Remembering the WPA during Women's History Month: They found, organized, recorded, preserved, and displayed our history

Above: Dr. Dorothy Cross and Dr. Eugene Golomshtok on a WPA-funded archaeological dig in Trenton, New Jersey, ca. 1935-1943. Cross was a professor at Hunter College in New York and a leading archaeologist from the 1930s through the 1960s. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: These WPA workers are cleaning artifacts and bones from an archaeological site in Alabama, in preparation for public display, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Before the WPA came along, many historic records were disorganized or in a state of obscurity. The WPA's Historic Records Survey sought to find and inventory the nation's voluminous historic information. The WPA worker in the photo above is examining historic records in Baltimore, Maryland, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Another interesting WPA project was the Index of American Design: "a series of portfolios of faithful drawings, in color, illustrating the rise and development of the decorative and applied arts in this country, from earliest colonial times to the end of the nineteenth century. Through educational institutions, these drawing were made available to students, artists, and industrial designers" (Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, 1946, p. 64). Above we see Mrs. Sterilling, a WPA artist, sketching a Duncan Phyfe Table in Washington, DC, ca. 1935-1939. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "WPA workers indexing and preserving census records" in New York City, 1936. Genealogists frequently highlight the value of WPA-preserved & generated records in family history research today (see, e.g., Paula Stuart-Warren, "Good Works: WPA Projects: Shhh! We're letting you in on one of genealogy's best-kept secrets: the resources of the WPA's Historical Records Survey," Family Tree Magazine, April 1, 2005. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: The description for this 1936 photograph reads, "Vera Achen, WPA artist, preparing a school diorama case showing George Washington and his first cabinet in the Federal Bldg. at New York. Part of the State Visual Education Program." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA artist working on a plaster relief for a natural history museum in Minnesota, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

"[T]here has been a neglect of historical landmarks and historical records. Much material of historic significance has been lost and more doomed to disappear as modern modes replace the old ways of living. As an insurance against future loss and destruction, the Federal Government, through the Works Progress Administration, is giving work to the unemployed throughout the country on a number of projects designed particularly for the preservation of valuable historical treasures."

--Ellen Woodward, director of the WPA's Women's and Professional Division, "Allies in Aims: The Story of what America is doing to Preserve its Historical Heritage," National Historical Magazine, Daughters of the American Revolution, December 1937, pp. 1079-1080.