Fern Nesson takes us on the road following the original WPA Guidebooks. Follow along as she re-enacts these journeys, discovering what’s old and what’s new.
Guns are much in the news today. Thinking about the genesis of American fascination with them, and the terrible consequences of our misuse of them, inspired me to visit the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield was our country’s first… read more
No person is mentioned more frequently in the Massachusetts Guide than Paul Revere (At least 12 times, and that doesn’t include the references to the city of Revere and the countless streets, squares, statues, businesses, and schools that bear his… read more
“At 253 West 125th Street, near Eighth Avenue, is the Apollo Theatre, known as Harlem’s “opera house.” Opened in 1913, … in 1934 it [began] to present weekly all-Negro revues, with outstanding dance orchestras.” New York City Guide, p.259. The Guide’s… read more
Newport, Rhode Island during the Gilded age (post-Civil War – World War I) is a particular focus of the Rhode Island State Guide. In contrast to the colonial, religious roots of the city and its sea-faring enterprises before the Civil… read more
This August, my husband and I sailed into Bristol, Rhode Island to visit the famed Herreshoff boatworks. Since 1863, Herreshoff has been designing and building sleek wooden sailboats, which are prized and still in use throughout New England’s sailing waters…. read more
For much of its history, the western Massachusetts city of North Adams was a mill town. In 1937, the Massachusetts Guide could imagine no other purpose for its existence: “This little mill city bursts suddenly into view in a setting… read more
When the New York City Guide lavished praise on Grand Central Station in 1939, it gave no hint that this extraordinary building would face destruction thirty years later. In a city chock full of interesting architecture, Grand Central merited three… read more
The New York City Guide’s writers had a passion for the city’s architecture of all periods. Grand Central Station, St Patrick’s Cathedral, the Metropolitan Opera House, City Hall and Gracie Mansion, The Flatiron Building , the NY Public Library, The Metropolitan… read more
Black Mountain College was founded in 1933 by several professors who had been fired by Rollins College for refusing to sign a loyalty oath. The founders purchased land outside Asheville, North Carolina and both students and teachers pitched in to design and… read more
Perhaps the most striking change that I have seen in two years of travels with the State Guides is the nearly total recreation of the waterfront on the west side of Manhattan below 34th Street. The neighborhood was once a… read more
When the Revolutionary war ended in 1783, many Massachusetts soldiers returned to find themselves in debt. In addition to debts incurred by their families while they were at war, the state was proposing to increase taxes to cover its own… read more
“The Cambridge [of Harvard] is famous…. But the story of Cambridge the Unknown City has seldom been told. Yet this is a very real Cambridge. A hundred and fifty thousand people throng its streets, stores and crowded subway stations. Five… read more
The Rhode Island Guide contains a section on ethnic groups entitled ”Foreign Born.” But it notes that 75% of those termed foreign-born are, in fact, American citizens born of immigrant parents. The Italians are the largest group. In 1936,… read more
In 1937, the entrance to Harvard’s rare books collection was housed in one room in Widener Library. The Guide has this mystifying description of the collection: “The Treasure Room, reached from the southwest corner of the entrance hall, is allotted… read more
The small city of Quincy has an outsize place in Presidential history. John Adams, second President of the United States and important contributor to the draft of our Constitution, was born here in 1735. His son, John Quincy Adams, our sixth… read more
In the first half of the19th century, Massachusetts was the scene of the intersection of two social movements: Transcendentalism and Utopianism. Best known in the writings of Emerson and Thoreau, Transcendentalism taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity. Emerson, and… read more
Pre-Civil War firefighting in New York City was done by volunteer groups who built and equipped their own neighborhood firehouses. In 1865, when the city created the Metropolitan Fire Department (MFD), it acquired these buildings and hired distinguished architects to… read more
“I am in earnest – I will not equivocate – I will not excuse. I will not retreat a single inch – and I will be heard!” William Lloyd Garrison, “The Liberator” Boston was the center of the pre-Civil War… read more
The Lower East Side is likely the most colorful and diverse neighborhood in all of Manhattan and it inspired equally colorful descriptive language in the New York City Guide. First home to many immigrant groups “straight off the boat,” this… read more
The New York City Guide has lots to say about New York’s impressive harbor. Foremost among the sites that it describes are the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. One is little changed, the other almost totally transformed. It is… read more
Abraham Lincoln once greeted Harriet Beecher Stowe saying, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war!” A similar claim can be made for Thomas Paine and the American Revolution. Good writers can do that…. read more
In an absolutely masterful piece of writing, the anonymous writer of New York City Guide described Coney Island in profusely colorful, engaging language. It is hard to imagine that any writer could have done it better: “CONEY ISLAND, the sand bar… read more
Attitudes change over time. What once seemed “progressive,” can now be seen as truly repressive. This is certainly the case with the Carlisle Industrial School for Indians. The Carlisle School was founded by U.S. Army Colonel Richard Pratt in 1873…. read more
One of the great pleasures during a New York winter is a visit to the Metropolitan Museum. Not content to display its immense and broad collections in the simple, airy rooms of most museums, The Met has gone to great… read more
The state guides use two different sizes of type: 12-point type for major sites, 8-point for byways and places of less importance. But it is often these 8-point type blurbs that prove the most interesting. A perfect example is the… read more
Thomas Jefferson is one of our most interesting, brilliant, and complicated historical figures. A polymath who authored the Declaration of Independence and founded the University of Virginia, a philosopher and political scientist of the highest quality, a naturalist, an inventor,… read more
By Fern L. Nesson There’s not much to see in Watertown, Massachusetts, a quiet suburb of Boston on the banks of the Charles River. The Massachusetts guide mentions a few historic houses and historical markers memorializing the first settlement in… read more
By Fern L. Nesson and Sasha Wolfrum, October, 2020 One of the most charming aspects of the WPA State Guides are their sections on culture. Aside from the requisite essays on geography, economy, and history, the authors were free to… read more
By Fern L. Nesson Even in the depths of the Great Depression, Nantucket drew tourists for its quaint, but stunning beauty. Here’s what the Guide had to say: “Nantucket is an experience. The steamer rounds Brant Point Light and comes suddenly… read more
By Fern L. Nesson In 1939, the North Carolina Guide unflinchingly described the plight of Blacks in the state. Twenty-nine percent of North Carolina’s population was Black, down from 50 percent before the Civil War. The decline was no mystery;… read more
By Fern L. Nesson, June, 2020 In these days of pandemic and civil unrest, lay-offs and economic insecurity, anxiety and depression, the WPA Guides can be a source of comfort. The Guide’s writers would have related to our pain, as it… read more
Fern L. Nesson, April, 2020 An Introduction: On The Road With the WPA’s American Guide Series The Massachusetts State Guide devotes an entire page to the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge and it urges a visit. Rightly so. “Mt. Auburn… read more
Fern L. Nesson, April, 2020 An Introduction: On The Road With the WPA’s American Guide Series The American Guide Series, produced by the Federal Writers’ Project is one of the most well-known WPA projects. Written as a collection of travel… read more
The American Guide Series by the Federal Writers’ Project have a lot to say about the Civil War, none more than Virginia where the greatest number of battles were fought from the first land battle at Bull Run in 1861,… read more
By Fern L. Nesson I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came… read more
Whaling in Massachusetts ceased in the early 20th century, but the wharves, chandleries, captains, and customs houses remain, offering scenic and fascinating reminders of the trade. In 1939, the writers of the Massachusetts State Guide took a great interest in… read more
The American Guide Series, produced by the Federal Writers’ Project, is one of the most well-known WPA projects. Written as a collection of travel guides, the series included recommended tour routes as well as essays on the history and culture… read more
The American Guide Series, produced by the Federal Writers’ Project is one of the most well-known WPA projects. Written as a collection of travel guides, the series included suggested tour routes as well as essays on the history and culture… read more
