Completion Year: 1940

Mississippi utilized a number of federal work relief and infrastructure opportunities to repair, improve, and construct the levee system at various locations along the Mississippi River from Gunnison in Bolivar county south through Greenville in Washington county to Fitler in Issaquena county Agencies included Civil Works Administration, Works Progress Administration, and Army Corps of Engineers, expended a total of $227,634, employed at least 675 men, and were carried out between 1933 and 1940.

The Lafayette Building was the home of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), an important funding agency created by Herbert Hoover in 1932 and then greatly expanded by Franklin Roosevelt during the New Deal years.  The RFC held an important financial role in America all the way through World War II The Lafayette Building was built in 1939-1940 with private funding, through a newly-created Lafayette Building Corporation (LBC). However, the RFC “was directly involved in planning the building that would be their headquarters… The RFC Mortgage Company purchased the Lafayette Building Corporation's outstanding stock on April 16, 1941, and a month...

The Civil Works Administration and the Public Works Administration (PWA) completed improvements at the District of Columbia Reformatory and Workhouse (today’s “D.C. Workhouse and Reformatory Historic District”) between 1933 and 1940. “During the latter part of December 1933 an appropriation was obtained from the Civil Works Administration for the construction of 4 dormitory buildings and 2 buildings for officers' quarters. This work was handled as a Virginia project through the Fairfax County administrator. Work was started January 2, 1934, and when work was terminated on March 31, 1934, the 4 dormitories were about 90 percent complete, and the 2 buildings for officers' quarters...

The Public Works Administration completed improvements at the New Jersey Avenue Sewage Pumping Station between 1939 and 1940. The work consisted of “electrical installation."

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of a community building for the Langston Terrace Dwellings and surrounding area, ca. 1935-1940. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of the DC Government. The Langston Terrace Dwellings Community Building was part of the New Deal’s overall effort to provide more community and recreation...

After the Public Works Administration (PWA) financed the construction of Lake Anza  in Tilden Park by damming Wildcat Creek, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the Bath House and ancillary buildings, c 1940.   This work was part of a major New Deal effort to aid the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) in improving its four original parks and making them available for public recreation in the 1930s.  The Bath House has been demolished and replaced by a newer and larger structure.     

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved and enlarged every hole at the Lake Chabot Municipal Golf Course, in conjunction with the City of Oakland Parks Department.  The WPA workers also construction a two level parking area with stone walls. It is an 18-hole course that serves a diverse population from Oakland, including many African American and Asian American golfers.  A 36-hole disk (frisbee) course has been added in recent years. One claim to fame for the course is that it served the young Tony Lema, an Oakland native, who was taught by the course pros and elder statesmen.

A Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in the amount of $22,000 was allotted to 2 Laurel schools in 1940. One project was to complete plastering and ceiling, drainage and landscaping of the Frank G. Wisner Activities building for Laurel High School. The building was a two-story Art Moderne designed by N. W. Overstreet and A. H. Town completed 1939-1940.

A Works Progress Administration (WPA) allotment for $22,000 was approved for two school projects in Laurel in 1940. The Kingston School for African American students shared funds with Laurel High School and Wisner George S. Gardiner High School to improve buildings, grounds and facilities. Kingston School included work on porches, fire escape, and grounds. The school is no longer extant.

Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds in the amount of $13,676 were approved for the Laurel Municipal school district to improve buildings, grounds and facilities at the George S. Gardiner High School and Kingston School. The work at Gardiner was for grounds improvements and reconditioning of the track and football practice areas for the 1922 school.