Sources for America’s History: Printed Page 579

23-4  |FDR’s New Deal Programs in Action
Michigan Artist Alfred Castagne Sketching WPA Construction Workers (1939)

Roosevelt’s New Deal embraced several aims as it evolved, but a central focus was finding jobs for the unemployed. The 1933 Public Works Administration (PWA) funded municipal projects including the building of roads, dams, bridges, and schools, funneling federal money to states and localities to hire workers. Two years later, Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which funded similar projects and programs, such as the Federal Art Project and the Federal Writers’ Project, which employed artists, novelists, and actors. This image, by an unknown photographer, depicts both programs at work.

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Source: Michigan Artist Alfred Castagne Sketching WPA Construction Workers, Unknown Photographer (May 19, 1939), National Archives, Records of the Work Projects Administration (69-AG-410).

READING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Question

    Analyze this photograph for evidence of Roosevelt’s goals for his New Deal programs. What do you think Roosevelt was trying to accomplish beyond just providing jobs? Why, for instance, do you think the WPA funded artists like the one shown sketching in this scene?

  2. Question

    By examining this photograph and evaluating the WPA, what conclusions might you draw about the evolving relationship between the American people and the federal government? To what extent do you think Americans began changing their understanding of government’s role and responsibility in supporting those in need?