In 1940, The Washington Post featured a 9-page photo essay on the capital’s new Department of Interior building. In photographs and text, the agency’s diverse functions were richly described. The building’s fashionable Art Deco or Moderne design and large, colorful… read more
Preparing for War: How the New Deal Helped America Join the Fight Against Fascism and Win World War II A bicoastal dialogue featuring Kevin Baker (East) and Bob Leighninger (West) on ZoomWednesday, February 16, 2022, 8:00 ET/5:00 PT RSVP Here… read more
That the American press largely ignored an attempt to forcibly overthrow President Franklin Roosevelt only months after his inauguration in 1933 seems less extraordinary in light of the right-wing media’s current efforts to dismiss a far more alarming—and televised—coup attempt… read more
JOIN US! “The New Deal Artistry of Jo Mora” Tuesday, January 18, 5pm PST Adventurer, author and artist of the American West, Jo Mora worked as a cowboy, a guard on a Mexican railroad, and lived with the Hopi in… read more
Photo by Jessica Christian / The Chronicle. In a San Francisco Chronicle story titled, “At Stanford’s David Rumsey Map Center, the past, present and future converge,” Andre Picon talks to David Rumsey about his map collection at Stanford University. Read… read more
Richard Walker was quoted in an Alter Net piece by Matthew Rozsa. Walker is reflecting on the Democratic win in the 1934 midterm elections to draw lessons about how the Democrats can avoid a loss in 2022. Read the full… read more
Dancing That Others May Walk As president, FDR used his birthday, January 30, to advance his most important cause—raising awareness and money to eliminate polio, a disease FDR knew first hand. In 1934, more than four thousand communities across the… read more
Highlighting the nation’s problems during the Great Depression—and the federal government’s responses to those problems—was the job of the United States Film Service, established in 1938 as part of the New Deal’s Resettlement Administration, later renamed the Farm Security Administration… read more
Church bells rang. Loudspeakers in department stores shared the news. Factories paused production to spread the word to jubilant coworkers. Families huddled in their parlors around their radios for the latest updates. There was glee, relief, resounding joy across the… read more