Remembering the WPA during Women's History Month: They played music

Above: A WPA musician plays the harp in New York City, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Miss Manchester's Musical Program for Homeless Men," a lithograph by Elizabeth Olds (1896-1991), created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1936. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: The WPA's "Commonwealth Women's Orchestra" performing in Boston, Massachusetts, ca. 1935-1943. The Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43 (1946) explains that "Although there had never been any doubt of the deep and wide interest in music in this country, the WPA music projects revealed that more of our people enjoyed good music than had been realized. These projects stimulated the demand for the teaching of music... and encouraged the hope that regular community orchestras would be established in the postwar period" (p. 64). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA choral group in New Mexico, 1936. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: String players in a WPA recreation program in Wisconsin, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Women gather together to sing, in a WPA recreation program in Baltimore, Maryland, 1938. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: The description for this photograph reads, "WPA sewing project workers... singing hymns and folk songs. The young men just dropped in and joined in when they heard the singing." This photo was taken on Crusoe Island, North Carolina, ca. 1935-1943, and provided courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A 1939 WPA poster, showing a female flutist and promoting an upcoming WPA concert sponsored by the Hamilton Mothersingers. In 1940, the Mothersingers were described as a "permanent organization of those mothers who like to continue their own musical activities with the advantage of professional direction while their children are in school, and even after they are beyond school age" ("Mothersingers to Meet," The Cincinnati Enquirer, September 15, 1940). Some Mothersinger groups are still active today, and one group's historian & librarian explains their origins, suggesting a more wide-ranging purpose to the groups: "During the Great Depression, when morale was very low, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor had an idea. He suggested that all Parent Teacher Associations in elementary schools across the country form Mothersingers and Fathersingers groups to help demonstrate musical harmony to the children. As an added bonus, it would help lift everyone's spirit at the same time" ("Mothersingers keep tradition going," This Week (Columbus, Ohio), May 17, 2016). So it seems that Mothersinger groups were multifaceted - intended to teach, lift the spirits of a depressed nation, and also provide venues for musically-talented, but busy moms. (It's unclear whether any Fathersinger groups still exist, but articles about them can be found in newspaper archives.) Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.