The Living New Deal has become a truly national organization. Our staff and volunteer National Associates across the country are doing great work bringing the New Deal to life. Our public outreach includes webinars on a wide array of topics,… read more
“Until recently, the nursery school idea was a luxury for only a few favored youngsters,” The Akron Beacon Journal declared in 1939. “With the advent of (the) WPA, nursery schools were established in seven counties of northeastern Ohio for children… read more
San Francisco boasts some of the greatest examples of New Deal art—from the vibrant frescoes created for Coit Tower in 1934 as the pilot project of the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), to various murals executed under the PWAP’s… read more
The Kids Are All Right? Between 1933 and 1934, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) opened nearly 3,000 Emergency Nursery Schools (ENS) for low-income children. The schools were free. The children were provided with nourishing meals and medical attention; played together;… read more
During the Great Depression, New Deal programs helped improve farmland and agricultural practices in the Dust Bowl. The legacy of these programs can be seen across the Plains, but perhaps none so lastingly as in the town formerly known as… read more
A Magic GardenTilden Regional Parks Botanic GardenBerkeley, California Thanks to seed gathering by CCC crews under the supervision of the Forest Service back in the 1930s and the support provided by the WPA to the East Bay Regional Park District… read more
Richard Walker was interviewed by Jack Kesler about the Living New Deal’s mission to document and preserve the legacy of the New Deal in the 1930s to combat the effects of the Great Depression. Walker mentions that the Living new… read more
During the New Deal, the government paid struggling artists to produce art through several federal art programs. Many of these artworks have since been lost, stolen or scattered. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is charged with recovering them. The… read more
Franklin County CourthousePreston, Idaho The New Deal was the impetus behind some of the most impressive structures in small-town America. When my partner Joan and I take road trips around the West to get away from everyday hassles and enjoy… read more
Stuck at home during the pandemic, I began sorting through storage boxes, some not opened since my mother passed away in 1993. I came upon “Memories of the Civilian Conservation Corps,” my father’s 1937 yearbook from his time in the… read more