New Deal Art: "The Sky Pond"

Above: "The Sky Pond," an oil painting by Paul Kauvar Smith (1893-1977), created while he was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project, ca. 1933. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Art: Shoveling snow in New York City

Above: "Snow Shovellers," an oil painting by Jacob Getlar Smith (1898-1958), created while he was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project, 1934. The description for this painting reads, "Many artists went out into the cold to find subjects after the PWAP began in December 1933. Jacob Getlar Smith found men hired by the government’s new work relief program, the Civil Works Administration, to shovel snow from the streets and park paths of New York. Some of the snow shovellers sport crisp fedoras and warm overcoats while others wear battered caps and ragged coats; some have practical boots while others wear shoes more suited to office work. Men used to physical labor stride along vigorously; those accustomed to sitting behind desks walk more slowly, bowed with weariness after a morning spent clearing snow. Black and white, poor and middle class—all had lost their jobs to the Great Depression. Smith showed them gathered into the ranks of the New Deal social programs that offered them all the means to get through the winter. A boy pulling a sled walks alongside the men, a reminder of the families who looked to these men for their support." Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

A New Deal for Michigan

("Flint Landscape," an oil painting by John Davies (1901-1965), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1939. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.)

Decades of trickle-down economics, and recent austerity, have not been kind to Michigan. Its schools are crumbling and, as of 2012, it had the "second-worst roads and bridges in the nation." Also, in the city of Flint, children have been poisoned by lead in their drinking water--due in part to old pipes--and their parents are being billed for it. Furthermore, in 2014, Detroit shut off water to low-income residents who could not afford to pay their ever-rising water bills but, interestingly, it did not shut off water for businesses that owed millions.

With respect to infrastructure generally, an executive for a trade group in Michigan said, "But no one can really figure out where we go in finding solutions." I have a suggestion where to go: The New Deal.

Let's look at some of the things the New Deal did for the Wolverine State back in the 1930s and 40s...

Civil Works Administration (CWA):

In January of 1934, there were 176,000 Michigan residents, formerly unemployed, working in the CWA. They built or repaired schools, roads, bridges, water lines, and more.

(Source: "Analysis of Civil Works Program Statistics," 1939, p. 18)

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA):

In February of 1935, 3,720 college students in Michigan were employed in FERA's College Student Aid Program. This was a program "undertaken in order to enable young persons who would not otherwise have been able to do so to continue their education, and thereby reduce the influx of young workers into the labor market" (recall that during the Great Depression there was a large drop in the demand for labor).

Between 1933 and 1935, FERA granted $116 million to Michigan for relief efforts (about $2 billion in today's dollars). FERA funds typically went towards cash relief, rural relief projects, and a wide variety of work programs.

(Source: "Final Statistical Report of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration," 1942, pp. 64, 103, and 232)

("Production," a mural study for the Buchannon, Michigan Post Office, by Gertrude Goodrich (1914-?), created while she was in, or competing for, a New Deal Section of Fine Arts commission, in 1941. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.)  

Public Works Administration (PWA):

By 1939, the PWA had contributed $62 million in funding towards 461 infrastructure projects in Michigan (not including federal projects). In today's dollars, that's about $1 billion.

(Source: "America Builds: The Record of PWA," 1939, p. 284)

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC):

Between 1933 and 1942, nearly 103,000 Michigan men were employed in the CCC. This included about 94,500 junior and veteran enrollees and 8,300 support staff. Among their many accomplishments were the planting of 485 million trees (perhaps the most of any state) and the stocking of 156 million fish.

(Source: Perry H. Merrill, "Roosevelt's Forest Army: A History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942," 1981, pp. 158-159)

("Way of Life," a mural study for the Chelsea, Michigan Post Office, by George Harold Fisher, (1895-1986), created while he was in, or competing for, a New Deal Section of Fine Arts commission, in 1938. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.) 

Public Works of Art Project (PWAP):

Between 1933 and 1934, in Region 9 of the PWAP (Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan), unemployed artists were paid to create 70 sculptures, 159 water color paintings, 161 murals, 210 oil paintings, and other works of art, for use in public buildings and parks.

(Source: Public Works of Art Project, "Report of the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury to Federal Emergency Relief Administrator, December 8, 1933 - June 30, 1934," 1934, p. 8)

National Youth Administration (NYA):

During academic year 1939-1940, 850 schools and colleges in Michigan were participating in the NYA program, employing about 16,000 students each month.

During any given month of fiscal year 1942, there were about 8,000 young Michigan men & women employed in the NYA's out-of-school work program.

(Source: Federal Security Agency - War Manpower Commission, "Final Report of the National Youth Administration, Fiscal Years 1936-1943," 1944, pp. 246-247, and 254)

("Settlers," a mural study for the East Detroit, Michigan Post Office, by Frank Cassara (1913-?), created while he was in, or competing for, a New Deal Section of Fine Arts commission, ca. 1939-1941. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.)

Post Offices:

During the New Deal era, the U.S Treasury built or expanded Post Office buildings in Michigan and commissioned artists to decorate them. See the Living New Deal's Michigan pages for examples.

Works Progress Administration (WPA):

Between 1935 and 1943, WPA workers in Michigan produced 5.9 million articles of clothing; served 28 million school lunches; created or improved 22,000 miles of roads; built or improved 700 bridges & viaducts; installed or improved 64,000 culverts; engaged in nearly 1,200 projects to build, repair, or improve schools; created or improved 326 parks; installed 700 miles of new water lines; constructed 153,000 linear feet of new airport & airfield runway; and more.

(Source: "Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43," 1946, pp. 134-136)

(A WPA poster, created by artist Maurice Merlin between 1941 and 1943. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation (FSCC): 

During calendar year 1936, the FSCC distributed 1.1 million pounds of canned beef to low-income residents of Michigan, 278,000 pounds of evaporated milk, 200,000 pounds of enriched oat cereal, 4.7 million pounds of fresh apples, 1.2 million pounds of citrus fruit, 100,000 pounds of walnuts, and much more.

In 1940, the FSCC delivered 3.7 million pounds of food for Michigan schoolchildren.

(Sources: (1) Report of the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation for the Calendar Year 1936, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1937. p. 13. (2) Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation, Report of the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation for the Fiscal Year 1940, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1940, p. 8)

(A store in Detroit lets WPA workers know that their credit "Is Good Here." 1942 photo, courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

New Deal Art: "Railroad Yards"

Above: "Railroad Yards," a lithograph on paper by Grant Arnold (1904-1988), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1935. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Art: "School's Out"

Above: "School's Out," an oil painting by Allan Rohan Crite (1910-2007), an African American artist in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1936. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Harold Ickes on Japanese American internment camps: The camps are "both stupid and cruel"

(Harold Ickes and his wife Jane Dahlman at their home in Olney, Maryland, 1938. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Franklin Roosevelt's biggest mistake as president had nothing to do with the New Deal. Instead, his biggest mistake occurred in 1942, when he caved to military, political, and public hysteria, and signing Executive Order 9066, which authorized the relocation of Japanese Americans on the west coast to internment camps. The country had just been stunned by the Pearl Harbor invasion, and there was fear that some Japanese Americans might aid the enemy (or be the enemy). There was also hope on the part of some white Americans that the relocation of Japanese Americans would remove business and labor competition.

Harold Ickes, one of Roosevelt's top men, despised the racially-discriminatory policy of Executive Order 9066 and, as Secretary of the Interior, was aghast that he would have a role to play in it. He called the Relocation Centers, "fancy-named concentration camps," described them as "both stupid and cruel," and told the president that the camps were "turning thousands of well-meaning and loyal Japanese into angry prisoners." Roosevelt replied that he regretted the military necessity of the relocations. (T.H. Watkins, Righteous Pilgrim: The Life and Times of Harold Ickes, 1874-1952, 1990, pp. 792-793)

In truth, and as I wrote in a previous blog post, the country would have been better off requesting help from Japanese Americans on the west coast. For those who might think this naive, they would do well to remember what did happen when we requested help from Japanese Americans, for example, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This was a volunteer Army unit that earned "9,486 Purple Hearts, 21 Medals of Honor and an unprecedented eight Presidential Unit Citations." The Japanese American Museum in San Jose explains one of their wartime actions: "Perhaps the most famous of the 442nd accomplishments was the heroic rescue of the Texas 'Lost Battalion' which had been caught behind enemy lines. In a ferocious battle, the 442nd suffered over 800 casualties (including 184 killed) to rescue 211 members of the Texas battalion."

(The 442nd in France, 1944. Photo courtesy of NPR and the National Archives.)

Today, there is all sorts of hateful talk about building walls, shooting refugees, and creating a database to track Muslim Americans. We shouldn't respect any of this foolishness. Instead, we should remember the words of Harold Ickes and remember the bravery of the 442nd. Ickes knew (and so should we) that our country is stronger when we bring people in and enlist their skill & labor to make a better world - and weaker when we exclude, stereotype, and demonize. This was true for Japanese Americans during World War II, and it's true for today's excluded and neglected groups, e.g., American Indians, refugees, minorities, and unemployed workers. These groups are an untapped well of greatness that we are failing to see because of fear and hysteria.

New Deal Art: "Waterbirds Nesting"

Above: "Waterbirds Nesting," an oil panting by Josephine Joy (1869-1948), created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1939. Did you know that WPA workers protected "birds and other wildlife ...by the construction and placement of shelter houses, feeding stations, and sanctuaries"? (Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, 1946, p. 54). Image courtesy  of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

11,000 theater performances by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration

(A theater performance in New York City, ca. 1934-1935, funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). Photo from a FERA report.)

Before the WPA's Federal Theatre Project, the Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration had its own impressive drama program. Between 1934 and 1935, 395 acting companies across the country gave 11,000 performances to over 5 million audience members. It was a win-win situation, where unemployed theater workers were given jobs and more Americans were able to experience the theater. There were performances for CCC camps, a Portable Theatre group in New York City, puppet shows for children, vaudeville in San Francisco, "stunt nights" & dramatic contests in New Jersey, and an African American theater group in Massachusetts. There were even acting companies in places not widely known for theater; for example, Wyoming had five acting companies. (The Emergency Work Relief Program of the FERA, 1934-1935, 1935, pp. 108-111.)

 

The New Deal offered opportunities for the unemployed, and improved the quality of life for the entire nation through improved infrastructure, assistance with food & clothing, greater access to the arts, and much more. Compare that to today's public policy, where the unemployed are largely ignored, infrastructure is allowed to age and crumble, social services are demonized, and art... well, art isn't even on the agenda.

Aubrey Williams defends the WPA against bankers

(Aubrey Williams, deputy administrator of the WPA, and head of the National Youth Administration. Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.)

In 1937, some bankers criticized the WPA as wasteful government spending. Aubrey Williams, deputy administrator of the WPA, said: "They did not deplore the government lending the banks $5,000,000,000 or $6,000,000,000, when 2,300 of their number defaulted with the savings and deposits of their then trusting but now disillusioned depositors," and said that America had turned away from "the bitter viewpoint of accepting as the fixed scheme of existence that the good things of life were not meant for the many, but were reserved for the few." ("Says WPA Must Go On: Williams, Aide to Hopkins, Strikes at Banker Critics of Spending," New York Times, October 17, 1937.)

New Deal Art: "The Builders"

Above: "The Builders," an oil painting by Charles F. Quest (1904-1993), celebrating "physical labor and teamwork," and created while Quest participated in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project. Did you know that between 1935 and 1943 WPA laborers worked on 125,000 projects to build, repair, or improve public buildings? Did you know that the "CCC Boys" built at least 2,500 cabins in parks across the U.S.? Did you know that the Public Works Administration funded thousands of public buildings, including schools, hospitals, courthouses, and housing developments? Other Roosevelt-era agencies, like the CWA, the NYA, the FERA, the Resettlement Administration, and the Tennessee Valley Authority, also had large infrastructure accomplishments. Many Americans are unaware of New Deal history, even though it was the largest work & construction program in human history. Isn't that amazing? Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Hoover, Pecora, and the Banksters

(President Herbert Hoover and his wife, 1932. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

President Herbert Hoover, while not always averse to using federal action to respond to the Great Depression, preferred to use persuasion. He tried to persuade financial leaders to clean up their act and he tried to persuade the public to be patient for the economy to self-correct. This is reminiscent of modern libertarianism and conservatism, where we are told that the federal government should not intervene during economic downturns because the "market" will self-correct - sort of like magic. 

But even Hoover had his limits. When financial leaders brushed his concerns off, year after year, he prodded the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency to begin an investigation of Wall Street (he was particularly concerned about "short-selling," a type of financial gambling in the markets). Eventually, the investigation would be led by attorney Ferdinand Pecora, who would expose a financial world of fraud, tax evasion, and other white collar misdeeds. The public learned, in detail, how they had been hoodwinked. Even Hoover, who had strong faith in the American system (outside of short-selling) was shocked: 

 

"If only part of the things brought out prove true, these men have done the American people more damage than all the incidental operations of Al Capone... [I]f these stores are true these men are not bankers, they are banksters who rob the poor, drive the innocent to poverty and suicide and do infinite injury to those who honestly work and strive. Worse than that, they are traitors to our institutions and national ideas." (Michael Perino, The Hellhound of Wall Street, New York: Penguin Press, 2010, p. 190)

 

But, of course, the stories were true. In the years after the Pecora Investigation financial executives hid, resigned, or went to jail. Heck, even the president of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, wound up in prison. You see, when there isn't oversight, people will do all sorts of crazy things. Isn't that a shocking revelation?  

 

As a result of the Pecora Investigation, and as a result of the implementation of New Deal policies, the financial markets were reined in and stabilized for many decades. But then Reagan and Clinton era deregulation kicked in and started causing market instability and, lo and behold, Wall Street is up to its old tricks again - cheating the system and hurting people who just want a decent middle-class life (see, e.g., "Banks Keep Overcharging Service Members on Student Loans," Military.com, July 7, 2015). 

 

But here's the funny thing: Unlike the Pecora and New Deal time frame, the government is largely excusing financial crimes (as long as they get a piece of the action via fines) and a significant portion of the American public has either continued to worship the wrongdoers as "JOB CREATORS," or has chosen to look the other way - even as their paychecks stagnate or shrink. And Republican & Tea Party politicians, in the wake of these enormous amounts of fraud, actually want to reward the wrongdoers with tax breaks, protection from law enforcement, and the elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And millions of voters are crying out, "Yes, I'll vote for that!"

 

I believe the military term for this phenomenon would be FUBAR.

New Deal Art: "Back of the Yards," and timeless misery

Above: "Back of the Yards," an oil painting by Mitchell Siporin (1910-1976), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1938. The painting "emphasizes the misery that workers across the country experienced during the Great Depression." To some degree, however, it is a timeless depiction of misery. For example, consider the record number of children who are homeless in America today. According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, "A staggering 2.5 million children are now homeless in America each year." This homelessness is caused by "the nation's high poverty rate... lack of affordable housing... continuing impacts of the Great Recession... racial disparities... the challenges of single parenting and... traumatic experiences" ("America's Youngest Outcasts," November 2014). Meanwhile, the richest 400 Americans are adding tens, even hundreds of billions of dollars to their personal fortunes every year; and showing us great big smiles, completely oblivious to the misery they've created for so many (see, e.g., "For most workers, real wages have barely budged for decades," Pew Research Center, October 9, 2014, and "Worse Than Stagnant: Wages Fall for Recent College Grads," NBC News, June 5, 2015). Amazingly though, many voters continue to worship the super-rich, praising them as "job creators." Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.