Creator: Work Projects Administration (RG 60).

Collection Summary: Administrative files from the state-level administration of the Works Projects Administration. Files include a set of 1939 progress reports from almost all the project units in the Professional and Service Projects division; a draft report on different projects operated by various divisions; bulletins from the state administration to various project units and administrative staff; material on the preparations for State Defense Week (January 27-February 1, 1941); and a 1942 manual on wartime rationing and inflation. 

Access Restrictions: None.

Date(s): 1939-1942.

Volume: 0.50 Cubic Feet.

Finding Aid Created By: Colby Cox in August 2024.

Related Materials: TBD.

Record Group History: The Works Projects Administration (WPA) was a federal program established on May 6th, 1935, in order to increase employment during the Great Depression. While the WPA was a federal program, it was implemented and managed on the state level with each state having their own director and office to guide the operation of the WPA for each state. The WPA was primarily focused on employing individuals for the purpose of creating public works and infrastructure, but a small portion of its funding was devoted to cultural and artistic endeavors which the files in this collection are primarily concerned with. Two of the major cultural projects the WPA undertook were the Federal Writers’ Project and the Historical Records Survey. The Federal Writers Project employed writers to create guides, histories, and chronicles for each state and the Historical Records Survey sought to catalogue the historical records of each state.

Collection Inventory:
Box Content 

Box Number

Bulletins, correspondence, and general information.

10461