In 1934, the New Deal’s Public Works Administration (PWA) loaned the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company—popularly known as the “Milwaukee Road”—$8.6 million (about $194 million in 2022 dollars) for infrastructure improvements and new equipment. The latter included… read more
The Public Works Administration (PWA) paid for the reconstruction of Washington Middle School in Long Beach, CA, after the school was heavily damaged in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. The school reopened in 1935. The school’s website gives a description… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) became the New Deal’s primary work relief program for the general population in 1935. WPA funds supported a number of projects in City of Portland parks. In the case of Laurelhurst Park, WPA funds provided… read more
Anchoring downtown Zeeland, the new one-story 60 by 70 foot post office was built for $68,000. Construction was completed in just seven months, tapping into a pool of unemployed workers available during the New Deal Era. Although the population of… read more
James Madison University’s Converse Hall, originally known as Senior Hall, was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $106,000 grant and $41,975 loan for the project, whose total cost was $147,476. Construction… read more
Elise Seeds painted a mural, “Prehistoric Animals,” for a school in Los Angeles, CA, with funding from the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) and—upon the termination of the PWAP in 1934—the Federal and State Emergency Relief Administrations (FERA/SERA). The… read more
Artist Emery Gellert painted a portrait of Principal J. A. Davis for David Starr Jordan High School (formerly David Starr Jordan High School) in Los Angeles, CA. The portrait was funded by California’s State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA), which covered… read more
In 1934, Leo Katz painted a three-panel mural in the lobby of Frank Wiggins Trade School (today’s Los Angeles Trade-Technical College) in Los Angeles, CA. Katz was assisted by artists Tyrone Comfort and Ben Messick. The side panels were funded… read more
In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) loaned the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company $7 million for equipment repair, new track installation, and new equipment purchases. Among the new purchases was the $250,000 Comet, a streamlined Diesel-electric… read more
We often think of New Projects as going smoothly, but Avalon School is an exception. The educational situation in the Ouray Valley had stuggled: schools and boarding schools had been built beginning in 1885 for the Uncompahgre Ute people but… read more