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(2 classifications) (9 resources)

New Deal, 1933-1939

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Electronic discussion groups (2)
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A New Deal for the Arts

During the Great Depression of the 1930s and into the early years of World War II, the Federal government sponsored a variety of art projects to provide work for unemployed artists. This remarkable effort is presented here with a unique selection of artworks, documents, and photographs provided by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Within this collection, users may view...

https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/new_deal_for_the_arts/
American RadioWorks: Bridge to Somewhere

As talk about reinvesting in America's infrastructure continues to grow, some people are looking back to the public works projects of the New Deal as a model for thinking about how what a new "New Deal" might look like. American Radio Works has done a fine job of providing some perspective on this question in one of their recent documentaries, "Bridge to Somewhere". The program looks at the...

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/infrastru...
Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938

This collection from the American Memory Project at the Library of Congress presents digitized transcripts of interviews of former slaves, conducted under the auspice of the Federal Writers Project (FWP), a Depression-era Works Progress Administration program that put unemployed writers to work. Between 1936 and 1939, the FWP collected the life stories of ordinary people. In 1937, John A. Lomax,...

https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-fe...
PBS American Experience: Surviving the Dust Bowl

Created as a follow-up to the PBS film "Surviving the Dust Bowl," this Web site discusses the Dust Bowl with respect to the political, cultural, and economic environment of the 1930s. The site contains detailed descriptions of important people and events of the time period, including the worst storm of the Dust Bowl, known as Black Sunday, and the mass migration from the Great Plains states. The...

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/dustbowl/
Share-Holders in Relief: The Political Culture of the Public Sector

Linda Gordon, a respected historian of US welfare policy, attempts to "refine the story we tell about welfare by contextualizing it in a way not yet done by historians--relating it to the New Deal relief and public works which were so visible at the time of welfare's birth." Gordon examines the promises and contradictions of New Deal relief programs to offer a valuable historical context for...

https://www.russellsage.org/sites/all/files/u4/Gordon_Share-...
Social Security Online History Page

The creation of the Social Security program during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt is widely understood to be one of the most important pieces of social welfare legislation in United States history. Drawing on their vast repositories of oral histories, audio recordings, and primary documents, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has established this Web site that will be of great help...

https://www.ssa.gov/history/
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The Living New Deal

The New Deal left a mark on cities and rural areas across the United States via a number of federal work projects led by agencies including the Works Project Administration (WPA), the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and more.The Living New Deal, a non-profit organization with support from the University of California, Berkeley's Department of Geography, ...

https://livingnewdeal.org
The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House: African American Women Unite For Change

During her long life, Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator, social activist, and prominent leader in the women's rights movement. This latest installment in the National Park Service's "Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plans" centers on her council House in Washington, D.C., and is a fine resource for history teachers and those with a general interest in American history. The Council House...

https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-mary-mcleod-bethune-council...
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Wolfsonian Museum: Collections

What South Florida cultural institution is eclectic and borders on the eccentric? The Wolfsonian answers its own question as it houses everything from Art Deco household objects to rare books. The institution was founded in 1986 to exhibit, document, and preserve the Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection of Decorative and Propaganda Arts. A decade later it became part of Florida International...

https://wolfsonian.org/research/collection/