Remembering the WPA during Women's History Month: They set our records straight

Above: WPA workers codifying birth certificates in Charleston, South Carolina, 1936. This type of work became especially important during the war years. For example, "WPA workers gave assistance to registrars  of vital statistics in order to speed the handling of requests concerning the birth records of defense industry workers" (Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-1943--hereafter FR-WPA--p. 67. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA health records / vital statistics project in Bismarck, North Dakota, 1936. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA public records project at a courthouse in Green Bay, Wisconsin, ca. 1935-1943. The FR-WPA noted: "In the field of public administration, WPA project workers assisted State and local governments in the installation of modern assessment systems, the revision of land records, the indexing of deeds and mortgages, the transfer of property tax accounts from alphabetical listings to individual ledger cards... the inventorying of publicly owned personal property... the classifying of fingerprint files, the codifying of municipal ordinances..." (p. 66). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: WPA clerical workers transcribing data from a WPA climatology project in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, Ohio, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA worker organizes hospital records in Indiana, ca. 1935-1943. Clerical & record work is not glamorous, and usually not appreciated either. There is no bridge, road, or dam left as a testament to the work. But a society cannot function efficiently (or at all) without good record-keeping. Imagine paying your taxes, or satisfying a fine, and then those records being lost. Imagine going to a doctor after a surgery, and he/she says, "I never received your records, the hospital can't find them. I have no idea what kind of therapy or medicine you should be receiving." Imagine buying property, going to the courthouse to verify your property lines, and being told, "We have no record of your property. Are you sure you it's there?" Records are the oil that keeps society running. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.