WPA workers vs. dogs, snakes, spiders, scorpions, bees, and vicious fish

Above: A mobile first aid unit for a large WPA project in Mobile, Alabama, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

WPA workers sometimes faced insect and animal hazards on the job. Here are a few accounts:

In March 1940, John Barnum of Port Huron, Michigan was bitten by a dog while working on a WPA project ("WPA Worker Bitten," The Times Herald (Port Huron, Michigan), March 23, 1940).

In May 1940, Leonard Morrow of Thickety, South Carolina, felt a bite on his back and then killed what was likely a spider. He then became very ill and was taken to the hospital ("WPA Worker Bitten By Poisonous Spider," The Gaffney Ledger (Gaffney, South Carolina), May 23, 1940).

In August 1939, a WPA inspector was walking through high weeds, looking over some work, when he was bitten by a snake. After his foot began to swell, his doctor had him admitted to a hospital for some type of surgical treatment ("WPA Inspector Bitten By Snake," Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, Illinois), August 1, 1939).

Herman Barnes, of Flintstone, Maryland, was bitten by a Copperhead while working on a WPA road project. He was given anti-venom and apparently recovered ("Man Bitten By Snake," The Baltimore Sun, June 5, 1938). 

WPA worker Clinton Elijak was severely bitten by a pickerel (a toothy, fast-moving, and barracuda-like freshwater fish) while clearing brush from Many Point Lake in Minnesota in August 1938 ("WPA Worker Bitten By Bold Pickerel," Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), August 13, 1938).

WPA engineer John Ryan was bitten by a rattlesnake while walking along a highway improvement project in Casa Grande, Arizona, March 1936. The bite was not life-threatening ("WPA Engineer Bitten By Rattler," Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), March 15, 1936).

In June 1937, a Copperhead bit WPA worker Charles Fagley in Pennsylvania, and struck at another, before it was killed. Fagley's arm "swelled rapidly" and he was rushed to a hospital ("Bitten by Copperhead," Republican and Herald (Pottsville, Pennsylvania) June 18, 1937). 

Near Billings, Montana, March 1938, a scorpion crawled up the pant leg of WPA worker A.W. Brown and gave him a nasty sting, causing serious but probably not life-threatening illness ("Local WPA Worker Stung By Scorpion," The Billings Gazette, March 12, 1938). This was most probably the Northern Scorpion. 

WPA worker Roger Harris was stung by many bees while clearing out stumps on a WPA project in Texas, June, 1938 ("Speed Is Shown By WPA Worker; Hits Bees' Nest," The Eagle (Bryan, Texas), June 18, 1938).

WPA worker Alfred Berg was bitten by a Black Widow spider in Ohio, September 1939, but "given a good chance of recovery by attending physicians" ("Bitten By Spider," The Coshocton Tribune, (Coshocton, Ohio), September 7, 1939).

Pennsylvania resident James Ekins was working on a WPA project in March 1936 when he was bitten on the hand by a dog ("Bitten By Dog," The Evening News (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), March 28, 1936).

Above: A WPA safety poster. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.