WPA Timeline Click to see WPA Timeline

New Deal Chronology

This is the complete chronology of key events in the development of FDR's New Deal program included in the back of AMERICAN-MADE.

AMERICAN-MADE Bibliography

Here are all documents, reports, and books utilized by author Nick Taylor for writing AMERICAN-MADE.

General Statistics about the WPA

Existence Inaugurated May 6, 1935 by Presidential Act; closed by Congress 1943 due to WWII.
# Of People Employed 8.5 million; apprx. 15% were women. The National Youth Administration (the NYA a part of the WPA) employed 270,000 young people.
% Of WPA Spending On Arts 7%
% Of WPA Spending On Civic Projects/Infrastructure 75%
Estimated Total $ Spent $12 billion dollars
Airports 800 airports and more than 700 miles of runways
Bridges 78,000 built
Buildings 125,000 built
Roadways 650,000 miles built
The School Hot Lunch Program 1 million children served 1 hot meal a day in school nationally—the program also employed some 12,000 adults via WPA grants. This program supplemented or was supplemented by local and state programs, many in existence since the early 1900s. Author Nick Taylor estimates 900 million meals were supplied.
Disaster Relief Although no monument or building or park stands to commemorate this, the WPA was the first responding agency when natural disaster devastated American lives. The 1937 Ohio River Flood was one such effort; there were heroic efforts made following the New England hurricane of 1938.

Notable WPA Projects

A partial list of WPA highlights by state.

American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/folklife

FDR Library
www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu

Federal Theatre Project
memory.loc.gov/ammem/fedtp/fthome.html

Living New Deal Project
livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu

Murals at Ellis Island
www.nyc-architecture.com/LM/LM001-ELLISISLAND.htm

National New Deal Preservation Association
www.newdeallegacy.org

The New Deal Information Service
www.fdrheritage.org

New Deal Network
www.newdeal.feri.org

The New Deal 75 Year Celebration
www.newdeal75.org

StoryCorps
www.StoryCorps.net

Timberline Lodge
www.timberlinelodge.com

The WPA Federal Art project
www.wpamurals.com