“‘It’s all falling into ruin now because we decided we didn’t have to maintain it,’ says Gray Brechin, geographer and founder of the online archive The Living New Deal, ‘Thank god, they built it all as well as they did.’”… read more
“‘You’ve got to think in terms of long-range investment and realize that these things are paying us back in lots of different ways,’ says Robert Leighninger, author of Long-Range Public Investment: The Forgotten Legacy of the New Deal. ‘Education, health,… read more
In December 2015 I saw Donald Trump on CNN invoke FDR’s use of “internment” for the Japanese as a possible solution for the “Muslim problem”. At the time, I was on my way to Manzanar, CA, one of ten US… read more
A daring exhibition at the University of Santa Clara in 1976 began the rediscovery of a buried civilization then itself only forty years in the past. “New Deal Art: California,” a six-month exhibition at the De Saisset Gallery, pulled out of storage… read more
“‘It was really a quantum leap forward for the entire United States,’ says Gray Brechin, an author who helps run the Living New Deal. ‘By building this vast physical and cultural infrastructure, the New Deal brought the country into the… read more
Florida’s State Parks — like those of other states — expanded and greatly benefited from New Deal programs as well as from Franklin Roosevelt’s personal interest in conservation (see previous newsletter for review of Douglas Brinkley’s Rightful Heritage.) So skillfully… read more
When I work on my blog, “New Deal of the Day,” I sometimes use New Deal artwork images available on the website of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Recently, I came across two paintings by Dacre F. Boulton. The first,… read more
Near Cincinnati, Ohio, the Village of Greenhills is one of only three New Deal “greenbelt” towns in the country. On January 11, it was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior. Greenhills was a demonstration project… read more
During the New Deal, the federal government took an unprecedented step toward preserving Native American art: It funded an effort to repair and replicate scores of totem poles in southeast Alaska. Alaska, then a U.S. territory, was suffering from chronic… read more
The long, cold winter months can take their toll on the psyche of residents of the Northeast. To help stave off cabin fever, winter sports that get people out and enjoying—rather than dreading—snowy days are invaluable. Surprisingly, it was not… read more