Creator: Work Projects Administration (RG 60).

Collection Summary: Draft sections of narrative essays prepared by Federal Writers’ Project field workers and sent in to project headquarters in Jackson. The essays were intended for use in various projects, including Mississippi: A Guide to the Magnolia State, theMississippi Mississippi section of America Eats (never published), and the Mississippi Factbook (also never published). Essays are both typed and handwritten; some drafts are copied verbatim from sources such as newspapers and published law codes. Files are arranged alphabetically by subject. 

Access Restrictions: None.

Date(s): 1936-1942.

Volume: 5.50 Cubic Feet.

Finding Aid Created By: Colby Cox in August 2024.

Related Materials: Series 437: Mississippi Factbook Source Material. 1936-1941. Series 438: Folklore Data. 1936-1939. Series 444: Statewide Source Material. 1936-1941.

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

Agriculture – Counties (Claiborne)

10487

Counties (Clay) – Counties (Jefferson Davis)

10488

Counties (Jones) – Counties (Rankin)

10489

Counties (Sharkey) – Counties (Wilkinson) 

10490

Counties (Winston) – Education

10491

Fairs, festivals and celebrations – Flora and Fauna 

10492

Folk Medicine – Health 

10493

Historic Homes – History 

10494

Impact of WWII on Mississippi – Music10495
Native Americans – People 10496
Radio – Transportation 

10497