Economic Depressions and the Arts, Pt.II
designslinger]
When Franklin Roosevelt authorized the Works Progress Administration in 1935, the WPA
took over a few government programs already in existence. One was the Historic American Buildings Survey Program which the Park Service established in 1933, and still exists today. The idea was to put architects, draftsmen and photographers to work documenting historic places around the country. When the WPA got up and running, the Survey Program was folded into the larger agency, and Survey branches were established in communities in all 48 states. Following a protocol set up by the Washington office, field workers would measure and photograph structures, from grand mansions, to Amish barns, and even fancy outhouses (the drawing in the panel above); all were considered important examples of the nation's architectural heritage. Back at the office, draftsmen created scale drawings of the buildings, and reports were written that contained technical data, as well as information detailing the history and significance of each building.
The American Guide Series was produced under the auspices of the Federal Writer's
Project, another nationwide plan with a local focus. Travel guides were produced for each state and big cities like New York, LA, Chicago and Philadelphia. The books not only described the highways and byways of the country, but included information that had been gathered by the Survey teams. The Guides provided a look into the scope and breadth of the country, as well as its rich cultural life. There were over 1,000 books and pamphlets produced during the lifetime of the program and many of them are available today in libraries, as well as on eBay! They are a great resource for looking back at a period of time in our history and seeing how much the landscape has changed - or stayed the same.
By the time the WPA folded its tent in 1943, the federal government had spent $11 billion (approximately 163,350,000 in 2008 dollars) employing 8.5 million people, who worked on 1,410,000 projects. Many of the public works created during the 8-year program can still be seen today on the roads and bridges built by WPA workers. We can see the efforts of thousands of men and women in the 125,110 public buildings constructed during that period. We probably aren't even aware that one of the 2,566 murals, 17,744 sculptures, 108,099 paintings or 240,000 prints we're looking at now, were created during that time. We have access to tens of thousands of images, drawings and files produced by the people who surveyed and documented the nation's architectural heritage. The WPA provided work, wages and a tangible, lasting legacy.
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