12 Ways the New Deal Helped Preserve American History

Americans involved in New Deal work & construction programs helped preserve our nation's history. Here's 12 ways how they did it:

(Click on images to enlarge)

1. Infrastructure Development to Facilitate Tourism and Sightseeing

(WPA workers improving a road at Antietam National Battlefield. Photo courtesy of the National Park Service).

To see and appreciate historical sites, Americans needed roads, trails, and bridges. The New Deal did that. 

2. Promotion of Sightseeing and Tourism

(WPA poster, image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

(WPA poster, image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

When people go to see historic sites they are more likely to appreciate the need for historic preservation. The New Deal lured people out with promotional posters.

3. Restoring Historic Sites and Structures

(The CCC restored the walls of Fort Frederick in Maryland. The fort is now a National Historic Landmark. Photo by Brent McKee.)

All across the country, the New Deal restored and rehabilitated historic sites & structures.

4. Funding Historic Preservation

(The PWA funded the restoration of the War Correspondents Memorial Arch in Gathland State Park in Maryland. Photo courtesy of the National Park Service.)

In addition to putting boots on the ground, in the form of CWA, WPA, NYA, and CCC workers, the New Deal funded preservation through the Public Works Administration, giving private contractors more work.

5. Creating and Improving Historic Markers and Monuments

(A historic marker at Antietam National Battlefield. Photo by Brent McKee.)

Across America, the WPA built or improved 1,385 historical markers and monuments.

6. Assisting in Archaeological Work

(Cover to the book "Shovel Ready.")

In various parts of the country, New Deal workers helped with archaeological excavations, e.g., digging, sifting, labeling, and inventorying. Want to learn more? Read Bernard K. Mean's new book, "Shovel Ready: Archaeology and Roosevelt's New Deal for America."

7. Historic Surveys & Indexes

(A historic survey team at Antietam National Battlefield--employed by the Civil Works Administration. Photo courtesy of the National Park Service.)

New Deal workers engaged in a multitude of historic surveys, many of which are still used today. These include the Historic Americans Building Survey (HABS), Historic Records Survey, and the Index of American Design.   

8. Museum Assistance

(WPA poster promoting the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)  

  (WPA poster, image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

WPA men & women worked in many museums across America, and they frequently displayed children's art in these museums.  

9. Collecting Oral Histories

(Cover to the book "Maryland Slave Narratives: From the Federal Writer's Project, 1936-1938," a collaborative publication of the Library of Congress and Applewood Books.)

WPA men & women in the Federal Writers' Project collected fascinating (and sometimes horrifying) oral histories throughout the states. For example, in the various Slave Narratives, one can read first hand accounts of former slaves, e.g., "My master was named Tom Ashbie, a meaner man was never born in Virginia - brutal, wicked and hard...I have seen men beaten until they dropped in their tracks or knocked over by clubs, women stripped down to their waist and cowhided."   

10. Promoting the Reading of History

(A WPA poster promoting the reading of African American history at the New York Public Library. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

The WPA created many posters that encouraged Americans, especially children, to read & learn.

11. Writing Histories

(WPA poster, image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

WPA writers created guide books for every state (as well as other types of books), chock-full of tourism information and history.

12. History Through Theater

(WPA poster, image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

The New Deal taught American history through the Federal Theater Project, where unemployed actors were given a chance to earn a paycheck by entertaining and informing audiences. Some conservative congressmen of the time--both Democrat and Republican--thought the Federal Theater Project was a communist plot...so they eventually eliminated it.