Creator: Work Projects Administration (RG 60).

Collection Summary: Largely administrative files from the Early American Imprints survey project, which was administered by the Historic Records Survey. The purpose of the imprints survey was to create a union catalogue of all works published in the United States from 1639 to 1876. Files include bibliographies of works by and about Mississippi and Mississippians held in various libraries across the state; administrative correspondence; status report forms from field workers; a 1938 list of project employees; and a 1938 survey program statement detailing what the program was intended to accomplish and the motivations behind it. Researchers should note that series 453, American Imprint Index Cards, contains the bibliographic cards created by survey workers for each imprint discovered. Researchers wishing to access a copy of the resulting union catalogue of American imprints, published in 1943, should search www.worldcat.org for “The Bibliography of American imprints, with a list of the publications of the WPA’s American imprints inventory” by Douglas McMurtrie to find the closest library where it is available. Researchers wishing to access a copy of the bibliography of Mississippi imprints, i.e., works published in Mississippi specifically as opposed to the entire United States, should search www.worldcat.org for “A Bibliography of Mississippi Imprints, 1798-1830,” also by McMurtrie.

Access Restrictions: None.

Date(s): 1936-1939.

Volume: 0.50 Cubic Feet.

Finding Aid Created By: Colby Cox in September 2024.

Related Materials: Series 453: American Imprint Index Cards 1939, undated.

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
Bibliographies of books, correspondence, and manual of procedure10855