Education and Health Sites

Texas A&M's old creamery building was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the Great Depression. The building, whose exact location on campus is presently unknown to Living New Deal, has since been demolished. The PWA supplied a $12,200 grant toward the $42,251 total cost of the project. Work occurred between August and December 1934. (PWA Docket No. TX 5803)

Thanks to a Federal grant from the Public Works Administration of $108,000 awarded in 1938, East Texas State Teachers College (now Texas A&M University–Commerce) was able to build the East Dormitory for Girls (now Henderson Hall). Henderson Hall is now houses the School of Social Work, the Department of Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education, student health services and the university police.

In 1934, East Texas State Teachers College (now Texas A&M University–Commerce) requested $123,000 from the Public Works Administration (PWA) to build a dormitory for male students. A few months later, the PWA approved $106,000 for the project. The college added $10,000 and the groundbreaking occurred in July 1935. The dorm opened a year later. The university had the building demolished in February 2008.

In 1938, when it was still called Texas A&I College the WPA provided funds and workers to reconstruct bleachers and fence at the athletic field, construct dressing rooms, pave campus drives and beautify grounds. Texas A&M University-Kingsville grew out of the teacher college or "normal school" movement that swept Texas and the nation in the early 1900s. Chartered in 1917 but not opened until 1925 because of America's entry into World War I, the University is the oldest continuously operating public institution of higher learning in South Texas. Shortly after beginning life as South Texas State Teachers College, its role was...

The three-story brick dormitory was named in honor of Miss Jessie A Sayers, who was a member of the original faculty of Southwest Texas State Normal School, as the university was first named. Under influence from alumnus Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson, the Public Works Administration provided a loan of $98,000 and a grant of $28,000 to fund the construction of the dormitory. The University demolished Sayers Hall and the Academic Services Building now stands in its place. The University also constructed a new residence hall that opened in 2014 and named it Sayers Hall.

The Public Works Administration allotted $650,000 to Texas Tech University to build two dormitories, one for men and one for women. $125,000 was a grant and $445,000 was a loan to be paid back over 30 years at 4% interest. Women's Dormitory No.1 (later named Doak Hall in honor of Mary W. Doak, Texas Tech's first Dean of Women) was built in 1934 based on the design of architect Wyatt C. Hedrick and cost $313,168. Doak Hall housed women until 1943. Men were housed in Doak from 1943 through the 1957-1958 academic years. Later on women were again housed in Doak...

The Public Works Administration allotted $650,000 to Texas Tech University to build two dormitories, one for men and one for women. $125,000 was a grant and $445,000 was a loan to be paid back over 30 years at 4% interest. Men's Dormitory No.1 was built in 1934 based on the design of architect Wyatt C. Hedrick and cost $326,713. The university renamed the building to J. M. West Hall in 1941. Originally housing up to 300 students, West Hall is now an administrative building housing a visitor's center, undergraduate admissions offices, registrar's office, student business services and the scholarship and financial...

Multiple New Deal agencies, including the Public Works Administration (P.W.A.), Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.), and National Youth Administration (N.Y.A.), were involved in dramatically developing and transforming what was then the Texas State College for Women (now Texas Woman's University) in Denton. Federal assistance was responsible for several new buildings on campus in addition to other facilities such as a recently closed outdoor swimming pool. In all New Deal programs helped the institution effectively double its infrastructure.

The former Thackerville School in Thackerville, Oklahoma was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Today, three buildings exist on the campus; however, none of them bear resemblance to other WPA school buildings in southern Oklahoma (although at least one source asserts otherwise). A modest 'memorial' to the old school building, which features its shield-shaped WPA plaque, can be found in front of the current high school on U.S. 77.

Thaddeus Stevens and John Paxton built this structure in 1837 as part of the Caledonia Iron Works. It was destroyed during the Battle of Gettysburg, and was rebuilt and functional until 1895. In 1938, the Works Progress Administration undertook structural renovation and historic restoration work at this site, which is now open to visitors.

"The lack of facilities in the plant made it impossible to meet the demand for an increase in the student body until funds appropriated by the State legislature and a P.W.A. grant made possible the construction of several buildings, one of which was this barracks. It is substantially the same both architecturally and as to construction as the Murray barracks which were built in 1926. It is 4 stories in height and is built around an inner courtyard surrounded with balconies. It provides 52 rooms, 2 toilet rooms, 2 dressing rooms, and 2 shower rooms on each floor....

"The lack of facilities in the plant made it impossible to meet the demand for an increase in the student body until funds appropriated by the State legislature and a P.W.A. grant made possible the construction of several buildings, one of which was this barracks. It is substantially the same both architecturally and as to construction as the Murray barracks which were built in 1926. It is 4 stories in height and is built around an inner courtyard surrounded with balconies. It provides 52 rooms, 2 toilet rooms, 2 dressing rooms, and 2 shower rooms on each floor....

"The Theodore Judah School was constructed in the 1930s as two separate Public Works Administration (PWA) projects. It consists of two small school buildings both built in the Streamlined Moderne style which reached its pinnacle in the 1930s. This moderne style was characterized by flat roofs, smooth wall textures and minimal surface decoration. The school buildings are one story and finished with a stucco faade. Architect Charles Dean of the firm Dean and Dean, designed this school. At the time, Charles Dean was one of Sacramentos premiere architectural designers. The only major alteration are the windows, originally of wood construction...

There is evidence that Civil Works Administration (CWA) workers were hired to do painting on Theodore Roosevelt High School in fm 1933-1934. The school itself was built from 1930-1932, before the New Deal. Also at the site are two recently discovered Nathan Rosenberg murals that are currently being restored.

The old Thermopolis City School was constructed during the 1930s with the assistance of funding from the federal Public Works Administration (PWA Docket No. WY 1058-DS). The school was located on Springview Street, between Big Horn and Mondell streets, and faced west. An auditorium/gymnasium extended eastward. Were it still standing, the building would occupy the space that is currently between the Hot Springs County School District and the Ralph Witters School. A new high school was constructed around the corner during the late 1950s (along Park St.); an even newer high school is located a few hundred feet further down the...

Thomas A. Edison Middle School (formerly Junior High School), which opened in 1926, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. 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 Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member...

Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy, Massachusetts received a sizable addition as part of a New Deal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The PWA provided a $89,958 grant for the work, whose final cost was $183,999. Construction occurred between Oct. 1938 and Dec. 1939.

Lock Haven University's Thomas Field House was one of several facilities constructed during the late 1930s with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building is still in service.

This Art Deco School Building at 411 N Mound St, Nacogdoches, TX 75961 is a two-story facility with basement. A plaque identifies the building as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project.

Thomas Jefferson High School was one of many schools in Los Angeles, CA, that benefited from refurbishment funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) following the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. 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. Jefferson High School's 45-unit Streamline Moderne campus, designed by architect Stiles O. Clement, was completed in 1935. According the Los...

The Works Progress Administration repaired and painted the Thomas Jefferson High School in Charleston. The school is located at the corner of Quarrier and Morris Streets. When a new Charleston High was built about three blocks away, the old one was renamed Thomas Jefferson Junior High School. Like many schools in the area, the Thomas Jefferson High might have operated initially as a high school and later became a junior high or middle school. In 1998 the Virginia State Legislature authorized the sale of the land and the three-story brick structure that was the former Thomas Jefferson High School. The featured historic photographs of Thomas Jefferson and Woodrow Wilson are...

Thornwell College, a dormitory building on the University of South Carolina campus in Columbia, SC, was expanded in 1937, "part of an extensive building program on campus launched in the late 1930s as part of the New Deal. Originally planned as a student union building, Maxcy College and new wings at Thornwell College were erected at a cost of $225,000, a portion of which was paid for by the Public Works Administration." (USC) "New wings, then named Coker and McBryde, were added in the late 1930s as part of a New Deal building program." (USC) The building is located at the north...

"This building at Elbow Lake houses the public library and also serves as a community building. It is one story and a basement in height and contains the library with a separate entrance on one end, and a community room with a stage and a kitchen, and two clubrooms which are provided with an entrance and a lobby of their own. The clubrooms are separated by a folding partition so that they can be used as one room. The structure is semifireproof with exterior walls of brick trimmed with stone. The project was completed in May 1934 at...

Multiple New Deal-supported construction projects were undertaken on the campus of Winthrop University during the 1930s. "While a U.S. senator, Byrnes arranged for Works Project Administration funds to be used with matching state funds to construct three campus buildings – the auditorium, Thurmond Building, and Macfeat Nursery School, now the Macfeat House, a reception area created from the former Academic Computing Center." (winthrop.edu)

The Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory survey of 1985 describes this WPA school built in 1935-1936 as a "single-story, rectangular (31' x 74') structure constructed of coursed and rusticated native stone of buff color... Building this school provided job opportunities to laborers at a time when jobs were scarce in this rural area. Completion of the school improved educational possibilities within this rural area of McIntosh County." At the time of the report, the building was listed as being in private hands. Satellite images from google maps clearly show that the building is now in ruins and overgrown with trees and other vegetation.

 Timpanogos Elementary School in Provo, Utah is now on its third incarnation. The original school on the site was built in 1892.  That school was demolished in 1938 and replaced by a New Deal school constructed with Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1938.  The New Deal version of the school was demolished in 2007 and replaced with a third version of the school at the same location (photo below).

The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) sponsored a large school construction project in Tioga Center, New York during the Great Depression. The PWA provided a $129,766 grant for the project, whose total cost was $245,216. Construction occurred between Dec. 1938 and Nov. 1939. PWA Docket No. NY X1803.

"In 1866, soon after Congress authorized the establishment of a National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, the Eastern Branch opened on the site of a former heath resort for the wealthy built by investor Horace Beals that had gone bankrupt during the Civil War. In response to an influx of returning veterans after World War I, Congress created the Veterans Bureau in 1921, followed by the Veterans Administration in 1930. The Eastern Branch and the other National Home branches were expanded to accommodate a new generation of veterans; the campus experienced a major building campaign. In the early 1930's, the new...

"In 1935, this English Tudor style branch was built with the aid of a Public Works Administration (PWA) grant."

In 1935 The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), a predecessor to the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA), constructed a one-story building that houses the Tonkawa Public Library. Years later another building was added to the original one-story building. The addition was constructed in a similar style as the original FERA building. The Library is still in use today. The Waymarking webpage for this site describes the building as "constructed of rusticated and cut native sandstone set in a random ashlar pattern....The original entrance facing West is centered in a projected bay, and is currently a fixed window. Above this original entrance is a stone...

The historic former Town Hall building for Tooele, Utah was constructed as part of a New Deal project with Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. The building is presently serves as part of the Tooele Pioneer Museum, which is "operated by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers located on Vine Street in the old Tooele City Hall."

"The town of Topsfield received a bequest for the purpose of building a public library. The P.W.A. aided in the enterprise with a loan and grant totaling $15,300 which represented about 40 percent of the project cost. The building as constructed is T-shaped in plan and can accommodate the 17,000 volumes already owned with space for expansion. There are adult and children's reading rooms, delivery room, a librarian's office, and 2 stack rooms. The construction is semifireproof. The foundation walls are concrete, the walls above grade are brick with some cast stone and some wood trim,...

Torrance Elementary School, which opened in 1913, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. 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 Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...

Torrance High School, which opened in 1917, was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. Later in 1938, the PWA funded the construction of a new moderne-style auditorium designed by Wesley Eager. The new auditorium would seat more than 700 people. Due to it's large capacity, it would be used by the high school and other community groups for concerts and performances. According to the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Torrance High School, "Until the 1950's, the high school auditorium was the only hall in Torrance with a large enough space and properly...

In 1936-1937, Anna Katharine Skeele painted mural titled "Home Life in Old Taos" which was commissioned by the Federal Arts Project (FAP). Skeele was a Monrovia, California based artist known for her portraits and focus on Native Americans in the Southwest. "Home in Old Taos" was her first mural painting. She made several trips to Taos, New Mexico to research and develop ideas for the painting. "Home Life in Old Taos" is 8' x 30'  and is oil on canvas. It "depicts Pueblo Indian men and women working on daily tasks, such as grinding corn and collecting water from a river near...

Torrance High School, which opened in 1917, was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. 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 Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with me...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped build the Post Library in Torrance, CA in 1936. The federal government contributed $12,691 to the Post Library project. It served as the City of Torrance's central library from 1936 to 1978.  The Post Library closed its doors after the new Katie Geissert Civic Center Library was built. The Post Library has been home to the Torrance Historical Society and Museum since 1979.

Formerly Tottenville High School, Totten Intermediate School was constructed during the mid-1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.

The City of Orchard Town Center was originally constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as the Orchard School between 1940 and 1941 under the official project number 65-1-66-2586. Designed by architect Ernest L. Schult, the building had thirteen rooms and a combination auditorium and gymnasium. The WPA employed an average of 78 workers and spent $37,705.08. The Orchard Independent School District provided $64,566.79. As part of the same project, the WPA demolished the two-story 1924 Orchard High School and reused some of the materials in the new school.

Old Saybrook, Connecticut's Town Hall was originally constructed as the town's Main Street School; its construction was enabled by the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the 1930s. According to historicbuildingsct.com, a referendum approved the conversion of the historic school building into the town hall in 1999. The PWA gave the community a grant of $71,511, and the school project cost a total of $159,896. PWA completion documents declare that construction on the building began December 1935; the building was completed the following year. PWA Docket No. CT 1076.