New Deal Art: "Beginning the Day"

Above: "Beginning the Day," a drypoint on paper by Louis Lozowick (1892-1973), created while he was in the WPA's art program, 1940. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

National Youth Administration Training. "The yield on this investment should be high."

Above: The description for this 1940 photograph reads, "Typical of the work experience offered James DeSoto through his National Youth Administration employment as a helper in the Fresno [California] city shops is this photo showing city mechanic W.C. Scott explaining installation of special equipment on Fresno's new police cars." Between 1935 and 1943, millions of young men and women earned a small paycheck and learned a lot of new skills in the National Youth Administration. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "NYA girl preparing to become an air mechanic in a work shop in South Charleston, West Virginia." Photo taken ca. 1935-1943, provided courtesy of the National Archives.

"I have determined that we shall do something for the Nation's unemployed youth because we can ill afford to lose the skill and energy of these young men and women. They must have their chance in school, their turn as apprentices and their opportunity for jobs—a chance to work and earn for themselves. In recognition of this great national need, I have established a National Youth Administration, to be under the Works Progress Administration... The yield on this investment should be high."

--President Roosevelt, Statement on the National Youth Administration, June 26, 1935. The yield on the investment was indeed high. Members of the National Youth Administration grew up to be part of America's "Greatest Generation." Many NYA men & women served in the armed forces and defense industries during World War II. For example, many women who had learned industrial skills in the NYA became "Rosie the Riveters" and "Wendy the Welders" during the war years. And this is in addition to all the tens of thousands of projects that youth engaged in during their actual time in the NYA - infrastructure, recreational leadership, scientific studies, forestry work, and much more.

New Deal Art: "Boys Club, Scotland, Maryland"

Above: "Camp Ernest W. Brown Boys Club, Scotland, Maryland," an oil painting by John W. Clement, created while he was in the WPA's art program, 1940. There doesn't seem to be much biographical information about Clement, but according to the website CampDepot.com, "Camp Ernest W. Brown is owned and operated exclusively by the Metropolitan Police Boys Clubs of Washington, DC. It is located in Scotland, Maryland, in St. Mary's County... Camp Brown encompasses 168 acres along the widest section of the Potomac River. The Camp was established in 1937 and for its entire history has enabled the Clubs to provide a week of respite, learning, and recreation for thousands of boys and young ladies who reside in the District of Columbia. The vast majority of the campers are African-American youngsters from low-income, inner-city families. Often, the trip to camp is their first experience of traveling outside the city and into the countryside. Each summer from the middle of June to late August, 1,000 to 1,500 kids between 7 and 12 years of age escape the heat and trauma of inner-city life to enjoy a week-long adventure at Camp Brown." Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

WPA Leather Craft

Above: The description for this photograph, ca. 1935-1943, reads, "Supervised by a WPA recreation leader, these Florida people learn to make useful objects from leather." In a WPA project such as this, the instructor you see above may have lost his job or business due to the economic downturn of the Great Depression. So the WPA, in conjunction with a Florida city or town, hired him to teach his craft to the local community. This is a drastically different approach to unemployment than we have today. If you lose your job today, you might receive unemployment benefits (not every jobless person is eligible for such benefits); you are likely to labeled a "parasite" or "lazy-good-for-nothing" by an army of talking heads on Fox News; but you certainly won't be hired into a pubic works program. Which approach to unemployment & recession do you prefer? Stingy jobless benefits (which usually end after 6 months or so) and insults? Or a dignity-saving and skill-saving public works job, until the person can find regular employment? It seems to me that the most sensible & compassionate approach to joblessness would be a short period of benefits followed by several public works opportunities - until the person can find regular employment. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

"That was one of the great things about the WPA, that it did everything possible to keep people in their proper field of activity..."

--Anne (Treadwell) Dettner, director of the National Youth Administration in California from 1935-1939 (the NYA was a subdivision of the WPA during those years), from an oral history conducted by the University of California Berkeley in 1994-1995.

New Deal Art: A Bus and a Stagecoach

Above: A museum model created by WPA workers for the Colorado State Museum in Denver, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Another WPA model created for the Colorado State Museum, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A closer look at the stagecoach.

New Deal Baseball and Softball

Above: "Baseball at Night," an oil painting by Morris Kantor (1896-1974), created while he was in the Public Works of Art Project, 1934. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: A night baseball game in Perris Hill Ballpark, San Bernardino, California, ca. 1935-1943. The ballpark was one of many built by the WPA. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: The description for this photograph reads, "The playground programs in California operated by WPA Recreational Leadership offer activities such as this impromptu baseball game for interested adults." I've frequently wondered why, for the most part, we give up sports when we leave high school or college. I guess it's so ingrained in us that we have to join the 9-5 (or 9-9) rat race that we just leave all the fun behind. But perhaps our devotion to Corporate America is part of the reason we're so stressed, fat, and plagued with health problems, like Type II Diabetes. Maybe we should revive the WPA's recreational programs for adults. Pharmaceutical companies would lobby hard against it of course, since they're banking on our illness and lack of physical fitness, but I bet it would be quite beneficial for the nation. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: The description for this photograph, ca. 1935-1943, reads, "Softball, under WPA Recreation leadership, is a part of the Recreation program at the Waukesha Industrial School [Wisconsin]." Photo courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.

Above: A game of stickball in the streets is fun, but it could be hazardous to people's windows too. One foul ball and that car's windshield is done for. And, when you're playing on asphalt, sliding into third base is probably a tad painful. So, New Deal work-relief programs built and improved thousands of baseball fields across the country for kids (and adults) to have safe places to play in. For example, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration constructed 619 baseball fields and improved 627 others (The Emergency Work Relief Program of the F.E.R.A., April 1, 1934 - July 1, 1935, p. 89). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: The description for this 1939 photograph reads, "WPA-constructed athletic field adjoining rear of school grounds of Flomaton High School [Alabama]. This field contains five acres with 500 feet of enclosing wooden fence and 100 square yards of grass planted by WPA. Sponsored by Escambia County Board of Education. Approximate cost $3,263." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: CCC boys had plenty of opportunities to participate in intramural sports. Here, we see a CCC playoff game at Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC, 1940 (the stadium was demolished in the 1960s). How amazing it must have been for these youth--who had just months or years earlier hitched rides on freight trains across the country, looking for (non-existent) work--to suddenly be working in the nation's parks & forests; receiving medical care; receiving training & education; and playing sports. Some cold-hearted people might label this "wasteful spending" by "big government." But considering that many CCC boys subsequently helped us win World War II, and considering that we're still hunting, fishing, hiking, boating, and camping in hundreds of their parks & forests today, I'd say that we got the better end of the deal. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A National Youth Administration (NYA) softball team in Phoenix, Arizona, 1936. Like the CCC boys, NYA youth had many opportunities for recreation. Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.

Above: The New Deal also created many opportunities for women and girls to play sports (see my previous blog post). In this newspaper article, from the June 15th, 1939 edition of the Arizona Republic, we read about a WPA-sponsored girls softball league. This image is from a larger newspapers.com scan, and is used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: WPA workers (and perhaps also workers in the Federal Emergency Relief Administration) built Lamar Porter Field (Little Rock, Arkansas), one of many New Deal-built sports facilities. Hall of Fame third-baseman Brooks Robinson played in this ball park when he was a kid. Robinson won the American League MVP award in 1964, and captivated the nation during the 1970 World Series, where he led the Baltimore Orioles over the Cincinnati Reds by batting .429 (including 2 home runs, 2 doubles, and 6 runs batted in) and making several acrobatic plays at third base. How many other great sports players learned their trade on New Deal tennis courts, golf courses, baseball diamonds, basketball courts, and football fields? Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A night softball game at Lamar Porter Field, July 1938. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: The description for this WPA photograph, ca. 1935-1943, reads, "San Bernardino - California - Perris Hill Baseball Park [built by WPA] - practice game - Pirates vs. Cubs." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Franklin D. Roosevelt throwing out the first pitch at Griffith Stadium for the Boston Red Sox and Washington Senators baseball game," April 24, 1934. Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.

"You know how heartily I believe in the adequate provision of opportunities for recreation and how through the years I have cared for the work of the National Recreation Association. I rejoice in the growing public interest in this subject as evidenced by the fine facilities now being provided by the Government - Federal, state and local - for the enjoyment of the people."

--President Franklin Roosevelt, September 26, 1935, Letter on Recreational Facilities

New Deal Sports and Recreation for Girls and Women

Above: Young women in the National Youth Administration improving their tennis skills in Illinois, ca. 1936-1937. Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum and the New Deal Network.

Above: The description for this photograph reads, "Casting activities at Anglers' Lodge in Golden Gate Park are not confined exclusively to the men. Miss Pat Krause, San Francisco High School girl, is considered one of the leading casters at the WPA-built pools. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: National Youth Administration youth leaders, at a NYA-run summer camp in Chepachet, Rhode Island, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Field event at NYA Summer Camp for under-privileged children, Chepachet, Rhode Island," ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Two young women enjoying A WPA-built swimming pool at the Davis Avenue Community Center in Mobile, Alabama, 1937. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Girls' Paddle Polo game at the Colorado Lagoon in Long Beach [California]," ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Practicing archery on a WPA recreation project in California, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "The new Alabama State Training School for girls [Mobile] was built by the WPA from the ground up. Shot shows girls enjoying swimming in pool built for them by the WPA," 1938. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: This woman is getting ready to hit the slopes in northern California, after a WPA-worker prepares her skis with some wax, 1939. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA music class in San Francisco, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: WPA artist Georgette Seabrooke (1916-2011) painting her mural "Recreation in Harlem," for the Harlem Hospital in New York City, 1936. Photo courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.

Above: Women playing volleyball in a WPA adult recreation program in San Francisco, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: Several women (and perhaps one man) at the Arizona State Teachers College (Tempe) are practicing their golf skills, ca. 1933-1943. The Public Works Administration built the building you see here and/or a golf course for the students. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.