Stephen Koppekin of Stephen Koppekin Consulting, Inc., explores the history of the WPA, one of the programs implemented as part of Roosevelt's New Deal.

1. History of the
Labor Movement:
THE WPA
STEPHEN KOPPEKIN

2. To combat the economic hardship spurred by the
Great Depression, the newly-inaugurated President
Franklin D. Roosevelt created a series of programs,
projects, and regulations known as the New Deal. The
Works Progress Administration (WPA) was one such
program: It was intended to combat unemployment by
implementing infrastructure and arts projects.
On May 6, 1935, Roosevelt established the WPA with
an executive order.
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3. By the time the WPA was established,
the unemployment rate of the United
States was already at 20 percent. The
program, designed to provide relief
for the unemployed, directly hired
men, women, and youths as part of
the National Youth Administration.
More than 3.3 million Americans
worked for the WPA at the height of
the program in 1938.

4. Later, in 1939, the WPA was renamed the Work
Projects Administration. As a result of this shift,
the WPA employed mostly unskilled men to carry
out infrastructure projects. The newly employed
Americans worked to erect more than 29,000 new
bridges, more than 4,000 new school buildings,
150 airfields, and 130 new hospitals. In addition to
building thousands of miles of new storm drains,
sanitary sewer lines, and paved roads, the
program also planted 24 million trees.
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5. The WPA not only focused on infrastructure
projects, but also implemented programs that
collectively became known as Federal Project
Number One. With these programs, Roosevelt
intended to help artists find work and also
inspire the general population during the time
of economic hardship. As a result, these
programs employed musicians, artists, actors,
and writers to create and perform. At the
height of its program, 5,300 visual artists and
other arts professionals were employed.

6. Despite the widespread assistance of
Federal One, only $27 million of the nearly
$5 billion designated for WPA programs
went to the arts. The programs founded
more than 100 community arts centers
throughout the United States, and also led
to the later establishment of the National
Foundation of the Arts.

7. Due to Roosevelt’s promise of a New
Deal for everyone, the WPA worked to
employ women and African Americans
as well. Despite some inequities,
approximately 350,000 African
Americans were employed in 1935 and
comprised 15 percent of WPA’s total
workforce. Federal Music and Theatre
projects also supported musicians and
actors of color.

8. Women were employed, for the
most part, as librarians and
seamstresses and also found work
in gardening, clerical jobs, and
canning. Women engaged in
sewing work comprised
approximately seven percent of
the WPA national workforce.
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9. Due to weapon production and
preparation for World War II, relief
from the WPA was deemed no longer
necessary, and in 1943, the program
shut down. When the WPA ended, the
national unemployment dipped below
two percent. While the WPA is no
longer in place, it has left a legacy of
renowned artists and well-designed
buildings and structures that still
remain in use today.

10. Thank you.
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