Other
Bienes Center for the Literary Arts: A Brief Overview of the Wpa
Read descriptions of the various programs for unemployed artists that were part of the Works Progress Administration.
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.
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.
Yale University
Yale Law School: First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Text of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first Inaugural address. In this speech, he outlines the world crisis facing the country in 1933. He also outlines the aims of government programs and his primary goal, which was to relieve unemployment by...
Internal Revenue Service
Understanding Taxes : The Wealth Tax of 1935 and the Victory Tax of 1942
This lesson plan from the Internal Revenue Service gives the history of the progressive income tax which helped fund the social programs implemented during the Great Depression, and the war effort after the country joined the Allies in...
![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.
Social Security Administration
Social Security Online: History: Social Insurance for u.s.
The text of a radio speech given by Secretary of Labor Francis Perkins in 1935 in which he explained the Administration's proposals contained in the Economic Security Bill. This bill formed the basis for what later became the Social...
Oklahoma Historical Society
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma: Federal Art Project
As part of the Works Progress Administration, the Federal Art Project's goal was to provide employment to artists who would be educators and creators of public art. Read about the legacy of the Federal Art Project in Oklahoma during the...
Other
Eh.net: Rural Electrification Administration
A very interesting assessment of the success of the Rural Electrication Admininstration in bringing electricity to rural areas that private utilities had been unwilling to service. Read about the results in terms of needed jobs in the...
US Department of Agriculture
Executive Order 7027: Establishment of the Resettlement Administration
Original text of the Establishment of the Resettlement Administration by Executive Order by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Authority for this order was granted under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935.
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...
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Roosevelt's Tree Army: The Civilian Conservation Corps
This exhibition tells the stories of the CCC's administration and controversial policies, the men who joined, and the contributions its projects made to the history of conservation in the United States.
University of Washington
University of Washington: Civilian Conservation Corps Camps in Washington State
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was one of the most popular New Deal programs. See where the camps were located in Washington and click on the icon for pictures and descriptions.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Federal Emergency Relief Administration
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) agency, the first mass public assistance program, was created to provide relief support to nearly 5 million households each month.
Digital History
Digital History: The Farmer and the Depression [Pdf]
One of the first laws passed in Franklin Roosevelt's first hundred days was the Agricultural Adjustment Act. Read about how it helped farmers in crisis. and how it was the forerunner of the federal farm program in existence today. [pdf]
Digital History
Digital History: The First Hundred Days
It is truly amazing to see how much legislation President Franklin Roosevelt was able to get through Congress in the first one hundred days of his administration. Read about the many programs that were implemented in an attempt to stem...
Digital History
Digital History: The Farmers' Plight
Read about the plight of American farmers in the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt instituted several programs to help the rural population, the most important of which was the Agricultural Adjustment Act. Find out whom this act...
Other
Utah History to Go: The Great Depression
An interesting look at the effects of the Great Depression on the citizens of Utah, a state which had the fourth highest rate of unemployment. Read about the state and federal programs which gave aid during this period of time.
Library of Congress
Loc: African American Mosaic: Wpa
A short description with primary source examples of the aid African American artists received from the WPA.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Growth of Government Intervention
Overview of the changing federal government role as it increased involvement and intervention in business and social welfare in the 1900s.
US National Archives
Nara: Social Security Act
See the first page of the Social Security Act from the National Archives date stamped August 12, 1935. FDR signed the act into law two days later.
PBS
Flashpoints: The Federal Theater Project's the Cradle Will Rock
This PBS site provides background information on the events happenning around the US that might have attributed to communist scare brought on by the Federal Theater's musical "The Cradle Will Rock".
Wisconsin Historical Society
Wisconsin Historical Society: A Brief Explanation of the Social Security Act
The Social Security Act was brought into law in 1935. This booklet was published by the government in 1935 to explain how the Act worked.
Wessels Living History Farm
Living History Farm: Farming in the 1930s: The Politics of the Rea
Electrifying rural America revolutionized farm life. Read about how the Rural Electrification Administration was instituted and what had to be done to encourage rural families to form electric co-ops. Included is an interview with a...