Remembering the WPA during Women's History Month: Roosevelt's Sewing Army

Above: "Girl Sewing," a color woodcut print by Bernard P. Schardt (1904-1979), created while he was in the WPA's art program, ca. 1939-1943. According to Annex Galleries, Schardt lived in New York City and his WPA work "portrayed the working class during the Depression." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

Above: A WPA sewing room project in Massachusetts, ca. 1935-1943. More women worked in WPA sewing room projects that any other type of project. In April 1938, for example, there were 335,408 women working in the WPA and 53.2% of them were in sewing room projects - over 178,000 (Donald S. Howard, The WPA and Federal Relief Policy, 1943, p. 281). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: WPA sewing room workers in Talbot County, Maryland, ca. 1935-1943. WPA workers in Maryland created over 1.7 million articles of clothing for low-income families (Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43 (hereafter FR-WPA), 1946, p. 134). Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.

Above: A WPA sewing room worker in Monroe County, Kentucky, ca. 1935-1943. When the WPA sewing projects were first set up, treadle (foot powered) machines were heavily used. However, as time went on, electric sewing machines became the norm (FR-WPA, p. 67). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Seamstress," a lithograph by Harold Anchel (1912-1980), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1938. According to the website Artsy, Anchel "was the youngest artist in the WPA lithography project." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Above: Making flags on a WPA sewing room project in South Dakota, ca. 1935-1943. Besides making 2.8 million articles of clothing, WPA workers in South Dakota created over 476,000 other sewing items (bed sheets, towels, flags, etc.) (FR-WPA, p. 134). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Reproductions of Revolutionary War uniforms, made by WPA sewing room workers in Virginia, ca. 1935-1943. These type of sewing products were probably used in reenactments and living history sites. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: These WPA sewing room workers in Charleston, West Virginia are refashioning old Army clothes into clothes for low-income families, 1938. When World War II kicked in, WPA sewing room workers reversed gears and started outfitting the U.S. military: "Articles of clothing, including shoes, and tents, blankets, knapsacks, web belting, canteen covers and the like, were made usable, thereby saving many millions of dollars. In addition, articles of furniture, draperies, light fixtures, and other articles were made for use in military and naval establishments" (FR-WPA, p. 68). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Knitting," another lithograph by Harold Anchel (1912-1980), also created while he was in the WPA's art program, ca. 1935-1943. In 1937, it was reported that "13,201 sweaters have been manufactured at the WPA knitting project in the city of Marinette. The knitting unit, which is supervised by an expert knitter and employs 12 women [makes sweaters] for relief clients throughout the state" ("WPA workers active on sewing projects," The Oshkosh Northwestern (Wisconsin), June 10, 1937). Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Above: These WPA workers are making puppets to assist with story-telling in libraries in Kentucky, ca. 1935-1943. WPA workers in Kentucky created over 8 million articles of clothing for low-income families and 2.6 million other sewing items (FR-WPA, p. 134). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA seamstress altering a suit for a man in Salem, Virginia, 1938. These types of services helped many unemployed and low-income Americans during the hard times of the 1930s. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: These Japanese women are learning pattern-making in a WPA-supported class, in order to make clothing for their families in Seattle, Washington, ca. 1936-1939. These types of skills helped women stretch their family's money further, fostered creativity, and perhaps created clothing items that were not so readily available at local stores. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Woman Sewing," an oil painting by George Wittmer, created while he was in the WPA's art program, ca. 1935-1943. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and Gregory Halpern.

Above: These two women are shown wearing clothes from a WPA sewing room project in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ca. 1935-1943. WPA workers in Wisconsin created over 7 million articles of clothing (FR-WPA, p. 134). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A girl and boy model clothes made in a WPA sewing room project in Kentucky, ca. 1935-1943. Across the nation, WPA sewing room workers made 78 million items of clothing for girls and 67 million for boys (FR-WPA, p. 133). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Showing off new WPA-made dresses, New York City, ca. 1935-1943. In New York state (including New York City), over 30 million articles of clothing were made by WPA sewing room workers (FR-WPA, p. 134). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A family in need of assistance looks over some WPA-made items in Charleston, West Virginia, 1938. WPA sewing room workers in West Virginia made over 5 million articles of clothing for low-income residents. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

There was a fire in them

Like other WPA workers, women in sewing room projects were sometimes ridiculed. For example, a 1936 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer sneered at women on a sweater-knitting project, saying they earned their wages "whether they work hard at a job they know how to do, learn a job they know nothing about, boondoggle, or just plain sit and talk about this and that... Many of the women are still taking lessons on how to knit. The women sit on chairs arranged in long rows, gossip and sometimes rest for long periods" ("Women paid more on WPA relief job than private work," The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 27, 1936, pp. 1 and 32).

But the women in the WPA sewing projects soldiered on through the insults and cruel insinuations. By the end of the WPA program in 1943 they had created over 382 million articles of clothing and nearly 118 million other sewing items (FR-WPA, p. 134). After visiting some WPA sewing projects, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote: "What interests me most are the people carrying on these projects. I had opportunity to meet them clear across the continent and their enthusiasm and belief in their work is really fine to see. It is not the kind of spirit you see in people who are working because they received a certain amount of money at the end of each week. There is a fire in them, I think, through the feeling that they are really working to better conditions for their fellow beings" ("First Lady Sees WPA at Work: Sewing room spirit wins praise," Work: A Journal of Progress, September 1936, p. 2).