(4:19) b/w, silent
Presents a series of hands engaged in activities that range from resting to important daily tasks, to dramatize the greater economic value of hands put to work by the Works Progress Administration.
A Better New York State
(12:59) b/w, sound
On Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects in New York. Shows a reservoir at Albany under construction. Garments for relief families are made in WPA sewing rooms. A marionette show is presented at a Buffalo school. Shows scenes at the West Point Military Academy and the Palisades Interstate Park. Dramatizes the part played by WPA crime laboratory technicians in capturing a safecracker. Shows views of restored Fort Niagara. County roads...
A Better Massachusetts
(11:09) b/w, sound
On Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects in Massachusetts. Streets in Springfield are paved and sewer pipe installed. WPA artists paint shore scenes. Shows playground activity. Ship models are built at Marblehead. Methods of preventing silicosis among granite workers are tested at Quincy. Breeches buoy rescue practice is conducted by the Coast Guard on Cape Cod. Nurses instruct mothers in the care of babies. Shows a hatchery at ...
A Better Chicago
(9:03) b/w, sound
On WPA projects in Chicago. Sewer pipe is laid. Debris is cleared from the lake front. Animal skeletons are reconstructed in the Field Museum. Airport runways are lengthened and drainage ditches dug. Slum buildings are razed for a housing project. Shows scenes in parks and a zoo, auto accident scenes, cars being checked for defects, razing of unsafe grain elevators, playgrounds, and nursery school activities.
Recovery in New Jersey
(19:23) b/w silent
On WPA projects in New Jersey. Reel 1, the Dana mansion in the Palisades Interstate Park is dismantled. In Roosevelt Park, ditches are dug and pipe laid for a water system and a hospital is under construction. Reel 2, women stitch garments at a sewing center. A road is dynamited and rock removed in the Palisades Park. The Ringling mansion is dismantled. Water pipe is laid in Greenbrook Park. A concrete culvert is erected at Englewood.
Creator: federal works agency, works projects administration
Year: 1937
Quality: Poor
Matanuska Alaska
(1:16:39) b/w, silent
On the town of Matanuska. Reel 1, a train arrives and passengers detrain. Reel 2 shows a house under construction, a farmer plowing, and views of cafes, a store, and the post office. Reel 3 shows views of the post office and a grocery store. Reel 4 shows the Matanuska Valley Pioneer office. Twin babies are weighed and measured in a hospital. Reel 5, people dance at a community hall. The volunteer fire department fights a fire. Reel 6, horses an...
The Technique of Fresco Painting
(24:58) b/w, silent
In this film, students at Evander Childs High School, New York City, help artist James Michael Newell paint a mural depicting the history of western civilization. On reel 1, the materials (slaked lime, marble dust, and pigments) are prepared, and preliminary and full-size drawings and perforated tracings are made. Then the design is pounded through the perforations onto a recently plastered wall. On reel 2, the design lines are in...
California Recreation
(11:23) b/w, silent
On WPA-sponsored recreation projects in California. Shows bike polo in Monterey, bee keeping in Paso Robles, trout fly making in San Luis Obispo, pottery shaping in Morro Bay, children with model airplanes in San Francisco, swimming in San Diego, archery classes in Redding, girls’ calisthenics in Sacramento, puppet show in Stockton, rope trick exhibition in Modesto, lawn bowling in Oakland, bicycle races in a San Jose velodrome, and a ...
Federal Theater at the World’s Fair
(20:29) b/w, silent
On preparations for and activities at the Golden Gate International Exposition. Reel 1, exhibition buildings are constructed on Treasure Island, Calif., in 1936. Shows views of San Francisco and scenes aboard the ferry to Treasure Island. Seats and electric equipment are installed in the Federal Theatre building on Treasure Island. Shows wardrobe design and fitting and rehearsal scenes. Reel 2, the FTP presents a puppet show, &#...
Danger on the Streets
(8:01) b/w, silent
Demonstrates lack of caution by pedestrians which results in traffic fatalities: crossing in the center of the block, from between parked cars, while reading newspapers, etc.; hitchhiking in the street; and children chasing balls, etc. into roadways. Shows many scenes of traffic conditions in Los Angeles, California.