Dignity

A worker weaving a rug on a WPA project. The WPA was designed to give unemployed Americans a chance to earn some money, maintain (or acquire new) skills, and preserve their dignity, while creating useful things. Women in the WPA made clothes, rugs, quilts, mattresses, hospital gowns, and more. They also made blankets, canteen covers, and other items for soldiers. Women also participated in other WPA projects, e.g., health clinics, library services to rural areas, and WPA theater productions.

(Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress)