. This land is now under option by the Resettlement Administration which intends to convert it into a large grazing area. Oneida County, Idaho." Photo by Arthur Rothstein, Resettlement Administration, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: The New Deal's Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation (FSCC) had several programs to assist drought-stricken Americans. This excerpt from the FSCC's 1936 annual report highlights three of those programs - delivery of food, purchase of surplus cattle, and relocating livestock to better pastures.

Above: In August 1936, FDR went on a train & automobile drought inspection tour to judge conditions for himself. Here is a map of his route, starting in DC and ending in Hyde Park. Image from Stevens Point Daily Journal (Stevens Point, Wisconsin), August 25, 1936, and newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: Here is FDR, near Bismarck, North Dakota, during his drought inspection tour, August 1936. At a train stop in Bismarck, FDR said: "There was another reason for my coming out here, and that was to look at you people. Back East there have been all kinds of reports that out in the drought area there was a widespread despondency, a lack of hope for the future, and a general atmosphere of gloom. But I had a hunch--and it was right--that when I got out here I would find that you people had your chins up... You are entitled to reassurance of the fact that the Government--not only the Federal Government, but the State Government and the local government--can and must and will go ahead with winning out through a system of careful long-range planning." Photo by Arthur Rothstein, Resettlement Administration, courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Sunday, June 30, 2024
Trump's and Biden's answers to Social Security were atrocious
Above: Social Security Administration workers in Baltimore, Maryland, 1960. Photo by Thomas O'Halloran, courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Our presidential candidates' atrocious responses to the Social Security question
During Thursday night's hideous presidential debate, the moderators noted & asked the following:
"So every day millions of Americans struggle just to make ends meet. For many older Americans, Social Security provides a critical lifeline. President Biden, if nothing is done to Social Security, seniors will see their benefits cut in just over 10 years. Will you name tonight one specific step that you're willing to take to keep Social Security solvent?
Biden's answer started fine, but quickly became incoherent:
"Yes, make the very wealthy begin to pay their fair share. Right now, everybody making under $170,000 pays 6 percent of their income, of their paycheck, every single time they get a paycheck, from the time of the first one they get when they're 18 years old. The idea that they're going to – I'm not – I've been proposing that everybody, they pay – millionaires pay 1 percent – 1 percent. So no one after – I would not raise the cost of Social Security for anybody under $400,000. After that, I begin to make the wealthy begin to pay their fair share, by increasing from 1 percent beyond, to be able to guarantee the program for life."
Since Biden's answer was so short, the moderators prompted him to speak more on what he would to do shore-up Social Security. Biden had no more policy ideas, but instead started talking about how Trump would get rid of Social Security [possibly true if Republicans gain control of all three branches of government; they've signalled many times that they want to privatize Social Security], and then started talking about healthcare and Pell Grants.
When it was Trump's turn, he began by calling Biden a liar, and then delved into the Great Replacement Theory. He said Social Security is at risk "Because millions of people are pouring into our country, and they're putting them on to Social Security; they're putting them on to Medicare, Medicaid. They're putting them in our hospitals. They're taking the place of our citizens."
This is a claim Trump has made before, and Politifact has rated it "false."
But the more important point is that Trump had no solutions (other than, presumably, to cut off immigration, which would probably make Social Security's funding worse).
At a time when half of America's seniors can't afford basic necessities, millions have no retirement savings, and more and more are finding themselves homeless--while the super-rich keep getting richer--it's amazing that our two presidential candidates had so little to say about Social Security. Biden's answer was better, but still extremely anemic and partially incoherent (and it's worth remembering that Biden, in the past, helped cut Social Security benefits by voting to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67).
Americans are not demanding enough from their politicians and "leaders," and they're paying a terrible price for it.
Thursday, June 20, 2024
20 ways the New Deal made us smarter (before the decay of the modern era)
Our Bewildered Body Politic
"[T]he most recent results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, otherwise known as the Nation’s Report Card, revealed that 40% of eighth graders tested below average in the basics of U.S. history in 2022... Students are unable to recite what an event was, when it happened or why it even mattered... The same assessment report showed more than 70% of adult Americans fail a basic civic literacy quiz on topics like the three branches of government, the number of Supreme Court justices and other basic functions of America’s democracy."
--"What happened in US history? Scores show kids’ knowledge below average," The Hill, June 6, 2024.
"Let us keep clearly in mind the fact that the greatest enemy of democratic government is civic ignorance."
--John W. Studebaker, FDR's Commissioner of Education, in his book Plain Talk, 1936.
20 ways the New Deal made us smarter
1. More educational buildings, LOTS more

Above: A map showing the locations of educational buildings financed by the New Deal's Public Works Administration. Image from Public Works Administration, America Builds: The Record of PWA, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939.

Above: A map showing WPA educational building projects, by volume, for each state. One solid block represents 100 new constructions (a completely new building or a new addition). A clear block represents 100 improvements to existing structures. Image from Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration, Report on Progress of the WPA Program, June 30, 1941.
Above: The WPA-constructed K-12 "Circleville School," in Pendleton County, West Virginia. The school was built in 1937-1938 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of the tens of thousands of New Deal projects to build or improve K-12 schools, trade schools, schools for the deaf and blind, colleges, etc., all across the nation. Photo by Brent McKee, 2014.

Above: A vocational school constructed by the New Deal's Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA). Dr. Geoff Burrows notes that "By March 1938, the PRRA had built 285 cement-based public schools in 189 towns or cities across all regions of the island," and "New Deal financing also enlarged the University of Puerto Rico. Between 1935 and 1938, the PRRA completed eight new buildings for UPR..." (The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration: New Deal Public Works, Modernization, and Colonial Reform, Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2024, pp. 108-110). Photo from Harold Ickes and Miles Fairbanks, Rehabilitation in Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR: Imprenta Venezuela, 1939.

Above: New Deal leaders understood that many adults had been given less-than-adequate education during their younger years, so they offered many free opportunities for adult education, and on many topics. WPA poster, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: The New Deal thought it important that workers be familiar with labor and economic issues. The description for this photo reads, "One of the most active and interesting classes in Workers Education of the Works Progress Administration Education Program of the California Department of Education in San Francisco is the one composed of members of the Fur Workers Union. Labor problems and economic conditions are actively discussed in this class and possible solutions outlined." Encyclopedia.com has an interesting and brief description of the Workers Education Project, and also see the Living New Deal's biography of Hilda Worthington Smith, the New Dealer in charge of the project. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The WPA offered low-cost distance learning courses (also called "home study" or "correspondence courses"). In this article excerpt, we see WPA distance learning in conjunction with the University of Oklahoma. WPA courses included bookkeeping, business arithmetic, grammar, poetry, French language, history, Diesel engineering, blacksmithing, various agricultural topics, and many more ("Many Enroll For WPA Correspondence Courses of Study," The Duncan Eagle (Duncan, Oklahoma), April 12, 1939, p. 7). Image from the Mangum Daily Star (Mangum, Oklahoma), July 2, 1937, p. 1, and newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The New Deal promoted an understanding of other races and cultures.This was obviously a tough sell in 1930s apartheid America, but many New Dealers--such as Aubrey Williams, Mary McLeod Bethune, Harold Ickes, and many writers and administrators in the WPA's Federal Writers' Project--saw a better future through respect and understanding. WPA poster, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: One of several Japanese events described in Festivals in San Francisco, by the Federal Writers' Project, 1939. Other groups covered in the book include Serbian, Scotch, Jewish, Irish, Peruvian, Italian, Chinese, and German. Image scanned from a private collection.

Above: A WPA book, created with the University of New Mexico, the State Superintendant of Public Instruction of New Mexico, and A.S. Barnes and Company publishers. Image scanned from a private collection.

Above: The cover a WPA brochure, circa 1937, dicussing various projects carried out for the benefit of the blind, including: recreation; reading and writing in Braille; transferring textbooks and classics into Braille; creative writing classes; talking machines (an early form of audio book); the creation of Braille maps; a Braille garden in Indiana; and job training. Image above from Northwestern University and Hathitrust.

Above: One of the most popular educational radio programs of the 1930s / 40s was The World Is Yours by the Smithsonian Insititution. WPA actors were used to dramatize topics such as germs, the history of photography, geology, botany, and musical instruments. You can read more about this radio program here, and you can even listen to some brief audio excerpts. The image above, scanned from a private collection, comes from supplemental materials to The World Is Yours. The materials, in the form of booklets, were mailed to interested readers to enhance their knowledge of topics covered on the radio programs.

Above: From the March 1937 supplemental materials for The World Is Yours. Image scanned from a private collection.

Above: From the March 1937 supplemental materials for The World Is Yours. Image scanned from a private collection.

Above: The description for this photo, taken in Gilmer County, West Virginia, March 1937, reads: "Walter Donaldson. This man was acclaimed as the one-millionth pupil who was taught to read and write thru WPA educational classes." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Graduation Day for African Americans who completed a WPA literacy course in St. Joseph, Lousiana, ca. 1938. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The caption for this photograph reads, "Literacy & Citizenship Class. Shot shows literacy class for Spanish-American group in Greely, Colorado." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The description for this photograph reads, "Sons and daughters of sunny Italy hard at work in an Americanization and citizenship class of the WPA Education program of the California Department of Education in San Francisco. Through the program San Francisco's foreign born Italian population is rapidly becoming naturalized." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: FDR's chief of education, John Studebaker, created the Federal Forum Project (an expansion of the public forums he created in Des Moines, Iowa) so that Americans could come together and discuss important issues. Studebaker felt that such public discussion was important to the maintenance of democracy: "In democracy we need to plant centers of public discussion in every rural and urban community. We need a free platform where public issues may be debated as a wind-break against the gusts of emotionalized propaganda... The very process of group discussion develops a capacity for critical thinking, tolerance, power of analysis, and independence... When the masses of power-sharing citizens fail actually to participate in public discussion, the people tend to form themselves into rooting sections, applauding or booing those who do discourse or write about public issues" (John Studebaker, Plain Talk, Washington, DC: National Home Library Foundation, 1936). To learn more about the Federal Forum Project, see the Living New Deal's summary here. Image above from The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, Iowa), April 3, 1936, p. 8, and newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The WPA built and improved museums, helped staff museums, created exhibits, cataloged collectons, and created models that could be loaned to schools. The above model, "Gothic Knight 1188 A.D." was created by the WPA's Museum Extension Service in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The New Deal built or improved hundreds of libraries, staffed libraries, repaired tens of millions of books, operated bookmobiles, delivered books by horseback, conducted story hours, and more. Above is the public library in Rochester, Minnesota, built by the Public Works Administation in 1936-1937. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Over 2 million young men and women received education assistance through the New Deal's National Youth Administration (NYA). The NYA's student aid program provided modestly-paid jobs that helped many Americans finish high school, college, and graduate school. See the description card for this photo in the next image. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The NYA set up a special fund for African American graduate students who had "no graduate study facilities" in their home states. The article notes that the special Graduate Aid Fund was "in addition to the 6,000 Negro college and graduate students who are receiving aid from the regular NYA student-aid allotments... and the 30,000 Negro high school students who hold NYA part-time jobs." This article excerpt is from the Baton Rouge Post (Louisiana), January 22, 1938, and newspapers.com. Used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The New Deal began a transition away from the terrible Indian boarding schools that had tried to separate Indian children from their cultural traditions. This reform effort was spearheaded by Indian Commissioner John Collier. Due to resistance from business leaders (who had a stake in the boarding school system) and some in Congress, Collier could not end the boarding school system completely, but he did begin the reform process. He, along with many of his colleagues, felt that American Indians could learn modern skills while still maintaining their own cultural traditions. This Associated Press article excerpt is from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas), July 22, 1933, and newspapers.com. Used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: From Indians at Work, a publication of the U.S. Office [now "Bureau"] of Indian Affairs, March 1, 1935 edition. Image scanned from a private collection.

Above: The WPA operated nursery schools all across the nation, for families of modest means. The director of the program, Grace Langdon said the "Works Progress Administration nursery schools assist in the mental development of the pre-school child as well as safeguarding his physical development." See this United Nations' note on the importance of early childhood care and education. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The description for this photo, taken in Lima, Ohio, June 1936, reads: "A scene from the Community Center Workshop where these same women are taught how to upholster and recover their old furniture. This is part of a better home program." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: In this WPA-supported class, at the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Seattle, Washington, women learned how to draft patterns, in order to make their own clothing. These type of thrift courses helped people conserve their money during the challenging times of the 1930s. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The education program of the CCC was a very well-developed part of the Corps. Literacy, radio, first aid, forestry, heavy equipment operation, and the trades were some of the key components of the program, but there were many other opportunities too, as the description for this photo highlights: "Stony Creek CCC Camp, Ross County [Ohio]. CCC boys are shown grouped together with an Emergency School teacher who is giving them lessons in advanced algebra. These fellows are taking this course with the expectation that it will assist them in later jobs that they may get." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The WPA's Federal Art Project brought the common man and woman into the art world; its Living Newspaper theatre program dramatized current events; its Federal Writers' Project informed citizens about their state & local history; and its Federal Music Project gave thousands of performances across the country. To some, the educational value of the arts might not be readily apparent. But consider the words of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences: "arts education can lead to socially empowered and civically engaged youths and adults. Equipped with the knowledge, habits, values, and skills provided through arts education, students are well-prepared to promote democratic values and contribute to the health of our economy and culture." WPA poster image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: FDR during his Fireside Chat of September 6, 1936. During his chats, FDR educated Americans about public policy... and he didn't dumb things down the way our political discourse is dumbed-down today. He spoke clearly, and with details. For example, during the Fireside Chat pictured above, FDR explained: "I want to make it clear that no simple panacea can be applied to the drought problem in the whole of the drought area. Plans must depend on local conditions, for these vary with annual rainfall, soil characteristics, altitude and topography... The maintenance of a fair equilibrium between farm prices and the prices of industrial products is an aim which we must keep ever before us, just as we must give constant thought to the sufficiency of the food supply of the Nation even in bad years. Our modern civilization can and should devise a more successful means by which the excess supplies of bumper years can be conserved for use in lean years." Harris & Ewing photo, courtesy of the Library of Congress.