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Activity
Other

Employment and Training Institute: Wpa Milwaukee Handicraft Project

For Students 9th - 10th
Article on a WPA program in Milwaukee which provided work for unskilled women laborers. Great resource for students of all ages.
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Website
University of Washington

University of Washington: Economics and Poverty

For Students 9th - 10th
Each state felt the ramifications of the Great Depression in different ways. Learn how Washington dealt with the unemployed in their state and how the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) helped in...
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Article
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: The Wpa: Antidote to the Great Depression?

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] A good assessment of the Works Progress Administration and its contribution not only of providing jobs for the unemployed during the Great Depression, but for the lasting improvements it made in the...
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Today in History: April 8: Works Progress Administration

For Students 9th - 10th
The Library of Congress' On This Day site gives an overview of the Works Progress Administration with links to information about various projects within the WPA available on the Library of Congress site.
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Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

Calisphere: Great Depression: Building Bridges, Dams, Power Plants

For Students 9th - 10th
Primary source material on California during the Great Depression and how unemployment affected the building of the infrastructure including bridges, dams and power plants.
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Website
Indiana University

Indiana University: More About the Wpa

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from Indiana University describes the purpose the Works Progress Administration served during the Depression and summarizes the special programs of the W.P.A.
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Graphic
Library of Congress

Loc: American Memory: Posters From the Wpa

For Students 9th - 10th
Primary documents to use in your study of the Works Progress Administration. Find posters and narrative that will give you insights into the WPA era. Be sure to click on Collection Connections for more information and learning activities.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: The Works Progress Administration (Wpa)

For Students 9th - 10th
A great summary of the Works Progress Administration, its goals, and the support it gave ordinary workers as well as artists, writers, and musicians.
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Primary
New Deal Network

New Deal Network: Works Progress Administration: The Lasting Values of the Wpa

For Students 9th - 10th
The original text of a 1935 article defending the value and importance of the Works Progress Administration to women.
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Handout
Other

Broward County Library: The Wpa and Its Sub Agency, the Museum Extension Project

For Students 9th - 10th
A description of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and some of its projects.
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Primary
New Deal Network

Ndn: Works Progress Administration: Hot Lunches for a Million School Children

For Students 9th - 10th
An original speech made by Ellen S. Woodward addressing impoverished children and how the Works Progress Administration is able to help them.
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Handout
Ohio History Central

Ohio History Central: Works Progress Administration

For Students 9th - 10th
A good look at the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and some of its subsets. Read about how the WPA helped the unemployed and the infrastructure of the United States.
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Website
Oklahoma Historical Society

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture: Works Progress Administration

For Students 9th - 10th
Read a brief description of the Works Progress Administration and its goals in general. Following that is a more in-depth look at the WPA and its impact on employment and projects in Oklahoma.
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Website
Curated OER

National Park Service: Catoctin Mountin Park: Works Progress Administration

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the construction of facilities at the Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area in Maryland by men hired through the Works Progress Administration.
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Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: The New Deal

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the First and Second New Deal initiatives enacted under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
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Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Docsteach: Where Was the New Deal?

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this activity, learners will identify three New Deal programs - the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) - locate where projects associated with each took place,...
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Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: California Gold: Northern California Folk Music From the Thirties

For Students 9th - 10th
During the 1930s the California Work Projects Administration surveyed traditional musical traditions in Northern California. This is a description and collection of this work.
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Website
Indiana University

Wpa Exhibit Project: The Works Projects Administration in Indiana

For Students 9th - 10th
Although this site concerns itself with the WPA in Indiana, the information provides a good overall look at the Works Progress Administration in the rest of country during the New Deal era.
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Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Works Progress Administration

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover interesting facts and information about the Works Progress Administration established in April 1935 to provide light construction jobs for millions of unskilled workers.