A new version of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from the Depression should be part of today’s economic recovery. It not only built infrastructure projects but also funded art such as books, music, photographs and murals.
Look who’s quoted in that pic! https://t.co/y6IGFgnWbp
— Paula Krebs (@PaulaKrebs) May 6, 2021
Understatement of the day: "The Federal Art Project, part of Roosevelt’s sweeping employment plan, gave work to thousands of artists, but politics and society were different then." https://t.co/EQffQJ2LLn
— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) April 23, 2020
During the Great Depression artists were kept employed by the government. It's unclear how long a coronavirus-related economic recession could last, but the US might need a new national arts job program. https://t.co/QxYgkQXkes
— CNN (@CNN) April 11, 2020
I recently discovered Charles Turzac, a WPA era printmaker from Chicago who did some very #MayDay appropriate work. The jackhammer print in particular blew me away. pic.twitter.com/d8bYZhq3rw
— Tovarisch (@nwbtcw) May 2, 2021
Mayor de Blasio is taking inspiration from the WPA and announces the "New York City Artist Corps" which will give artists funds to create murals, pop-up exhibitions and concerts.
— Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech (@AODNewz) May 6, 2021
“Glorified be they who forsaking unjust riches strive in fulfillment of humble tasks for peace, culture and equality of all mankind.” The inscription above the historic WPA mural at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, AL, designed by Sidney W.J. van Sheck, 1936. Happy #MayDay! pic.twitter.com/guStCEWNah
— Robyn Hyden (@robynhyden) May 1, 2021
Curb service — we thought it was so 2020!
— FriendsDunwLibr (@DunwLibr) April 30, 2021
From @librarycongress, here’s a @chipublib poster from 1936.
"By the People, for the People: Posters from the WPA." pic.twitter.com/nWORnhUfej
According to the 1930 census, Georgia ranked 48th in literacy. This 1937 publication of the GA Department of Education outlines the significant impact WPA adult education programs had on Georgia's literacy rates in the 1930's.
— MAGIL @ UGA (@magil_uga) May 5, 2021
Available via @DigLibGA https://t.co/IK2EaLfWxU pic.twitter.com/ud1q6GsiR2
Federal Art Project: New Deal Web Guide (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress) (loc.gov)
"Scott Borchert offers a wonderfully readable and colorful account of the program and the writers who produced 'rich and weird and fascinating' guidebooks to each state in America." @NYJournalofBook on @ScottBorchert's REPUBLIC OF DETOURS. https://t.co/eweryG8X8n
— Farrar,Straus&Giroux (@fsgbooks) June 24, 2021
Another federal program during the depression:
Now Anna Aizer on life effects of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which employed 3m men ages 17-23 in land conservation projects 1933-1942. Finds significant long-term benefits, suggesting short- & medium-term evaluations underestimate returns of training programs. #ASSA2022 pic.twitter.com/Py0l6X5yit
— Kathryn Zickuhr (@kzickuhr) January 9, 2022
Sad! 