Quality of Information: Minimal

Montana's Big Timber Pioneer newspaper reported in 1938 that 40 WPA laborers were "doing a $40,000 job of tree painting, landscaping, road oiling, leveling and general beautification" at what was then known as the Montana School of Mines, now Montana Tech of the University of Montana. Most evidence of such renovations is long gone, but one rock wall we observed looks suspiciously like WPA work. WPA employment was vital to the welfare of unemployed miners around Butte, Montana during the Great Depression.

A 5x5-foot carved wood bas-relief depicting four "Workers" is located in the library over the circulation desk. It was produced in 1937 with Federal Art Project (FAP) funds. The artist is unknown. "Research suggests that the art piece was salvaged around 1970, when the library was relocated from the English Building to the Language Building and the original library space was converted to classrooms" (HRG Report, p. 89).

This oil-on-campus mural “Texas Longhorn—A Vanishing Breed” was painted by Ila Turner McAfee in 1941 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The historic post office in Clinton, Connecticut houses an example of New Deal artwork: an oil-on-canvas Section of Fine Arts mural entitled “The Post Road in Connecticut,” painted in 1937 by William Meyerowitz.

Andrew Jackson Elementary School was rebuilt by the Public Works Administration in 1935. It was one of 27 schools in the Pasadena Unified School District to be either rebuilt, demolished, or reinforced by the PWA or the Works Progress Administration (WPA) following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  

Montana's Big Timber Pioneer newspaper reported in early 1937 that several National Youth Administration (NYA) recreation projects had recently been completed around Butte:  "winter sports area at Robbers' Roost, four tennis courts which will be ready for use the next spring, 44 regulation horseshoe courts and three playground areas."

According to the Caddo Lake State Park History website, the cabins, pavilion, and trails were begun by Company 889 (June-November, 1933) and completed by Company 857 (October 1934-March 1937). Some of the original picnic benches remain, as do remnants of the original trails. The pavilion is no longer in use, though other buildings remain in use.

The PWA provided funds toward the construction of a new Orange County Courthouse in 1936.

Artist Julius Woeltz painted six murals for the lobby of the J. Marvin Jones Federal Building under the auspices of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts program in 1940. The murals are titled: "Gang-Plow," "Harrow," "Coronado's Exploration Party," "Cattle Loading," "Oil" and "Cattle Branding."

The Big Timber Pioneer reported in late 1934 that the Public Works Administration (PWA) approved $181,000 for "improvements and equipment" for what was then known as the Montana Normal College at Dillon. Of that, $100,000 came as a loan and $81,000 as an outright grant. We do not know more about what was done with the federal funding, but we suspect that the Main auditorium was constructed at the time. Mathews Hall and the Business & Technology Building also possibly date to the 1930s. And the project might have included landscaping and paths. More information is needed. Montana...