Start Year: 1938

In 1938, the Washington Post reported that the Public Works Administration (PWA) had funds to build a new tuberculosis unit with 150 additional beds at the Freedman's Hospital site. The same year, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) also did repairs at the former Freedman's Hospital in Washington DC.  WPA project cards in the National Archives state that the work to be done was to, "Clean and renovate Freedmen's Hospital buildings, including cleaning windows, washing walls, floors, woodwork, furnishings and small equipment". Freedmen's Hospital was established in 1862 to serve the thousands of African Americans who came to Washington during the Civil War, seeking their...

Thomas Circle is a traffic circle at the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Vermont Avenue, 14th Street, and M Street, NW.  The through lanes of Massachusetts Ave. pass under Thomas Circle. That underpass was constructed in 1938-40, apparently with federal support from the Public Works Administration (PWA).

Originally called the National Bureau of Standards, this a measurement standards laboratory, which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce. The name was changed in 1988. (It is also sometimes known as the National Metrological Institute (NMI)). Originally located at the intersection of Connecticut Ave. NW and Van Ness St. NW in Washington, DC, the institute later relocated to Gaithersburg, maryland. The original campus is no longer extant. In 1938-40, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) did extensive work on the facilities. WPA relief labor was employed around the Bureau of Standards site to: "Rehabilitate buildings and improve facilities...

This classic New Deal post office was constructed by the Treasury Department in 1938. It is still standing, but now houses the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. The mural originally painted for this post office has been moved to the new post office which is located catty corner from this building, to the northeast.

The historic post office in Purcell, Oklahoma was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses New Deal artwork inside, was completed in 1939 and is still in use today.

Newland Memorial fountain, located at Chevy Chase Circle on the border of Washington D.C. and Chevy Chase MD, was create to honor Francis Newlands, Congressman, author of the Newlands Reclamation Act, and developer of Chevy Chase. The fountain was designed by Edward Wilton Donn in 1933 and put in place in 1938.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. New Deal workers erected the monument as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program.  The work was probably done by Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief laborers, who were active in parks renovations across the district in the 1930s.

Originally called Fort Humphreys, this Army post was established during World War I. The name was changed to Fort Belvoir in 1935. "Title I of the Work Relief and Public Works Appropriation Act gave $13,942,572 in WPA funds and $52,283,400 in PWA funds for Army housing. Spent at 64 posts, 285 projects, 1091 sets of quarters. These projects had to be substantially completed by Jan. 1, 1940...Both Jadwin Loop Village and Gerber Village expanded in 1939 with the addition of row houses using PWA workers."   (https://www.fortbelvoirhousinghistory.com) WPA work on the site in 1938-40 included: "Improve grounds at Fort Humphreys…including rehabilitating roads and sidewalks,...

The Columbia Hospital for Women was established at this site in 1870. According to Works Progress Administration (WPA) records in the National Archives, the WPA did extensive improvements at the site in 1938, "working on the grounds, erecting fences, pointing up the masonry wall, lining coping on wall, and other  incidental and appurtenant work." Although the archival records only indicate that the work was approved, this project was most likely completed as described, when the WPA was very active around the District of Columbia. The extensive brick facility is now a condominium residence called "The Columbia Residences." 

Project cards in the National Archives index describes extensive work to be undertaken by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Arlington National Cemetery in 1938-41.   "Reconstruct and improve roads and streets in Arlington National Cemetery Reservation located near Fort Myer in Arlington County; Improve buildings, grounds and utilities of the Arlington National Cemetery by painting, brick and carpentry work, razing old buildings, grading, top soiling, seeding, planting trees, spraying and shrubs, setting and realigning headstones, rebuilding rubble masonry wall, rip-rapping streams, laying drain pipe; Improve and enlarge existing facilities and improve grounds at Arlington National Cemetery. The work includes installing...

The Soldiers' Home was established in 1851, as an "asylum for old and disabled veterans." Four of the original buildings still stand and are listed as national historic landmarks.  The U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home remains a thriving community of military retirees and veterans in the heart of Washington DC. In 1934, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) reconstructed and repaired buildings and machinery at the site, did general landscaping and painting, built two storehouses, tiled the milk house and built roads, according to records at the National Archives In 1938-39, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) did extensive work at the facility. WPA records...