Congress funded the Federal Theatre Project primarily to provide jobs for unemployed theatre people during the Great Depression. But WPA administrator Harry Hopkins and the FTP’s dynamic director Hallie Flanagan had a much broader mission: to create a publicly funded national theater, accessible to all, that would both entertain and strengthen public dialogue and democracy. Documentary photographers working under Roy Stryker at the Farm Securities Administration were similarly driven, capturing on film the great inequality between the rich and the poor. Stirring the conscience of Americans then and still.
Artists of the Harlem Renaissance at 306 West 141st Street, New York City Back row, left to right: Add Bates; unidentified; James Yeargans; Vertis Hayes; Charles Alston; Sollace Glenn; unidentified; Elba Lightfoot; Selma Day; Ronald Joseph; Georgette Seabrooke; — Reid. Front row, left to right: Gwendolyn Knight; unidentified; Francisco Lord; unidentified; unidentified. Copyright The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, ARS, New York. Courtesy, Phillipscollection.org.
Between 1935 and 1943 the WPA’s Federal Art Project hired more than 10,000 artists on “relief.” They produced murals, easel paintings, sculpture, posters, photographs, theater sets and arts and crafts. Though many have been lost, FAP artworks can be still be found in schools, hospitals, libraries and other public buildings, and in museums around the world. Initially, few African-American artists were allowed to join the WPA’s programs. Black artists in New York City formed the Harlem Artists Guild (1935–41) and successfully pressured the WPA to hire an unprecedented number of Black artists. WPA-funded art centers like the Harlem Community Art Center and “the 306” provided work space for artists and welcomed the public to exhibits and classes, bringing art and artists into the lives of everyday Americans.
“Mercury,” 1939 Bas Relief, by Peter Paul Ott for the Kedzie-Grace Post Office, Chicago Courtesy, New Deal Art Registry
With the economy in shambles and one in four workers unemployed, FDR appointed Harry Hopkins to come up with programs to provide relief. Public works projects would provide millions of jobs and become the backbone of the economic recovery. Hopkins recognized that artists, too, needed work. “Hell,” he said, “they’ve got to eat just like other people!” The WPA’s Federal Arts Project hired thousands of visual artists to produce paintings, murals, prints, crafts and sculptures for the government buildings being constructed throughout the country. The Federal Music Project and Federal Theater Project hired thousands more, bringing the performing arts to cities and towns, alike. The Great Depression cast a dark cloud over the nation. The New Deal arts programs were the silver lining.
“Bonus Army” protests at the Capitol in 1932. Courtesy, Library of Congress.
The nation was roiling from fear and discontent laid bare by the Great Depression. On the morning of FDR’s inauguration, March 4, 1933, Washington was braced for violence. Elected in a landslide, Roosevelt promised to make people’s lives better. They deserved a New Deal, he had said. But a faction of bankers and businessmen opposed to government spending to help those struggling hatched a plot to overthrow the new president. Had the coup succeeded, the New Deal—and the idea that a government exists to give all people the chance for a better life— would have ended before it had even begun.
On June 16, 1933, Congress passed the National Industrial Recovery Act (NRA), one of the central initiatives of FDR’s first hundred days as president. Intended to jumpstart the nation’s economic recovery, the act had two parts. The first created the National Recovery Administration (NRA) to halt deflation, assure fair competition, and guarantee the rights of workers. The second established the Public Works Administration (PWA) to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and get Americans back to work.
The NRA enjoined business to adopt a “code” that included a minimum wage, maximum workweek, and the abolition of child labor. Businesses that went along were permitted to display the NRA’s symbol, the Blue Eagle, declaring “We do our part.”
In 1935, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the NRA was unconstitutional, but the agency’s efforts proved ineffective, in any case. In contrast, the PWA was untouched by the ruling and continued through 1943. During its 10-year existence, the PWA invested $4 billion to construct more than 70 percent of the nation’s schools; 65 percent of its new courthouses, city halls, and sewage-disposal plants; 35 percent of its new public health facilities; and 10 percent of all new roads, bridges and subways. The vast infrastructure created by PWA workers still serves eighty years on.
A social worker from Sioux City, Iowa, Harry Hopkins served as FDR’s personal advisor for the duration of his presidency. As head of New Deal relief, Hopkins worked tirelessly to provide jobs and assistance to millions of Americans struggling through the Great Depression. During World War II, Hopkins served as FDR’s envoy to the European Allies in the fight against fascism. At Hopkins’ memorial service in 1946, John Steinbeck reflected on Hopkins’ legacy of social justice: “Human welfare is the first and final task of government. There is no other.”
As our nation struggles to regain its footing at home and abroad, infrastructure and diplomacy are again at the top the president’s agenda. Harry Hopkins remains a paragon of public service.
Little White House, Photo Credit: Courtesy Commons.Wikimedia.org
On April 12, 1945, President Franklin Roosevelt died of a stroke while at the Little White House at Warm Springs, Georgia. He was 63. During his twelve years as president, FDR sought rest and renewal at a modest 6-room cottage near the therapeutic waters that relieved the symptoms of his polio. He credited this time at Warm Springs as the inspiration for his New Deal programs to alleviate rural poverty.
The Little White House is today a National Historic Landmark and a place of pilgrimage, receiving more than 100,000 visitors a year. John Kennedy visited during his 1960 campaign for president. Jimmy Carter opened his presidential campaign here in 1976. Joe Biden chose Warm Springs as a final stop during his 2020 presidential run. “This place, Warm Springs, is a reminder that though broken, each of us can be healed,” Biden said. “That as a people and a country, we can overcome this devastating virus, that we can heal a suffering world, and yes, we can restore our soul and save our country.”
Mural "Local Industries," Springdale, Arkansas Post Office By Natalie Smith Henry, 1940.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Soup kitchens and food banks made a comeback in the past year as Covid-19 wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy. During the Great Depression, when hunger stalked the country, the New Deal enacted programs to feed those in need—programs that continue to offer a lifeline today. The New Deal recognized that— like food—beauty also provides nourishment. The WPA not only hired millions of workers to build the nation’s roads and bridges, it also employed struggling artists, writers, musicians, actors and architects to erect a cultural infrastructure—public art, art centers, museums, libraries, parks and gardens. The goal was not only to provide jobs but to bring beauty to Americans wherever they lived. The naturalist John Muir described beauty as a “hunger” shared by every person. “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,” he wrote. America is hungry for both.
