The Lowdown

The Lowdown features articles on the people, projects and achievements of the Living New Deal itself.

• Posters for the Green New Deal Exhibit Now Online

  • April 12, 2020

  “Art and Activism: From the New Deal to the Green New Deal,” our exhibit at the Canessa Gallery in San Francisco, was cut short due to the shelter-in-place order in the city. Now, thanks to our partners at the Creative Action Network, the public can view the exhibit highlights online. ...
• Washington DC New Deal Map Launch Postponed

  • April 12, 2020

  The launch of the Living New Deal’s pocket map of New Deal Washington DC, planned for June, has been postponed due to the current epidemic. We will reschedule the launch with our partners at the Department of Interior and the Greenbelt Museum when that becomes possible again. Until then, we ...
• The New Deal Model and the Current Economic Crisis

  • April 12, 2020

  More and more, the New Deal is being held up by opinion makers as a model to meet the economic crisis brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has brought the economy grinding to a halt. Reports say the U.S. will see a huge fall in GDP and millions unemployed, mostly blue-collar ...
• WPA's Tuberculosis Containment Measures During the New Deal

  • April 12, 2020

  Responding to a persistent public health crisis in the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built many portable huts to isolate and care for tuberculosis patients across the United States. Living New Deal Project Historian, Brent McKee, published a blog post, in which he describes the WPA’s swift response to the ...
• Exhibit: Posters for a New Age Inspired by New Deal Art

  • March 8, 2020

  Opening March 6 at Canessa Gallery in San Francisco, “Art and Activism: From the New Deal to the Green New Deal,” and exhibit of WPA and contemporary posters, connects the Green New Deal to its New Deal roots.  As the Creative Action Network notes, "During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal ...
• New Deal Discovery: Women’s Testimonials from the WPA

  • March 8, 2020

  LND National Associate, Andrew Laverdiere, has made a fascinating archival discovery at the University of Maine Library: testimonials from women employed by the New Deal. Some examples include Dorris Isaacson, a woman journalist who became a member of the Federal Writers' Project in Maine, and a WPA Sewing Project worker who offered a ...
• Where in the World is Evan: Jersey City Medical Center

  • March 8, 2020

  Many of Evan Kalish’s New Deal history finds are chance discoveries, but few are sites as vast as the Jersey City Medical Center complex. While visiting friends who live in what is a now a modern apartment complex, Evan noticed some of the building’s early-century architectural details and fixtures. Naturally, ...
• New Deal Era Laguna Beach Digester Saved

  • March 8, 2020

  Last time the Living New Deal reported on the woes of the New Deal-era Laguna Beach Digester, its fate seemed all but sealed: the Laguna Beach City Council was poised to vote for its demolition, an all too common fate for humble but essential facilities of historic merit. Much has ...
• Kathleen Duxbury Talk at New Deal Art Exhibit

  • February 1, 2020

  On Mach 19, author Kathleen Duxbury is invited to speak at the Dunn Museum in Libertyville, IL. She will share the fascinating story of New Deal artist Reima Victor Ratti, who joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to support his struggling family. A self-taught artist from Waukegan, Ratti was assigned ...
• Where in the World is Evan? Stafford CT CCC Museum

  • February 1, 2020

  When constructed in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as part of Camp Conner, the present day CCC museum served as the camp office and officers’ quarters. Evan Kalish, our Researcher at Large, traveled to the CCC Museum in Stafford CT to photograph the site. The rich collection of ...