Part of Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was designed to stimulate the economy through public-works projects such as building roads, bridges, buildings, and schools. At its height, the initiative employed over 3 million people. It also commissioned works from visual artists, designers, and photographers under the Federal Art Project.

Bookmobile, Louisiana

The following photo, taken circa 1938, of the bookmobile at Bayou de Large, fifteen miles south of Houma, Louisiana, is part of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library and comes from the WPA archives.