Above: A WPA nursery school in Savin Hill, Massachusetts, 1936. The Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43 (hereafter, "FR-WPA"), explains that "Many young children from low-income families were cared for in WPA nursery schools. The children were given a daily health inspection and any necessary medical services, in addition to well-balanced meals, play, and rest... The WPA nursery school projects gave employment to unemployed teachers, nurses, nutritionists, clerical workers, cooks, and janitors" (pp. 61-62). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
Above: A health check-up for a WPA nursery school child in Florida, ca. 1935-1943. The FR-WPA noted that "Nursery school work had been carried on to only a limited extent in this country before the WPA entered the field, and the standards in this field were established in many communities through the work of WPA nursery schools" (p. 60, emphasis added). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
Above: A WPA nursery school in San Francisco, ca. 1935-1943. In January 1942, over 35,000 children were enrolled in WPA nursery schools; and by December 1942, 8,411 formerly unemployed Americans were working, in some capacity, for WPA nursery schools (FR-WPA, pp. 36 and 134). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
Above: A WPA nursery school worker makes sure her young charges stay safe on the streets of New York City, ca. 1935-1943. In 1946, the FR-WPA reported that "A special usefulness was found for [WPA nursery schools] in the war period, and the program was expanded in the fiscal year 1942 so as to include the children of working mothers, of men in the armed forces, and of workers engaged in war production, whether or not they were in low-income groups... When the WPA program was liquidated [in 1943], WPA nursery schools in defense production areas were usually continued by local governments with assistance from Lanham Act funds" (p. 62). Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.
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