Washington D.C. Sites

In 1941, the Washington Post reported the start of a $1,158,000 road paving program carried out by the Public Roads Administration division of the Federal Works Administration (FWA). One of the streets slated to be paved was 21st Street between Virginia Avenue and C Street, NW. Although the street has been repaved since 1941, the New Deal played a role in its continued maintenance.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Twenty-fourth Street, from Wagner Place to Good Hope Road. WPA workers graded this road, and also “placed old broken concrete and Macadam, for a depth of approximately seven inches, as a base source. This material was then rolled and covered with a bituminous material by maintenance forces…The completion of formed a necessary adjunct to the large private development in this vicinity”

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out pavement repair and other, unspecified improvements to Twenty-Second Street NW, from Constitution Avenue to E Street, in 1935-36. The work was part of the $949,496 WPA allotment for DC roadwork for fiscal year 1936. This WPA roadwork is undoubtedly no longer visible, in part because the War Department building (now the State Department) was built over 22d Street in the early 1940s.

The field house at Twin Oaks Playground was constructed by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) relief crews in 1933-34. The playground itself dates to 1920.  Originally a "white" playground in Washington’s segregated playground system, Twin Oaks was officially opened to all children in 1953. The 1-½ story field house follows the Colonial Revival design developed by municipal architect Albert L. Harris after the vernacular Hall-and-Parlor houses of the Tidewater region, a regionally appropriate style that was informal and good for recreation areas. In 1936, the Washington Post reported that Works Progress Administration (WPA) crews had also done work on the Twin Oaks Playground,...

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...

In 1933-34, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) worked at the United States Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery repairing the grounds and cleaning tombstones.  It is one of the country’s oldest national cemeteries, the final resting place for more than 14,000 veterans, mostly from the Civil War

Two major improvements were made to the U.S. Treasury Department building in 1933-34, using funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and under the supervision of the newly created Procurement Division of the Treasury Department.  The first major improvement was the remodeling of the fourth floor, originally attic space, “into good office space, and air conditioned so as to be a liveable place to work in hot weather of the Summer” (Evening Star, 1933).  The exact cost of this project is unknown, but it was between $140,000 and $200,000 of the PWA funds. The second major improvement to the Treasury building...

The Department of the Interior was the first federal building in Washington, D.C. fully authorized, designed, and built under the Franklin Roosevelt Administration. It was the brainchild of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, probably the most powerful member of FDR's cabinet, and later renamed for former Secretary of Interior, Stewart Lee Udall, in 2010. The Department had outgrown the old Interior Building (now the General Services Administration Building) and its agencies were scattered at 15 different sites in the District of Columbia. Funds were allotted by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1934, construction began in April 1935 and was...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. Kiowa artist James Auchiah studied mural painting with Olle Nordmark in Oklahoma before coming to Washington.  Auchiah painted a large (8' x 50'), oil-on-rough-plaster lunette, "Harvest Dance", on the west wall of the main cafeteria in the basement. It was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.   "Auchiah's mural, 'Harvest Dance,' is an example of pure design and centers on a scene of Indians around a campfire with their tipis...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  In 1938, Louis Bouché won a competition held by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts to paint a backdrop for the Department auditorium.  He produced a giant triptych called "Conservation - Western Lands and Symbols of the Interior Department."  It is almost 12 feet high; the central section is 15 feet wide and the two side panels are over 4 feet wide. It was removed in 1971 for many years...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time. Edgar Britton painted "Petroleum Industry: Production" and "Petroleum Industry: Distribution and Use" in 1939, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. These frescoes to recognize the Petroleum Division of the Bureau of Mines are hung in the 4th floor main corridor, north of the elevator lobby. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.  For more information on the Interior building,...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. In 1938, Nicolai Cikovsky painted four murals commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts: "Apples," "Gathering Dates," "Desert" and "Irrigation."   They can be found on the 2d floor in the main corridor, south of the Grand Staircase. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.  For more information on the Interior building, its art and the artists, see Look and Perrault...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  From 1939 to 1941, Woodrow Wilson Crumbo of the Creek-Potawatomie Tribe in Oklahoma and other Indian artists were invited to Washington to study mural painting with Olle Nordmark and then create murals in the Interior building. Crumbo painted several murals concerning Potawatomie life in inner room of the South Penthouse on the 8th floor (the former Employees' Break Room).  They are: "Buffalo Hunt", "Wild Horses", "Deer", "Courting", "Flute Player", "Peyote Bird." The Department of Interior...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  John Steuart Curry painted “The Rush for the Oklahoma Land – 1889” (not 1894 as it says in the bronze plaque) and "The Homesteading and the Building of Barbed Wire Fences" in 1937-39. They were commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and painted to honor the General Land Office and Grazing Service, precursors to today's Bureau of Land Management, and hang on the 5th floor main corridor,...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. In 1938, Ernest Fiene painted a set of four oil-on-canvas murals depicting the land management functions of the Department of Interior, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.  They are: "Winter Roundup," "Placer Mining," "Replanting Wasteland" and "Fighting Forest Fire."   They are installed on the Second Floor main corridor, north of the Grand Staircase. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration. For...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  Boris Gilbertson created two bas-reliefs for the building, titled "American Bison" and "American Moose," 1937-1939, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.  They hang in the first floor corridor just north of the main lobby. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.  For more information on the Interior building, its art and the artists, see Look and Perrault 1986 (below...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  Two statues in exterior Court EE, outside the cafeteria, are by Maurice Glickman, "Negro Mother and Child," and Louis Slobodkin, "Abe Lincoln".  Both are in bronze with a black serpentine base and stand around 10 feet tall, including the base. Both are done in an Art Deco style. The statues were commissioned under the Public Works of Art Project and installed by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in 1940. The...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. William Gropper painted an enormous, 3-panel oil-on-canvas mural, entitled "Construction of a Dam".  It was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts c 1936-37 and installed in 1940. The mural, which honors the work of the Bureau of Reclamation, hangs on the 2d floor across the south end of the main corridor.   Gropper was a left-leaning artist who celebrated the workers building the dam and in the rightmost panel...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. From 1939 to 1941, several Indian artists were invited by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts to study with Olle Nordmark and then paint murals in the Interior building. In 1940, Velino Herrera from the Zia Pueblo in New Mexico painted a set of murals called "Pueblo Life" in what is now the South Penthouse on the 8th floor (formerly the Employees' Break Room). On the East Wall are "Buffalo...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time. From 1939 to 1941, Allan Capron Houser and other Indian artists were invited by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts to study mural painting with Olle Nordmark and then paint murals in the Interior building.  Houser was from the Fort Sill Apache Tribe in Oklahoma. In the South Penthouse on the 8th floor (the former Employees' Break Room), Houser painted three large murals on "Apache Scenes" in 1940: "Singing Love Songs,"...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time – including several by Native American artists. The Indian Craft Shop, Room 1023, was included in the building in order to aid Native American artists and crafts people to reach a wider public (it was originally known as the "Arts and Crafts Shop"). On the north wall of the Indian Craft Shop on the 1st floor there are two small murals by Allan Capron Houser, "Buffalo Hunt" and "Breaking Camp...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. Mitchell Jamieson's painting, "An Incident in Contemporary American Life," depicts the  April 9, 1939 Marian Anderson concert at the Lincoln Memorial.  That concert came about after the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused to allow Anderson to sing before an integrated audience in Constitution Hall.  That incident infuriated many people, including Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who arranged for a public concert...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  David McCosh painted two murals for  the National Park Service, both created in 1940 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, entitled, “Themes of the National Parks.”  One is dominated by a vista of Yosemite with smaller scenes of Carlsbad Caverns, Devils Tower, Crater Lake, and Yellowstone. The other features Bryce Canyon with smaller scenes of Olympic, Sequoia, Mesa Verde, Death Valley, and Rainbow Bridge. They can be found...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. Several Indian artists were invited to Washington in 1939-41 to study mural art and paint murals for the Interior Building. Kiowa artist Stephen Mopope painted "Ceremonial Dance (Indian Theme)" in 1939, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.  It is a large (6' x 50') oil-on-plaster lunette on the east wall of the main cafeteria in the basement. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. From 1939 to 1941, Gerald Nailor, a Navajo, and other Indian artists were invited by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts to Washington to study with Olaf Normandy and then paint murals in the Interior building.   In the South Penthouse (8th floor), Nailor painted three large murals called "Navajo Scenes" in 1940: "Preparing Yarn For Weaving" (West Wall), "The Hunting Ground" (South Wall on both side of entry door)...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. James Michael Newell painted two murals, "Insular Possession: Virgin Islands" and "Insular Possession: Alaska," in 1939, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.  They depict the work of the Office of Insular Affairs, one of many agencies within the Department of Interior, and hang on the 6th floor north of the elevator lobby. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.  For...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. The Department of Interior Museum organizes tours by prior arrangement.  Henry Varnum Poor painted "Conservation of American Wildlife" in 1939, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.  This enormous fresco, covering an entire end wall at the north end of the 3d floor corridor,  acknowledges the work of the Bureau of Biological Survey and Bureau of Fisheries (reorganized into the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1940)....

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time.  Millard Sheets produced a four-panel, oil-on-canvas mural, “The Negro’s Contribution in the Social and Cultural Development of America”, featuring The Arts, Education, Science and Religion. This imposing set of murals was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in 1939 but not installed until 1948, owing to disagreements over the original subject matter. While Sheets was white, he sought to express "my high regard and feeling for the...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  Two large bas-relief panels are mounted on either side of the stage of the auditorium, one by Heinz Warneke and one by Ralph Stackpole.  Warneke's was commissioned in 1937 by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and installed in 1939; Stockpole's was commissioned in 1938 and installed in 1940.   The panels are 10' high by 4' wide.  Warneke's is cast stone and Stockpole's is Indiana limestone.  Heinz Warneke treats...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  Gifford Beal painted "Tropical Country" and "North Country" in 1941 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. They hang on the 5th floor, south of the elevator lobby. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.  For more information on the Interior building, its art and the artists, see Look and Perrault 1986 (below – available online). Artworks begin on p. 110.  

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  Maynard Dixon painted "Themes of the Bureau of Indian Affairs: Indian and Soldier" and "Themes of the Bureau of Indian Affairs: Indian and Teacher" in 1939 with funding from the Section of Fine Arts.  Created to honor the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the murals hang in the 4th floor south lobby. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.  For more information on the...

The United States Travel Bureau existed from 1937 to 1943 as an office within the Interior Department, and its mission was to promote travel in the western hemisphere and especially within the United States. The U.S. Travel Bureau had offices in Washington, DC, New York, and San Francisco. In DC, its office was located at 1702 F Street NW (at the corner of F and 17th), across from today’s Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The building that the Travel Bureau was located in is probably no longer extant. In their WPA Guide to Washington, DC, federal writers described the Travel Bureau’s office: “Its...

In 1940, the the Works Progress Administration (WPA)  installed sewers on Upton Street, Reno Road, and Thirty-Seventh Street in the district's northwest quadrant. This work was part of a massive New Deal era program for Washington of sewer construction, separation of sanitary and storm sewers, and sewage treatment at the new Blue Plains facility in order to clean up the badly polluted Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.

A 1941 article in the Washington Post reported the imminent start of paving on Utah Avenue NW between Nebraska Avenue and Pinehurst Circle at the Maryland border, to be conducted by the Bureau of Public Roads, a division of the Federal Works Administration (FWA).

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of the V Street Houses in Washington DC between 1936 and 1938. It appears that the V Street Houses no longer exist. They were described as being constructed “in the square directly west of that containing the Williston Apartments” (National Capital Housing Authority report, 1945). Today, however, that area contains houses and apartments that are part of the larger Kelly Miller housing complex. (Note: It is possible that some of the V Street Houses still exist, in modified form, as part of the Kelly Miller townhomes . More research, and a possible on-site evaluation, would probably...

In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed sewers at Van Buren Street and Georgia Avenue in the district's northwest quadrant. This work was part of a massive New Deal era program for Washington of sewer construction, separation of sanitary and storm sewers, and sewage treatment at the new Blue Plains facility in order to clean up the badly polluted Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.

In 1936-37, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Van Ness Street NW., from Forty-second to Forty-sixth Streets. The WPA improved this road with recycled material and the “laying of a thin blanket of bituminous material.” It was described as “a major project involving approximately 10,000 square yards.”

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Civil Works Administration (CWA) funded improvements at the Virginia Avenue Playground in Washington DC. Today, the sire is called Virginia Avenue Park. The work consisted of the following improvements: CWA and FERA, 1933-1934, “Graded, fenced, running track 90 percent complete, old pavilion removed; roof reshingled, electric lights installed.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia 1935) FERA, 1934-1935, “Completed running track.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia 1936)

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the Civil Works Administration (CWA) completed improvements at the Georgetown Playground in Washington DC. Today, the playground is part of the Volta Park Recreation Center. The work consisted of the following improvements: “Graded, topsoil, fenced, 6 gates, remodeled interior of shelter house, new plumbing, wired for electric lights.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia 1935) FERA, 1934-1935, “Surfaced two tennis courts.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia 1936) WPA, 1935-1936, “2 tennis courts surfaced with clay.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia 1936) WPA, 1936-1937, “Constructed pool...

The Walker-Johnson Building contained the headquarters of several New Deal work-relief agencies, including the WPA. It was in this building that Harry Hopkins had his main office and where he directed the activities of federal programs that employed millions of Americans on public works projects across the nation. The Walker-Johnson Building was also utilized by the State Department and the U.S. Information Agency. The Walker-Johnson Building was demolished sometime after 1956, and the United Unions Building now stands at the site.