The New Deal Around DC: West Potomac Park

Above: An entry sign for West Potomac Park in Washington, DC. The Living New Deal has a web page on the improvements made to the park by the WPA and CCC during the 1930s. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: If there was a new WPA or CCC today, perhaps the National Park Service (NPS) could have some of their crumbling signs replaced. The American Society of Civil Engineers has repeatedly highlighted the multi-billion dollar maintenance backlog of the NPS (see, for example, here). Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: A nice view of the Potomac River from West Potomac Park. According to a report by the Historic Preservation Office of the District of Columbia Office of Planning, "East and West Potomac Parks comprise a large portion of the Washington monumental core, while at the same time providing recreational space for residents and tourists alike. The parks were a primary feature of the

McMillan Commission Plan, the nation's preeminent manifestation of the City Beautiful ideal of grand civic space. They are the cumulative product of a century of work by noted American architects. They are the setting for the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Vietnam and Koran War Veterans Memorials, and many others. They include nationally recognized works of art, most notably Daniel Chester French's statue of Abraham Lincoln." Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: West Potomac Park has several recreation fields. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: A baseball field at West Potomac Park. Photo by Brent McKee, August 2018.

Above: This photo appeared in the August 26, 1937 edition of The Evening Times (Sayre, Pennsylvania). A caption for it reads: "The first contingent of unemployed WPA workers is shown washing their clothes in makeshift tubs in their encampment on the banks of the Potomac near Washington. More detachments are expected from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New England states. A huge demonstration, protesting the lay-off of WPA workers, is planned when all the groups have joined the encampment." Another photograph and caption in the article indicated that the protest was headquartered in West Potomac Park (I'll have a blog post on East Potomac Park soon). Photo used for educational, non-commercial purposes.

The protesters shown in the above photo highlight one the weaknesses of the New Deal: President Roosevelt's too-great concern for a balanced budget. It resulted in the "Roosevelt Recession" of 1937-1938, and it also made the work relief programs less stable than what they could have been. For example, much like their experience in the private sector, many WPA workers felt insecure, not knowing how long their WPA employment would last. As great as the WPA was (it employed 8.5 million Americans and created hundreds of thousands of public works), it would have been even better if it had employed more jobless Americans and provided them with a longer, more stable period of employment. This was not all FDR's fault of course. Many in Congress and much of the public had little or no sympathy for the unemployed, and were constantly whining and crying about public funds being used for public works.