Education and Health Sites

Improvements, including building washing and painting, were made to the Millbury, Massachusetts library in 1933 with Federal Emergency Relief Act funds. 282 Millbury locals were given employment in 1933 as a result of the federal E.R.A. The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) assisted the library (as well as community schools) with a book binding project in 1937.

F.E.R.A. improved the grounds at the library in Wayland, Mass. in 1934.

The John Adams Building is one of three buildings of the Library of Congress. Congress passed a bill to fund an annex to the library in 1930, but construction did not take place until the mid-1930s, making it a New Deal project.  The building opened in January 1939.  It was known as 'the Annex' until the 1970s. The original appropriation for the building was $6.5 million, which proved insufficient and an additional $2.8 million was added by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1935.  The total cost, including land and equipment, was $9.3 million. The Adams Building was meant to supplement the Library's Main...

Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers conducted building repairs at the main public library in Bayonne, New Jersey. Furthermore, WPA workers were employed to re-bind thousands of damaged books at the library. An additional WPA project involved "organizing and operating branch library services."

The first free-standing house built for home economics education was constructed in Mineral Wells, Texas following site selection by state supervisor of home economics Lillian Peek in 1933. It was completed by federal labor using native stone, and was occupied by students in February 21, 1934.* The building style was "semi-Georgian" (Shubert, 2013) and included a foods laboratory (kitchen with 6 units), clothing laboratory (sewing machines), living and dining room (with rustic faux fireplace), terrace, bedroom, and bath room. The cottage cost $11,200 for construction with additional costs for furnishing. Along with an amphitheater originally constructed in 1937, the building...

Lillian Street Elementary School, which opened in 1921, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. It appears that at least one PWA structure remains on campus—confirmation is needed. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los...

"This structure is one unit of a large rehabilitation and building program begun by the Fort Worth Independent School District in 1934. The addition provides six classrooms, a library, a kindergarten, a cafeteria, and an auditorium seating 400. The construction is reinforced concrete with wood roof framing. Exterior walls are faced with buff brick and trimmed with artificial stone of a similar color. With the addition, the school will accommodate 480 pupils. It was completed in February 1938 at a construction cost of $110,313 and a project cost of $115,644."   (Short and Stanley-Brown) The school grounds were landscaped by the WPA.  

Constructed by the WPA in 1937-1939. "In 1939 the City Council voted to name the building the Lily Lawrence Bow Library after Homestead’s first librarian, an accomplished musician, artist, published poet, and a member of the local police force."   (wikipedia)

Lincoln Community Center was established as a community center by Vassar College in 1916. The former Lincoln Community Center Gymnasium was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) in 1937. Arson destroyed the primary center in 1979, and Living New Deal believes the WPA-built gymnasium is also no longer extant. The exact location of the construction is also unknown to us at this time.

"The old Lincoln County Court House where Billy the Kid made his famous escape was restored with help from WPA funds." -Phyllis Banks

The old Lincoln County School Library, located on Central Avenue in Carrizozo, New Mexico, was constructed as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the Great Depression. The building was dedicated in 1937.

In 1933, the Public Works Administration allotted $10,000 (about $203,000 in 2020 dollars) for the construction of three small schools on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation (home of five Shoshone-Bannock Tribes), one of which was the Lincoln Creek Day School. The schools were completed in 1935 and described by Rosalie Springfellow in early 1936: “Three fine school buildings have been erected on the reservation: one at Lincoln Creek, one at Ross Fork and one on Bannock Creek. Compared with the little red schoolhouse of a bygone year, this new school is a palace, with hardwood floors, insulated walls to keep out...

Designed by Cutter Kirtland, Lincoln Elementary School was built in 1934 with Public Works Administration (PWA) funding. It is one of six LBUSD schools built in the aftermath of the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake that were designed in the Period Revival style instead of WPA/PWA Moderne. The 1933 earthquake destroyed hundreds of schools throughout Southern California. “On August 29, 1933, Long Beach citizens approved a $4,930,000 bond measure for the rebuilding of schools. Applications for approximately thirty-five schools were filed with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA); federal grants up to thirty percent of labor and material...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed an office wing for a school on Tamarind Ave. in Compton, CA. The school was likely Lincoln Elementary School, which closed in 1989 and has since been demolished.

Lincoln High School in Dallas, Texas was constructed in large part with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Text from the state historical marker reads: In 1937, the Dallas school board appointed a building committee to find land for a new high school for African Americans. The committee chose eleven acres at this location. Lincoln High School was one of the largest campuses in the city, with twenty classrooms, chemistry and physics laboratories, auditorium, cafeteria, and library in the main building. A federal Public Works Administration grant paid for nearly half of the construction cost. In January 1939, Lincoln High School opened...

When built by the PWA in 1936, Lincoln was the only high school available for black students in this segregated school system. It was built on a hill overlooking the vibrant 18th and Vine entertainment district that boasted some of the best jazz venues in the country and was close to the stadium of the Kansas City Monarchs. It was expanded in 1965. The building now houses the Lincoln College Preparatory Academy.

In 1934, the Public Works Administration gave a $28,770 grant and $71,230 loan to the Ellwood City school board for an addition to Lincoln High School. The addition included 18 class rooms and a gymnasium. It was designed by Robert A. Eckles of W.G. Eckles & Company. The general construction contract was awarded to Cooke-Anderson Company of Beaver Pennsylvania. The school and addition are still in use.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed extensive structural bracing work on Lincoln Junior High School (today's Lincoln Middle School) in Santa Monica, CA.

Originally built as the Lincoln Park Post Office and constructed by the Treasury Department in 1938, the building now houses the Lincoln Park Historical Museum.

The Lincoln Park Public Library was originally funded by the Carnegie Foundation and built in 1907. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) rehabilitated the library after it was damaged by the March 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  It appears that the reconstruction was thorough (but confirmation is needed). The library was destroyed by a fire in 1972. Suzanne Miller's series of WPA Federal Art Project (FAP) murals were relocated to the new Billie Jean King Main Library.

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,...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Lincoln School in Grand Junction CO. The two-story, brick building replaced a structurally-unsound school. The new Lincoln School building included fire safety features such as fire-resistsant, concrete construction corridors and stairways. The WPA crews also manufactured the brick used in the masonry walls of the school. The exact location and condition of the school are unknown to the Living New Deal.

The PWA provided funds for the construction of Lincoln School in 1940. From Wikipedia: In addition to Lincoln, the new elementary schools included Monroe, Madison, Washington, Jefferson, and McKinley. Lincoln was the only new facility to be built on the location of one of the older buildings. The floor plans for all six school buildings was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Smith & Childs, and they are all similar in layout. Local architects were employed to design the stylistic features for each building. Davenport architect Howard S. Muesse was chosen for Lincoln School. The building was constructed by Langlois Construction...

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. At the former Lincoln School the Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) painted classrooms and repaired ceilings in 1933. Heating facilities and floors were improved in 1934. Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) funds also allowed for a new playground for the school that year. In 1936 the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.)  conducted numerous repairs, including varnishing interior woodwork; painting, both inside and out; patching ceilings; and re-pointing bricks. New concrete walkways were installed by the W.P.A. in 1937. A school addition project was completed by the...

"The gymnasium addition on the north end is a tall one-story addition faced with light cream colored brick. This is a windowless building, with some high windows on the north having been bricked in. The roof is basically flat, with a very slightly pitched center for drainage. "The entrance facing east has two sets of double wood doors, flanked by a dark stacked-brick surround. The entrance is covered with a flat metal canopy roof. Concrete stairs lead from the sidewalk level to the street. "This addition was constructed in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) with an appropriation of $43,250."

An addition to Lincoln School in Laramie, Wyoming was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project during the Great Depression. "In 1936 Public Works Administration (PWA) funding became available for school expansion. William Dubois of Cheyenne was hired as architect for the addition, assisted by F.W. "Fred" Ambrose, who had worked for Hitchcock. Work was completed in 1939, with two new classrooms, a gymnasium, cafeteria and a small performance area. The addition's style followed the original. A further addition, designed by the sons of Wilbur Hitchcock, W. Eliot and Clinton, added more classrooms." (Wikipedia, from NHRP form) PWA Docket No....

Trenton, New Jersey's old Lincoln School, then a segregated facility, was improved by the federal National Youth Administration (NYA) ca. 1936. The facility now operates as the Rivera School. Quote "The Dawn," a monthly WPA newsletter, July 1936: Twelve colored boys are constructing a baseball diamond at the Lincoln School, and eight girls are doing bookbinding work at the same school.

"Project #1 B4 662 Lincoln School La Verne Opened Nov 27, 34 Closed March 20, 35 Attached pictures are views taken at Lincoln School, and are typical of the various school jobs accomplished under this project." 5 photos depict landscaping around the front of the building, playground equipment, a "chandelier made by L.A.C.R.A. (Los Angeles County Relief Agency) for the Music room.", and electrical light fixtures in the auditorium made by the same man who made the chandelier Lincoln school is now know as J. Marion Roynon Elementary School. The school depicted in the WPA photos was replaced in the 1950's.

Jefferson City, Missouri's Lincoln University received a $10,000 grant from the federal Civil Works Administration (CWA).

Lindbergh STEAM Academy (originally Lindbergh Junior High School) was rebuilt by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1935 after the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake destroyed the original 1930 structure. The school was designed in WPA/PWA Moderne style by D. Easton Herrald to resemble an airplane with the main entry, library, and administrative offices the nose of the aircraft and the classrooms the wings. Above the main entrance is a relief map of Charles Lindbergh's historic transatlantic flight. The 1933 earthquake destroyed hundreds of schools throughout Southern California. “On August 29, 1933, Long Beach citizens approved a $4,930,000 bond measure for the rebuilding...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed an extension to the multi-purpose former community building and Linden Fire Station in Malden, Mass. WPA Bulletin: A ward meeting place has been built, recreational quarters added and library floor space doubled by a recent WPA addition to the Linden Fire Station, and branch public library, Maiden. The addition is provided with modern heating, plumbing and electricity. The expansion housed a small branch library, in addition to the fire station. The building has not been an active fire station or library for years, however, it remains the property of the City of Malden which utilizes it for...

Pictured here is a postcard of the Little Chapel in the Woods on the Campus of Texas Woman's University in Denton, TX. It was built by the NYA and designed by O'Neil Ford and Arch Swank (O'Neil Ford is a big name in Texas architecture). Students at the college designed many of the interior features. Mrs. Roosevelt attended its dedication on November 1, 1939. The chapel's website summarizes its construction: "The students and faculty of Texas Woman's University actively participated in both raising the funds for and designing all the artwork in the Chapel. Throughout 1938 and 1939, more than 300 TWU...

Multiple New Deal-supported construction projects were undertaken on the campus of Winthrop University during the 1930s. "The WPA also directed the relocation and reconstruction of the chapel—believed to be designed by Robert Mills—in which Winthrop classes were first held in Columbia, before the college moved to Rock Hill." (sc.gov)

The 1914 historic school building in Red River, New Mexico—now a museum—was the recipient of a distinctive New Deal project: "in 1939, amazingly, WPA funds paid workers to raise the building made with pressed metal siding that gives it a rusticated stone pattern in order to construct concrete living quarters for the teacher as well as a furnace and storage area."

Several New Deal Agencies performed improvement work for the Livermore Falls School in Livermore Falls, between 1933 and 1940. The school was replaced in 1968 and abandoned in 2011 when Jay and Livermore Falls consolidated their school systems. 1933 "The CWA program which was started early this winter presented an opportunity to get some work done on the High School grounds. This will no doubt result in a great improvement in the appearance of this property and therefore be a real asset to the town." 1934 "Report of the School Committee The fiscal year ending February 1, 1935 was quite unusual in the experience of our schools....

From photo verso below: "Adjoining parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in California, which lie directly East of San Francisco, are not densely populated. In one of these areas both counties has a number of high school students with meager facilities for instruction, so the counties pooled their resources on a Works Progress Administration project to construct at Livermore, near the county border, the union high school shown here. It is of earthquake-proof reinforced concrete, stucco finish, with a steel anchor wall against the exterior brick walls."

"The site of this project is a peninsula, locally known as 'The Island' and in addition to the school building, there are baseball and football fields, a running track, tennis courts, and a park containing beautiful old trees. The school, which is 2 stories in height, contains 28 classrooms, a combination gymnasium-auditorium, a kindergarten, cafeteria, library, rooms for domestic science, medical and dental clinics, and a garage for 5 school buses. Construction is semifireproof. The exterior walls are brick trimmed with cast stone and the roofs are covered with slate. The project was completed in April 1939 at a construction...

The Works Progress Administration and the Llano Women's Culture Club teamed together to build a library on the southwest corner of the courthouse square in Llano, Texas in 1939. The WPA provided 70% of the resources for the one-story native flagstone veneered building, and the literary club provided the other 30%. The building is currently used as the Llano County Clerk's office.

The New Deal funded the construction of a new Loara Elementary School in Anahiem, CA. Partial funding came from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The original Loara School was demolished and replaced in 1936. You can still visit a school bell which was a part of the original 1888 Loara School building. The school appears to have been rebuilt again in recent years.

Then known as the State Teachers College at Lock Haven, Lock Haven University benefited during the Great Depression from a large construction project enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA provided a $194,680 grant for the project, whose final cost was $623,191. Construction occurred between February 1938 and July 1939. (PWA Docket No. 1857.) Four buildings were constructed on the campus, including the facilities known as Thomas Field House, the Price Auditorium, and Sullivan Hall (originally constructed as a library; demolished 2015). A power plant, also constructed as part of this PWA project, has since too been demolished.