A New Deal for Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and 4-H

Above: The description for this photograph, taken in Rocky River, Ohio, ca. 1935-1943, reads, "New cabin in the Girl Scouts Reservation - Much of the lumber in this building came from an old frame house demolished by the WPA." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: An information pavilion in Washington, DC, set up by the New Deal's National Youth Administration and the Boy Scouts of America, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: The description for this photograph, taken near Findlay, Ohio, ca. 1935-1943, reads, "Enhanced by $50,000 worth of improvements by WPA workers, the Berry Boy Scout Reservation... has become the outstanding camping place for boys and girls in this section of the state. The reservation covers 80 acres. Tent floors and the hundreds of trees are some of the improvements made by the unemployed men on the WPA projects. Five frame buildings were also built by WPA." Today, on the Camp Berry web page, it states: "a swimming pool and shower house were built by the WPA in 1937. A headquarters cabin and three overnight cabins were also built at this time." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: This photo shows WPA workers in Portsmouth, Ohio, ca. 1935-1943, "putting in base logs of a cabin that will be used by local boy scouts as their meeting place and recreational center." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA-supported archery class for a Camp Fire Girls of America camp in Pennsylvania, ca. 1935-1943. Today, the organization is just called "Camp Fire," and is open to both girls and boys. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA-built club house for the Boys & Girls Club of Vernon, Texas, 1937. The Boys & Girls Club of Vernon still operates today, and offers after-school programs for K-12 youth, related to "character & leadership, education & career, health & life, the arts, and sports & activities," but it's unclear whether the WPA-built club house still exists. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: WPA workers built this 4-H club house in Cabell County, West Virginia (near Huntington), ca. 1935-1943. According to their website, "4‑H is delivered by Cooperative Extension - a community of more than 100 public universities across the nation that provides experiences where young people learn by doing. Kids complete hands-on projects in areas like health, science, agriculture and citizenship, in a positive environment where they receive guidance from adult mentors and are encouraged to take on proactive leadership roles." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: The WPA-built club house, still used by 4-H today (see previous photo). Photo courtesy of the Cabell County Commission, used here for educational, non-commercial purposes.

Above: In addition to helping existing youth organizations, the New Deal created plenty of it own projects too, like this National Youth Administration (NYA) summer camp for disadvantaged kids, in Chepachet, Rhode Island, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: These young women are youth leaders at the NYA summer camp in Chepachet, Rhode Island. Many young adults trained to be camp and recreation leaders, while also earning a paycheck, in the NYA. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

December 25, 1938

Above: The description for this photograph, taken on December 25, 1938, reads: "President and Mrs. Roosevelt with members of their family leaving the White House today for St. Thomas Episcopal Church where they attended Christmas services. L to R: Mrs. J. Roosevelt, sister-in-law of the president; Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt [Eleanor]; Mrs. Sarah Roosevelt, mother of the president; President Roosevelt; James Roosevelt; Mrs. James Roosevelt; Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr; and Harry Hopkins, new Secretary of Commerce. In the front are Sarah Delano Roosevelt [left], daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Roosevelt, and Diana Hopkins, daughter of Harry Hopkins." Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The New Deal Around DC: The Home of Harry Hopkins

Above: New Deal administrator Harry Hopkins lived in this house, at 3340 N Street NW, Washington, DC (in Georgetown), ca. 1943-1946. This photograph was taken during Hopkins residence, but I'm not sure if the car in front of the house was his (it looks like a 1940 Chrysler Windsor Coupe). Photo by International News Service, scanned from a personal copy, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The Hopkins Home today. A 2008 article about the home reported: "Recently completely remodeled and restored, this home is now on the market for $2,495,000. The restoration project, completed this year, was undertaken by John Richardson Ltd., known in Georgetown as a premier provider of period restoration" ("House hunting: Georgetown home with charm," Washington Times, October 24, 2008). Personally, I think the home looked brighter and more inviting during Hopkins' ownership; but the 2008 renovations probably restored the house to its original 1830s appearance (see next image). Photo by Brent McKee, December 2018.

Above: A plaque shows that the house was constructed around 1830, and also shows that there is a preservation easement on the deed. Such easements typically limit alterations to historic homes, especially on the exterior, and frequently offer tax benefits. Photo by Brent McKee, December 2018.

Above: The front view of the Hopkins Home is a little deceptive, making it appear somewhat small. But, as you can see from this side view, the house has surprising depth and a rooftop patio--and there is also a basement level--all of which makes it a fairly large house. Photo by Brent McKee, December 2018.

Above: When Harry Hopkins first came to Washington, DC, to serve in the FDR Administration, he was too busy with work to look for a house or apartment, so he stayed at the Cosmos Club on Massachusetts Avenue (his family stayed behind in New York). His living conditions at the Cosmos Club were described as: "good library and newspaper facilities, comfortable beds, very reasonable and very good food, and not very good bathroom accommodations" (Henry H. Adams, Harry Hopkins: A Biography, 1977, p. 53). Photo by AgnosticPreachersKid, provided courtesy of Wikipedia, used here under the CCA-SA 3.0 license.

Above: Harry Hopkins also lived at the White House, from about 1940-1942. FDR offered a room to Hopkins so that Hopkins could perform his national defense-related duties while convalescing from his numerous health problems. (I'm not sure where Hopkins lived in between his time at the Cosmos Club and his time at the White House.) Photo by Brent McKee, September 2018.

Eleanor Roosevelt celebrates African American art

Above: Oliver LaGrone (1906-1995) sculpts "Mercy," for display in the the Carrie Tingley Crippled Children's Hospital in Hot Springs, New Mexico, 1938. The WPA funded this artwork (and also the hospital itself). LaGrone went on to have a prestigious art career (see, e.g., his Wikipedia page, and this Penn State page). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

On May 7, 1941, Eleanor Roosevelt spoke at the opening of the Negro Art Center in Chicago (now called the "South Side Community Art Center"). After sharing an uplifting story about an African American artist and her uncle, Theodore Roosevelt, the First Lady told the audience, "because of that... I have always thought more about the contribution of the colored people. And, there is no question in my mind that in music, in painting, in sculpture, in drama, you have particular gifts. And in writing also, you have many distinguished people who have brought us much..."

Eleanor continued: "Now, today, it is a joy to be here and to see what this Chicago committee working with the Federal Art Project has been able to do for the Negro Art Center... And just as I [had hoped] that Art Week--W.P.A. Art Week--would develop a feeling all over the country that it was possible to possess works of arts and things that had been made by craftsmen. So, I hope that we will go on doing that... and in this way we will create a democracy in art."

Above: A WPA poster, promoting National Art Week and also promoting a market for art. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: Two actors in Birmingham, Alabama, rehearsing their scenes, as part of a WPA Federal Theatre Project production, September 1936. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: An African American orchestra in Mobile, Alabama, 1937, funded by the New Deal's National Youth Administration. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: George Jordan, a painter in the WPA's Federal Art Project in Washington, DC, ca. 1935-1939. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Author Zora Neale Hurston worked for the WPA, ca. 1935-1937, collecting life histories in Florida. This work inspired her most famous book, Their Eyes Were Watching God (see, Amie Wright, "Zora Neale Hurston and the Depression-Era Federal Writers' Project," New York Public Library, January 8, 2014. Photo by Carl Van Vechten, provided by the Library of Congress.

New Deal Art: "Perilous Merry-Go-Round"

Above: "Perilous Merry-Go-Round," a lithograph by Jack Markow (1905-1983), created while he was the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1937. According to his Wikipedia page, Markow was a cartoonist whose work appeared in "books, greeting cards, calendars, advertising campaigns and major magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post and The New Yorker." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the University of Iowa Museum of Art.

New Deal Power Shovel

Above: "Steam-Shovel," a painting by Dorr Bothwell (1902-2000), created while she was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project, 1934. According to her Wikipedia page, Dorr became a very successful artist and during her time in New Deal art programs, "she learned the art of screenprinting, which would become her favored graphic technique." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration, Museum Associates, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Above: WPA laborers work alongside a steam (or possibly diesel) shovel in Clifton Park (Baltimore, Maryland), ca. 1935. On some WPA projects heavy equipment was avoided in order to employ the most jobless workers as possible. But on plenty of other projects large equipment was used, for example, power shovels, steam rollers, and front-end loaders. Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.

Above: On this WPA project, a power shovel is used to clear a flood-damaged creek in Westernport, Maryland, in September 1937. Did you know that the WPA rip-rapped 17.3 million square yards of shorelines, creek beds, and bridge abutments, in order to prevent erosion? (Federal Works Agency, Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, 1947, p. 132). Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.