Carolina K-12
F.D.R. and the New Deal
Discover how President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to alleviate the hardships of the Great Depression by analyzing the words of his inaugural address and exploring the various New Deal programs he would later implement.
Curated OER
The Great Depression and FDR's New Deal
Find out about FDR's vision and the New Deal plan that helped pull America out of the Great Depression. The presentation focuses New Deal programs such as the Works Progress Administration, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, and the...
Curated OER
Why Study Economic Downturns?
Research and connect America's current economic downturn with the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression.
Curated OER
Enhancing Poetry with American Memories
Pupils explore poetry using American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project. They compose their own unque "found poetry" based on the stories found in the collection.
Curated OER
Depression Era Art: The Federal Arts Project
Students research Depression-era art and WPA arts programs. They discuss the purposes of representational art, list topics that would make good representational art today, and produce a work of art representing a current theme.
Curated OER
Zora Neale Hurston, the WPA, and the Cross City Turpentine Camp
Young scholars listen to a statement about Zora Neale Hurston's essay, "Turpentine" and discuss if they agree or disagree with it. They work in groups to record information supporting their position.
Digital History
Digital History: African Americans and the New Deal
Article discusses why African Americans supported Franklin Roosevelt despite the slight gains in civil rights offered by the New Deal.
George Washington University
Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project: National Youth Administration
A good overview of the National Youth Administration and its goals in helping young people during the Great Depression. Of interest is the information on how invested Eleanor Roosevelt was in the development of the program.
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Riding the Rails: Timeline of the Great Depression
This timeline of the Depression begins in October of 1929 and highlights significant statistics or events, sometimes month by month, through November of 1940 when Roosevelt is re-elected for his third term. From bank collapses to dust...
Other
Webster's World of Cultural Policy: New Deal Cultural Programs
Detailed explanation of the cultural programs provided by the New Deal and the Second New Deal, including such things as the Works Progress Administration, the Federal Art Project, the Federal Music Project, the Federal Theatre project,...
![Mnhs: The Wpa Federal Art Projects in Minnesota, 1935 1943 [Pdf] Article](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Mnhs: The Wpa Federal Art Projects in Minnesota, 1935 1943 [Pdf] Article")
Other
Mnhs: The Wpa Federal Art Projects in Minnesota, 1935 1943 [Pdf]
An exhaustive look at the arts projects funded by the WPA Federal Arts program in Minnesota. These included music, writing, and pictorial projects throughout the state. This PDF file includes pictures and extensive footnotes.
Other
Employment and Training Institute: Wpa Milwaukee Handicraft Project
Article on a WPA program in Milwaukee which provided work for unskilled women laborers. Great resource for students of all ages.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: The Wpa: Antidote to the Great Depression?
[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...
Other
Nypl Digital Gallery: National Youth Administration Collection
Find a series of photographs showing young people employed by the National Youth Administration as part of the Works Progress Administration during the New Deal. The photos have brief explanations and give information about the...
Other
Nypl Digital Gallery: Changing New York: Photographs by Berenice Abbott
See photographs taken by Berenice Abbott as part of the New Deal's Federal Artist Program. Her project was entitled Chaning New York. Find information about Abbott as a photographer and read information about each photograph.
Oklahoma Historical Society
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture: National Youth Administration
Read about the goals of the National Youth Administration and the educational camps it funded during the Great Depression.
State Library-Florida
Florida Memory: Zora Neale Hurston and the Wpa in Florida
An account of the African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston and her experiences in Florida while working on the WPA. Includes a complete piece by Hurston entitled "Turpentine," photos and lesson plans.
New York University
Grey Art Gallery: Ben Shahn's New York
Resource presents "Ben Shahn's New York", a detailed look at some of the photography taken and utilized as source material by the WPA painter muralist Ben Shahn.
Library of Congress
Loc: Today in History: April 8: Works Progress Administration
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.
Columbia University
Columbia University: Harlem Hospital Wpa Murals
Painted during the Great Depression and funded under the Works Progress Administration/Federal Art Project these murals carry with them a history worth noting.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: The New Deal
This collection uses primary sources to explore the New Deal.
American Presidency Project
American Presidency Project: Franklin Roosevelt: Executive Order 7086
Read the text of President Roosevelt's executive order that established the National Youth Adminstration as part of the Works Progress Administration. Its purpose was to help young people find jobs.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Making of African American Identity: Leaving, but Staying
Accounts of African American migrations from the rural South to Southern cities. This resource provides not just accounts of the Great Migration focusing on the flight from the South to the North, but also the migration within the South...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Second New Deal
After criticism of the early New Deal programs, Franklin Roosevelt introduced programs that emphasized work rather than relief. Read about the new programs of the Second New Deal.