A New Deal solution to QAnon, Trumpism, and similar societal ills: The Federal Forum Project

"Every man and woman with an education has a twofold duty to perform. The first is to apply that education intelligently to problems of the moment; and the second is to obtain and maintain contact with, and understanding of, the average citizens of their own country."

--President Franklin Roosevelt, "Remarks at Washington College, Chestertown, Md., on Receiving an Honorary Degree," October 21, 1933.

Above: John Studebaker, Commissioner of Education, and Josephine Roche, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, 1935. Studebaker developed the Federal Forum Project: Public meetings across the nation that combined lecture and group discussion, for the overarching purpose of strengthening democracy. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Trumpism and QAnon prey on a lack of critical thinking skills

A recent Huffington Post article highlighted a woman who escaped from the QAnon cult: "She said she fell for QAnon content that presented no evidence, no counter arguments, and yet was all too convincing. 'We as a society need to start teaching our kids to ask: Where is this information coming from? Can I trust it?' she said." (Note: What she is calling for, is an increased emphasis on critical thinking skills.)

And with respect to Trumpism and similar societal ills, Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News political editor, put things more crudely: "What connects [the adherents]--the same thing that threatens the health of the republic—is rank imbecility... our current concentration of imbeciles has surpassed any kind of safe level. How we became a nation of so many dupes and fools is a matter at least as complicated as the causes of Trump’s presidency... we are suffering the consequences from generations of Americans who are both undereducated and miseducated. This many millions of nincompoops didn’t show up overnight. They have been stumbling out of our nation's failing schools for decades."  

Indeed, it is clear that tens of millions of Americans have not received an adequate education in good citizenship. A good citizenship education is composed of four main things: (1) Critical thinking: the ability and readiness to scrutinize claims and assertions, examine evidence, and consider counterarguments. (2) Ethics: The proper way to conduct oneself while in the public and while in public service. (3) Civic responsibility: The "active participation in the public life of a community in an informed, committed, and constructive manner, with a focus on the common good" (Center for Community & Civic Engagement, Mesa Community College). And (4) History Awareness: A thorough understanding of the nation's historic mistakes, successes, and journey to the present.

So, the question is this: How do we teach good citizenship. The answer is easier (but not necessarily easy) when we talk about K-12 or college. For example, we might expand K-12 to K-14, with the additional two years focused on critical thinking, ethics, civic responsibility, and history awareness. In college, we might focus less on STEM and skills training, and more on good citizenship. When FDR received an honorary degree at the College of William & Mary, he said: "Man must build himself more broadly... The necessities of our time demand that men avoid being set in grooves, that they avoid the occupational predestination of the older world, and that in the face of the change and development in America, they must have a sufficiently broad and comprehensive conception of the world in which they live to meet its changing problems with resourcefulness and practical vision."

But what about Americans who are not in high school or college? How do we reach them? 

The New Deal's Federal Forum Project

Above: A WPA poster promoting a free Federal Forum Project gathering, ca. 1936-1941. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

In the 1930s, FDR's Commissioner of Education John Studebaker (not to be confused with the wagon and carmaker John Studebaker) called for public forums to be routinely held all across the country. These forums were events "where old and young in a community may hear qualified speakers on questions of national importance and then join in the discussion of them" ("Joining in a National Advance," The Brandon Union (Brandon, Vermont), May 6, 1938, p. 9).

Studebaker explained the rationale behind the forums: "If we are to have that trained civic intelligence, that critical open-mindedness, upon which the practical operation of a democracy must rest, we must soon take steps to establish throughout the nation an impartial, comprehensive, systematic, coordinated and completely managed system of public forums, publicly supported and publicly administered. If we are to have the intelligent public opinion upon which the public welfare depends, all adults must be provided with an opportunity to obtain the education which will enable them to gain intelligent understanding of the issues of the day" ("National Public Forums Urged by Education Chief," The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York), March 4, 1935, p. 6). 

Studebaker had conducted these types of forums in Iowa, before the New Deal, and now sought to greatly expand them. And with WPA funding, he did just that. During fiscal year 1936, Studebaker and the federal Office of Education created forum demonstration centers in Manchester, New Hampshire; Morgantown, West Virginia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Wichita, Kansas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Santa Ana, California; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Portland, Oregon. The program was well-received by the communities. For example, in the first five months of the West Virginia program in Morgantown (which also held forums in the broader Monongalia County), there were 184 meetings attended by 7,879 people, or about 42 people per meeting (Department of Interior annual report, 1936, p. 238). 

By 1939, and with an increasing emphasis on rural areas, over 500 communities had conducted public forums (also called "Adult Civic Education Forums"). 17,000 total forums had been held, and 2 million Americans participated (Department of Interior annual report, fiscal year 1939, pp. 78-80). 

The "Federal Forum Project" lasted at least through 1941, but seems to have ended when America entered World War II, and apparently was not re-instituted after the war.

Today, an educational outreach program, either publicly-funded or privately-funded, and modeled after John Studebaker's public forums, could be a good way for liberal, conservative, and centrist Americans to connect with each other and discuss important issues. For example, a brief lecture on taxation or the 2nd Amendment, followed by open discussion, could be a healthier way to address modern problems than Twitter snark, Sean Hannity's nightly blather, or Marjorie Taylor Greene's constant apocalyptic warnings about "Marxist Democrats trying to take America away from you!!" 

Such forums would need lecturers & moderators with extremely good people skills, and the lecture part would need to be kept brief, perhaps only one quarter or less of the amount of time devoted to group discussion. 

It's worth a try, because our nation is becoming more and more divided, and in increasingly violent ways. If we want to avoid the storming of capitols, and shootings caused by anger, and conspiracy theories that have people thinking their neighbors are cannibals, perhaps we need to talk to each other more.

Above: A WPA poster, advertising a WPA-sponsored public forum in Des Moines, Iowa. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: Another WPA poster promoting a public forum. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

New Deal Art: "Journey's End"

Above: "Journey's End," an artwork by Eleanor Banks, created while she was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Image courtesy of Julie Redwine and the General Services Administration.

New Deal Art: "A Missouri River Dyke"

Above: "A Missouri River Dyke," a watercolor painting by Louis Smetana (1879-1956), probably created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Nebraska State Historical Society.

New Deal Art: "Morning Comes to the Range"

Above: "Morning Comes to the Range," an etching by Lyman Byxbe (1886-1980), created while he was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project, or possibly WPA, ca. 1934-1935. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Nebraska State Historical Society.

The WPA, a campground for American Indian children, and the thousands of New Deal stories we never hear

Above: Blue Bay Campground, in Polson, Montana. Image courtesy of Google Earth, 2021, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

The modern and false framing of the New Deal, vs. reality

In modern America, its become increasingly accepted that the New Deal was pretty much a whites-only endeavor. For example, MSNBC's Joy Reid said in August 2020: "[FDR] didn't exactly set black Americans up for success, while he was excluding them and handing out giant economic goodies to the newly created white middle-class." Many books, articles, and op-eds have also worked towards painting the New Deal as a legacy of racism. 

The whites-only framing of the New Deal ignores the employment of hundreds of thousands of African Americans in the National Youth Administration (NYA); the complete infrastructure upgrade in Puerto Rico; the Indian New Deal of self-government and land restoration; the employment of many Jewish Americans in FDR's administration; the many Asians who benefited from WPA work and art programs; and much more. There were hundreds of thousands of projects and opportunities for non-white Americans.

One of these projects was the Blue Bay Sunshine Camp in Polson, Montana - today called the "Blue Bay Campground," owned and operated by the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes. Between 1936 and 1939, the WPA landscaped the area, improved the beach, constructed about 15-20 buildings and a boat dock (see, e.g., "Among WPA Accomplishments In This Area," The Missoulian (Missoula, Montana), April 8, 1940, p. 2). And in 1940, a crew of 15 American Indians in the WPA installed a new water system ("Work Starts on Blue Bay Water System: Indian WPA Crew on Project Which May Draw Help From NYA," The Missoulian, February 11, 1940, p. 4).

During the New Deal years, the Blue Bay Sunshine Camp was used for the benefit of underprivileged and undernourished American Indian children: "The morning schedule includes rising, flag raising, breakfast, camp cleanup, arts and crafts, swimming and instruction, wash up and lunch. The afternoon program consists of library and medical period, compulsory rest periods, music, boat rides and special programs on alternate evenings, wash up and dinner" ("Indian Children Develop at Sunshine Camp," Great Falls Tribune (Great Falls, Montana), September 1, 1940, p. 13).

The camp supervisor said, "In my opinion, the Blue Bay Sunshine camp is one of the grandest contributions to the welfare of young Indian children. I feel that every effort put forth has been worthwhile. It is amazing that in the short time these children are here [10 weeks] such improvement can take place physically and mentally" (see previous source).

After the camp was constructed, the NYA came in to offer even more opportunities. For example, in November 1940, 40 American Indian women, ages 17-21, took part in a camp program to produce traditional arts and crafts "to renew the arts which characterize the Indian race in previous years and to preserve the Indian culture" and also "for distribution to needy families..." The young women were also allowed to produce clothing for themselves; they managed a display room; took part in recreation activities like hikes and dances; and even received $30 per month - about $550 in 2019 dollars ("40 Indian Girls to Attend NYA Arts and Crafts Project," The Missoulian, November 21, 1940, p. 2).  

The Blue Bay Sunshine Camp is a great example of the New Deal ethos, described by FDR: "We are going to make a country in which no one is left out." That New Deal ethos--which could have been continued and improved upon--has been lost to collective amnesia, false historical framing, and the embrace of a new ethos - the ethos of extreme income, wealth, and opportunity hoarding by the 1%. (Indeed, the modern ethos of greed & selfishness is dependent upon the false framing of the New Deal as racist and unsuccessful.)

Above: The WPA-constructed administration building at Blue Bay Sunshine Camp, 1940. Photograph from the Great Falls Tribune, September 1, 1940, unknown photographer, provided courtesy of Newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: American Indian children at Blue Bay Sunshine Camp, 1940. Photograph from The Missoulian, March 31, 1940, unknown photographer, provided courtesy of Newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

New Deal Art: "Spillway, Ashokan Dam"

Above: "Spillway, Ashokan Dam," an oil painting by Arnold Wiltz (1889-1937), created while he was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project, 1934. Wiltz died from pneumonia at the age of 47, and when he died his wife Madeline was critically ill at the same hospital... similar to the stories we hear today of husbands and wives hospitalized together, with covid-19 ("Arnold Wiltz," Associated Press, in the Chattanooga Times, March 15, 1937, p. 7). Fortunately, Madeline (Schiff) Wiltz recovered from her illness. She was also an artist, born ca. 1885-1895, and passed away in 1966. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

An American Indian Woman in the CCC, her U.S. Marine brother, and today's Burdette Hall building

Above: Dorothy Burdette, 19-year-old Apache woman and office worker in the Civilian Conservation Corps - Indian Division, San Carlos Reservation, Arizona, 1942. Photo from Indians at Work, a publication of the Office of Indians Affairs, March 1942.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (1933-1942) was limited to male enrollees. Back then, gender roles for women usually did not include physical forestry work (a new CCC, if we ever had one, would need to include women and more minorities). However, women undoubtedly contributed much to the CCC, through important but unsung administrative jobs. One of those female administrative workers was Dorothy Burdette, a 19-year-old Apache woman at the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona. The work of Burdette and others supported the 80,000+ American Indian men (nation-wide) who enrolled in the CCC and worked on projects that benefited their lands, for example, fighting forest fires, soil conservation, and infrastructure improvements. 

During her time assisting the CCC's Indian Division, Ms. Burdette was known for her "adaptability, interest and general character." Her work included typing, letter writing, purchasing, "and writing Government bills of lading." Burdette's time in the CCC inspired her to attend business school. (Indians at Work, U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, March 1942, p. 34.)

I don't know much about Ms. Burdette's post-CCC life; an Internet and newspaper archive search wasn't very fruitful. But I did discover that she was the brother of Snyder Burdette, a U.S. Marine, and the first Apache from the San Carlos Reservation to be killed in action during World War II. Snyder Burdette participated in many Pacific Theater fights, including Guadalcanal, before dying at the Solomon Islands. ("Apache Marine Dies in Action," Arizona Republic, December 18, 1942, p. 17; and "Building Named for Heroes," Arizona Republic, February 21, 1964, p. 17). 

Snyder Burdette was one of many American Indians who served, fought, and died for the United States during World War II; and today, there is a "Burdette Hall" at the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation that honors Snyder Burdette and hosts community events (see, e.g., the Instagram page for Burdette Hall). 

And what became of Dorothy Burdette? Did she go into business? Did she marry and have children? Did she play a role in her tribe's government? Is it possible she's still alive (she'd be about 97)? Every so often, someone will contact me about my blog, with more information about someone I've written about. Perhaps someone will contact me about Ms. Burdette too.