Above: Oregon's Timberline Lodge, built by the WPA between 1936 and 1938, is still a popular winter recreation area today. The lodge has a history web page that discusses its WPA origins. In this photo, we see Mt. Hood in the background.
Above: A skier at Timberline Lodge. Did you know that WPA workers created 310 miles of new ski trails across the country, and improved another 59 miles?
Above: Another skier at Timberline Lodge.
Above: The Timberline Lodge coffee shop.
Above: A room at the Timberline Lodge.
Above: Getting ready for a day of leisure and recreation at the Timberline Lodge.
Above: A cozy common area in the Timberline Lodge.
Above: WPA artists and artisans of all kinds were employed on the Timberline Lodge construction project.
Above: A WPA worker makes window drapes for the Timberline Lodge.
Above: A mural of Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox, at Timberline Lodge. This mural was recently restored after suffering water damage.
Above: Dining at the Timberline Lodge.
Above: Guests enjoying a winter scene in the warmth and comfort of Timberline Lodge.
Above: Skiing amongst the clouds at Timberline Lodge.
Above: During the New Deal, Americans were encouraged to take vacations, participate in recreation programs, visit parks, etc. It was important to New Deal officials that Americans enjoy their lives, and so they created or operated many recreation projects, like Timberline Lodge. In fact, it was so important to President Franklin Roosevelt, that he included it in his famous-but-ignored Second Bill of Rights speech. He wanted Americans to have "The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation." Today, America's wealthy CEOs & shareholders, through their job policies, investment choices, wage stagnation, political puppets, and general greed & selfishness, have done their best to thwart FDR's wishes. They have created a culture of fear, where workers are hesitant to use their already-pitiful vacation time because they don't want to be viewed as replaceable or less-than-dedicated to their millionaire & billionaire masters. And wealthy CEOs & shareholders have kept wages as low as possible, so that even if someone has vacation time, they might not be able to do much with it (for example, visit Timberline Lodge). Worse, many people must use their vacation time to take care of personal business or doctor visits. (See, "The State of American Vacation: How Vacation Became a Casualty of Our Work Culture," Project: Time Off). Americans should end their slavish devotion to the super-wealthy and demand more recreation time. After all, the super-wealthy are not shy about taking time off themselves (that is, if they work in the first place), as President Trump's weekly vacations highlight. So why should we be shy about it?
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