Above: This map shows nursery schools in the United States funded by the New Deal's Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). At the time this map was created (1935), there were about 72,000 children enrolled in 1,821 nursery schools. These general numbers were maintained throughout the New Deal period, with WPA taking over the schools starting fiscal year 1936. Shortly after the U.S. entered World War II, many WPA nursery schools were converted into childcare centers for defense workers. And then, after the war, they essentially disappeared. The FERA and WPA nursery schools showed the nation what was possible, but the nation discarded the lesson and has struggled with childcare ever since. The map and enrollment statistics above are from: The National Advisory Committee on Emergency Nursery Schools, Emergency Nursery Schools During the Second Year 1934-1935.
Above: A WPA nursery school, at Virginia and Clendenin Streets, Charleston, West Virginia, 1937. As the article notes, the nursery schools (and most particularly, the facilitation of cooperative group play) was intended to instill the values of democracy and good citizenship in the children. Image above from The Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, West Virginia), January 10, 1937, and newspapers.com; used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Above: Much thought was put into the types of toys to be made available at the nursery schools, and building blocks proved to be one of the most popular with the children. Image from a WPA bulletin.
Above: Many creative methods were used to create toys for the nursery school children, for example, recycled materials (see the spool toy above) and toys that parents could make and donate.
Image from a WPA bulletin.
Above: WPA administrators provided many instructions on how to make nursery schools more efficient and manageable, for example, this movable bathroom rack.
Image from a WPA bulletin.
Above: Suggested dimensions for a WPA nursery school easel.
Image from a WPA bulletin.
Above: A WPA nursery school in Scott's Run, West Virginia, 1936.
Photo by Lewis Hine, courtesy of the National Archives.
Above: A WPA nursery school in Scott's Run, West Virginia, 1936.
Photo by Lewis Hine, courtesy of the National Archives.
Above: A daily schedule at one of the WPA nursery schools.
Image from a WPA Bulletin.
Above: Story hour at a FERA-funded nursery school in Oakland, California, ca. 1934. The "SERA" you see in the caption refers to the State Emergency Relief Administration of California. Each state set up its own emergency relief office to administer funds from FERA.
Photo from "The Project," January 1935 edition, a publication of FERA and the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation.
Above: A WPA nursery in Savin Hill, Massachusetts, 1936.
Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
Above: A WPA nursery in Seattle, Washington, ca. 1938.
Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
Above: A WPA nursery in Seaford, Delaware, ca. 1938.
Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
Year after year, decade after decade, the childcare needs of post-New Deal America are never met
Grace Langdon, the director of FERA, WPA, and wartime nursery schools, wrote, "Prior to October 1933 [i.e., prior to the New Deal] some 300 nursery schools existed in the United States serving for the most part children of families well-to-do or at least in comfortable circumstances" ("What our Best Nursery Schools Have to Offer," The Project, January 1935, p. 33, a publication of FERA and the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation).
The nursery schools that Langdon oversaw were enormously successful and offered a blueprint for Americans to build upon. But Americans chose not to, and have paid the price ever since with childcare financial gimmickry, e.g., insufficient tax credits, insufficient funding programs, and the like.
Things are about to get worse. For example, at the federal level the Trump Administration and Congress (which are now one and the same) are planning to gut or eliminate Head Start (which needs to be enhanced, not cut). See, "
White House proposes eliminating Head Start funding as part of sweeping budget cuts,"
Associated Press, April 17, 2025, and "
'We are fighting for Head Start:' Advocates sound the alarm over proposed elimination,"
WCHS News, April 18, 2025.
As if that were not bad enough, at least some red states that fancy themselves mini-MAGAs are also failing to adequately fund childcare. For example, in West Virginia, a state with almost no Democrats holding office, the following was noted of the recent legislative session: "When it comes to caring for the future of West Virginia, its children, nothing happened this session. Lawmakers in the male-dominated body didn’t advance any bills that would help child care providers stay open for working parents" ("
In state budget, West Virginia Republicans stash millions for tax cuts and carve up small programs,"
Mountain State Spotlight, April 18, 2025).
And so, America's pathological rejection of the New Deal continues, with tens of millions of Americans financially crushed and, in many cases, still eager to vote for those who crush them. Amazing.
