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  • Klawock Totem Park, Gonaqadate Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored/recarved the Gonaqadate Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. According to Viola Garfield and Linn Forrest (1961), the Raven at the top of the pole suggests that the totem belonged to the Wolf clan. The figure below the Raven...
  • Klawock Totem Park, Kats the Bear Hunter Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) recarved the Kats the Bear Hunter Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. The pole illustrates the story of a hunter who married a bear. In their 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest...
  • Klawock Totem Park, Mortuary Column - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) recarved/restored the Mortuary Column between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. The owner of this totem is unknown. The column represents a brown bear figure at the bottom. According to the anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest (1961), this figure...
  • Klawock Totem Park, Mythical Raven Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored/recarved the Mythical Raven Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. In their 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest examine the history the symbolic meaning of the figures represented on the Mythical Raven Pole: “This pole...
  • Klawock Totem Park, Raven and Giant Clam Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) recarved/restored the Raven and Giant Clam Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. In their 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the figures of the original pole, which was in a deteriorated...
  • Klawock Totem Park, Raven and the Whale Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Raven and the Whale Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. The carvings represent the figure of Raven at the bottom of the pole, and a whale at the upper part. In their 1961 volume, The Wolf and the...
  • Klawock Totem Park, Sockeye-Salmon Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored/recarved the Sockeye-Salmon Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. The pole marked the resting place of a member of the Wolf clan. The figures of the pole illustrate the fact that the owner of the pole also owned a...
  • Klawock Totem Park, The Dog-Eater Spirit Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) recarved the Dog-Eater Spirit Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. The pole marked the resting place of a man who was an ancestor of Gunya. The human figure at the top of the pole holds the body of a...
  • Klawock Totem Park, The First Blackfish Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored/recarved the First Blackfish Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. In their 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest describe the symbolic meaning of the carvings. The figures of the pole illustrate the story...
  • Klawock Totem Park, The Giant Clam Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored/recarved the Giant Clam Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. In their 1961 volume, The Wolf and the Raven, anthropologist Viola Garfield and architect Linn Forrest note that the Giant Clam Pole belonged to a member of the Raven clan....
  • Klawock Totem Park, The Long-Eared Monster Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored/recarved the Long-Eared Monster Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found on a rocky point in the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. This pole belongs to the Raven clan, the same lineage that created the Bullhead and the Fight with the Land Otters Pole. It was created...
  • Klawock Totem Park, The Raven-Finned Blackfish Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored/recarved the The Raven-Finned Blackfish Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found in the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. This pole belongs to the Wolf clan at Klawock. A niche at the back of the pole contains the ashes of a member of the clan. The pole...
  • Klawock Totem Park, The Spirit of Hazy Island Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) recarved the Spirit of Hazy Island Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. The pole was found in deteriorated condition when it was brought to the Klawock Totem Park from Tuxekan. Only the human figure at the bottom of the...
  • Klawock Totem Park, Woodworm Pole - Klawock AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) recarved/restored the Woodworm Pole between 1938 and 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the conservation of totems and Native cultural assets. The pole was originally found at the abandoned village of Tuxekan. With the accord of the former residents, the CCC and the U.S. Forrest Service relocated the pole to the Klawock Totem Park on the Prince of Wales Island. The Tlingit master carvers made a copy of the original pole for the Klawock Totem Park. At the bottom of the pole the figure of the Tlingit Maiden holds is nursing...
  • La Fortaleza (Governor's Mansion) Renovations - San Juan PR
    The work relief division of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) conducted "extensive repairs to the patio" of La Fortaleza, the 16th Century governor's mansion in San Juan, capitol of the territory of Puerto Rico, ca. 1937. In 1940-1 the Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) conducted extensive restoration work on La Fortaleza. Improvements included utilities upgrades, new roof, replacement of floor and ceiling beams, elevator installation, modern bathtubs & showers installation, and more.
  • La Villita Cos House Restoration - San Antonio TX
    It is generally believed that General Martin Perfecto de Cos, a brother-in-law of Mexico’s President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, surrendered to the Texan commander, General Edward Burleson, after the five-day Siege of Bexar in December 1835 at the Villita Street building known today as the Cos House. This structure is considered to be the oldest building in the "Little Village" since it pre-dates the 1835 surrender. The building was restored through the efforts of NYA workers as part of the La Villita restoration project.
  • La Villita Restoration - San Antonio TX
    "La Villita, in the heart of San Antonio, was once the site of a Coahuiltecan Indian village. The first huts in the community were probably erected about 1722... The Indian, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo colonial history of the section is preserved in the name of the streets and houses of La Villita: Guadalupe Street, Bolivar Hall, Juarez Plaza, Cos House, Canada House, and McAllister Corner. La Villita was restored as a result of a city ordinance of October 12, 1939, and is owned by the city and operated as a craft and recreational center. The National Youth Administration assisted in...
  • Lafayette Building - Washington DC
    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...
  • Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge - Dunn Center ND
    Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1939 by Executive Order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (which wikipedia incorrectly calls an act of Congress in 1938).  The land was purchased and administered by the Bureau of Biological Survey (which morphed into the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1940). The region was one of the last parts of the country to be settled by farmers and before long the area suffered from drought and dust storms like much of the rest of the Great Plains in the 1930s. In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) help the locals realize their plan to...
  • Leo Petroglyphs and Nature Preserve - Leo OH
    The park features a Works Progress Administration (WPA) shelter protecting sandstone petroglyphs. The petroglyphs are thought to have been created by the Fort Ancient people. The WPA completed other work at the site.
  • Lexington State Historic Site: Anderson House Restoration - Lexington MO
    The Works Progress Administration restored the Anderson House at the Lexington State Historic Site. According to a storyboard (pictured below) in the museum at this site, "significant repairs and restoration were undertaken by the Works Progress Administration as part of the relief effort associated with the Great Depression."
  • Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial - Lincoln City IN
    The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City, Indiana preserves the farm site on which Abraham Lincoln grew up. In the 1930s, the CCC aided in the restoration and development of the site: "In 1934, a Civilian Conservation Corps crew (a federal program during the Great Depression, also called the CCC) located and excavated the historic hearthstones. The CCC constructed a stone wall and landscaped the grounds. The bronze casting was finally placed on the site in July of 1935. This casting completed the first phase of the memorial’s development."   (https://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp) In addition, "After removing the structures from the memorial land, the...
  • Lincoln Memorial: Repairs and Snow Removal - Washington DC
    On May 26, 1933, Lieutenant Colonel U.S. Grant III, grandson of President Ulysses Grant and director of the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, presented a large public works program for Washington, DC, “in anticipation of the early passage of the national industrial recovery act.” In the report, a request was made for $6,890, “For cleaning and pointing up interior stonework at the Lincoln Memorial… to prevent further deterioration” (Evening Star, 1933).  Ultimately, the Public Works Administration (PWA), created as part of the NIRA in 1933, allotted $3,465 for the job (about $69,000 in 2019 dollars)...
  • Lincoln Pioneer Village and Museum - Rockport IN
    WPA workers developed the Lincoln Pioneer Village and Museum from 1935 to 1936. Work also included landscaping and the building of cabins and a lake. From the State of Indiana's website on the attraction: "The Lincoln Pioneer Village & Museum houses hundreds of fascinating artifacts from the area’s historic past including a hutch made by Abraham Lincoln’s father, Thomas Lincoln. The Pioneer Village features 14 Lincoln-era replica cabins from Spencer County. This site was originally a WPA project." From the Evansville Sunday Courier and Journal, July 5, 1936: ROCKPORT, July 4—With both the democratic and republican nominees for governor on the program,...
  • Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site - St. Martinville LA
    A state website explains that the "Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site explores the cultural interplay among the diverse peoples along the famed Bayou Teche. Acadians and Creoles, Indians and Africans, Frenchmen and Spaniards, slaves and free people of color-all contributed to the historical tradition of cultural diversity in the Teche region."   (https://www.crt.state.la.us) The site was developed by the CCC in the 1930s: "Acadiana was fortunate to have several projects. Most notably was project SP-1 Company No. 277 located in St. Martinville. The project was one of the first in the nation and started on Sept. 20, 1933. Its first major project was the...
  • Lost City Archeaological Excavations - Moapa Valley NV
    “The Boulder City and Overton Camps are probably best known for their involvement in salvage archaeology, most notably excavations at Lost City in the lower Moapa Valley. The rising Lake Mead threatened a number of important archeological sites along the terraces overlooking the Muddy River. One well-publicized project was at Lost City, a five-mile stretch of Puebloan settlements that were soon to be inundated by Lake Mead. In a race against time, Nevada and NPS officials mobilized the young and energetic labor force and resumed the excavation at Lost City.” --The Civilian Conservation Corps in Nevada
  • Lower Pontalba Building Renovation - New Orleans LA
    The Pontalba Buildings flank Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans.  The Upper Pontalba Building lies on the west side of the square along St. Peter Street, the Lower Pontalba Building on the east side on St. Ann Street.  Both are block-long structures, four stories in height, built of brick and graced with the ironwork typical of buildings in the French Quarter. They were originally built in the 1840s. The two building were the gift of the Baroness de Pontalba, who wished to improve the appearance of Jackson Square – then the center of the city....
  • Madison Square: Admiral Farragut Statue Restoration - New York NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to restore the Admiral Farragut monument in Madison Square during the mid-1930s.
  • Mansfield State Historic Site - Mansfield LA
    According to National Archive files, between 1935 and 1938 WPA crews "landscaped the battleground, installed drains and built drives through the historic site."
  • Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building - Washington DC
    The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building is named after Marriner Stoddard Eccles (1890-1977), FDR’s Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1934-1948. It was built from 1935-1937, at a cost of $3,484,000. The Federal Reserve paid for the building out of its own funds, and also took part in the construction plans. The architect of the Federal Reserve Building was Paul P. Cret, and the contractor was the George A. Fuller Company. FDR dedicated the building on October 20, 1937, and Congress named the building after Eccles in 1982.
  • Marshall and Wetzel County Line Historical Marker - Marshall County WV
    One of many county line historical markers placed in West Virginia. Each side denotes the county that is being entered. The West Virginia historical marker program began in 1934 with the beginning research for the markers with the intention of placing markers around the state to encourage tourism. Dr. Roy Bird Cook, a Charleston druggist, a longtime commission member, and a vocational historian worked on the project. Approximately 5,000 sites were collected with 440 markers selected by the commission for placement. Most of these along 44 state and federal highways. The funds came from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Works Progress...
  • Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial - Washington DC
    Mary McLeod Bethune was a major figure in the New Deal and one of the highest placed African Americans in American government up to that time. She served as director of the National Youth Administration’s Division of Negro Affairs and was part of President Roosevelt’s informal advisory group, the “Black Cabinet.”  In 1935, she founded the National Council of Negro Women, a non-profit organization that still operates today (see the Living New Deal’s full biography, “Mary McLeod Bethune (1873-1955)”).  Bethune passed away in 1955. The Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial was created by Boston artist Robert Berks. It was paid for with...
  • Mason Dixon Line Historical Marker - Marshall County WV
    One of many county line historical markers placed in West Virginia at the Wetzel/Marshall County Line. The West Virginia historical marker program began in 1934 with the beginning research for the markers with the intention of placing markers around the state to encourage tourism. Dr. Roy Bird Cook, a Charleston druggist, a longtime commission member, and a vocational historian worked on the project. Approximately 5,000 sites were collected with 440 markers selected by the commission for placement. Most of these along 44 state and federal highways. The funds came from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Works Progress Administration. In addition to...
  • McDowell House Restoration - Danville KY
    "The Dr. Ephraim McDowell House, also known as McDowell House, was a home of medical doctor Ephraim McDowell. The home was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1966... The House was built in three stages. A brick ell was constructed 1792-1795. Dr. McDowell purchased it in late 1802. He added the front, clapboard portion in 1803-1804 and the small brick office to the left of the back porch in 1820. The house was remodeled at the same time... The Kentucky Medical Association bought the house in 1935 and deeded it to the state of Kentucky, who had it restored by Works Progress...
  • McLoughlin House - Oregon City OR
    Restoration and preservation of the John McLoughlin House, dating from 1846, advanced in several ways during the New Deal era. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) funded local architects to document the house in 1934 as part of the first Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). Over the course of several years, CWA and Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers provided the labor for house restoration efforts and landscape improvements at its site on Center Street.  Public Works Administration (PWA) funds supported the effort as well. Subsequently, the Secretary of the Interior designated the McLoughlin House a National Heritage Site on February 19,...
  • Meteor Crater Excavations - Odessa TX
    Multiple websites report an unusual WPA project that took place in rural Texas: "Archeological digs employed WPA labor, including excavation at the site of the Odessa meteor crater in Ector County, Texas." (Marist) "nterest swelled after a theory was put forth that the meteor responsible for the impact was more than 500 feet wide and was very likely buried beneath the surface. In 1939, the state, the county, the University of Texas and the Works Progress Administration combined forces to locate the specimen." (Weird U.S.) "To explore the Odessa meteor crater, WPA crews constructed an 8' by 12' wooden lined shaft 165 feet...
  • Mission San Jose Restoration - San Antonio TX
    Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo was first established in 1720, moved to another site briefly, and then was reestablished at this location in 1740. The site is near a ready source of water, later known as the San Antonio River. Franciscan priests came on behalf of the Spanish government to establish missions among the Coahuiltecan Indians. The Mission was four miles south of Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo). Three more missions would be relocated nearby in 1731. San Jose would later be known as the "Queen of the Missions" due to the ornate carvings and...
  • Mission Tejas State Park - Grapeland TX
    Franciscan Monks established the Spanish Mission San Francisco de los Tejas in what is now East Texas in 1690. The monks were forced by the local Indians to abandon the mission in 1693. The monks burned the mission when they left. The discovery of a Spanish cannon barrel led to the park's development near the village of Weches, where the CCC set up a reforestation camp in 1933. The Texas Forest Service developed San Francisco Mission State Forest as a tourist attraction and commemoration of early Texas history, just in time for the Texas Centennial celebration in 1936. Those individuals involved in...
  • Montauk State Park - Salem MO
    "Montauk State Park is located on 633 acres of land in the southern portion of Dent County, twenty-one miles southwest of Salem, Missouri. The outstanding natural feature of the park is a spring that forms an excellent trout stream near the head of the Current River. An old mill, rehabilitated by CCC enrollees, is an important historical feature of the park. In addition to working on the old mill, Veterans Company 1770 constructed a dam and bridge, tourist cabins, and other park buildings. Fire, heavy use, and modernization have taken their toll at Montauk, leaving few of the original CCC...
  • Moore Home State Historic Site - Lerna IL
    The Moore Home was the home of Abraham Lincoln's stepsister. Lincoln saw his stepmother Sarah Bush Lincoln here for the last time January 31, 1861. The Civilian Conservation Corps dismantled the dilapidated structure and reconstructed it using as much of the original materials as possible.
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