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  • Legation Street NW Construction - Washington DC
    In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a new roadway at 30th Street, Military Road, and Legation Street in the district's northwest quadrant. It is not clear which road was new, but probably Legation Street.  This project was part of a massive New Deal program of street paving and upgrades around the city of Washington DC.  Most such work is invisible today beneath subsequent repavings.
  • Leiter Estate Landscaping - Washington DC
    The Civilian Conservation Corps built park amenities and landscaped portions of the Leiter Estate in 1936-1937. A National Parks Service/Historic American Buildings Survey report describes the nature of the work performed by the CCC: “Upon acquiring the Leiter estate, the NPS planned to turn the acreage ‘into a public recreation area...form a section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.’ Enrollees from Camp NP-6-VA (Fort Hunt) engaged in ‘selective cutting to open up desirable vistas of the river.’ In addition to creating view sheds, they further enhanced visitor amenities with the construction of 2.5 miles of foot trails and fifteen table-and-bench combinations,...
  • Library of Congress Adams Building - Washington DC
    The John Adams Building is one of three buildings of the Library of Congress. Congress passed a bill to fund an annex to the library in 1930, but construction did not take place until the mid-1930s, making it a New Deal project.  The building opened in January 1939.  It was known as 'the Annex' until the 1970s. The original appropriation for the building was $6.5 million, which proved insufficient and an additional $2.8 million was added by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1935.  The total cost, including land and equipment, was $9.3 million. The Adams Building was meant to supplement the Library's Main...
  • Library of Congress Adams Building: Lawrie Doors - Washington DC
    The doors at the main (west) entrance and side (south) entrances to the John Adams Building of the Library of Congress are magnificent cast bronze works by sculptor Lee Lawrie. Lawrie was probably America's foremost architectural sculptor of the time, with works at Rockefeller Center and across the country. The Lawrie Doors appear to have been commissioned by the Office of the Capitol along with the rest of the building and installed as the building was completed in 1939. The exact date of their casting is unknown to us. For the three front doors to the Adams Building, Lawrie cast three bas-relief...
  • Lily Ponds Houses - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Lily Ponds Houses in Washington, DC, in 1943. It consisted of 500 living units and was built for national defense workers. In 2006, researcher Joe Lapp described the Lily Ponds Houses in a history brochure about the surrounding Kenilworth neighborhood: “The Alley Dwelling Authority noticed a large plot of unused farmland (once the David Miller farm) in the Kenilworth area, right next to the new national park, the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. In 1943 they built the Lily Ponds Houses, a complex of one-story red tile and cement...
  • Lily Ponds Houses Administration and Community Building - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of an administration and community building for the Lily Ponds Houses and surrounding community, ca. 1943-1944. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if this building still exists. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of the DC Government. The Lily Ponds Houses Administration and...
  • Lincoln Heights Dwellings - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of the Lincoln Height Dwellings in Washington, DC, 1943-1946. Today, the DC Housing Authority manages “Lincoln Heights,” which is probably located on the same area as the original Lincoln Heights Dwellings. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the original structures still exist. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally...
  • Lincoln Memorial: Repairs and Snow Removal - Washington DC
    On May 26, 1933, Lieutenant Colonel U.S. Grant III, grandson of President Ulysses Grant and director of the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, presented a large public works program for Washington, DC, “in anticipation of the early passage of the national industrial recovery act.” In the report, a request was made for $6,890, “For cleaning and pointing up interior stonework at the Lincoln Memorial… to prevent further deterioration” (Evening Star, 1933).  Ultimately, the Public Works Administration (PWA), created as part of the NIRA in 1933, allotted $3,465 for the job (about $69,000 in 2019 dollars)...
  • Lincoln Playground Field House - Washington DC
    The field house at the former Lincoln Playground (now Joy Evans Park and Lincoln Capper Pool) was built by Civil Works Administration (CWA) relief workers in 1934. It appears to have been demolished and replaced by the Joy Evans Early Childhood Center. The design was brick Colonial Revival, the standard plan for field houses from the period. The Lincoln Playground field house was a notable example of its type and follows the design first established by Municipal Architect Albert L. Harris, whose work is closely identified with civic architecture in Washington, D.C. The Lincoln Playground field house was the only one of...
  • Linnean Avenue NW Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Linnean Avenue NW, Ellicott Street to Broad Branch Road. The WPA graded this road, and also prepared it for paving with a foundation of salvaged material: “The old material is obtained from old roadways which have deteriorated due to the strain of heavy later-day traffic and were replaced by new standard type pavements.” Also, “This was an entirely new development and it formed a link between Broad Branch Road and the paved portion of Linnean Avenue at Ellicott Street thus opening up a short cut from the section north of Broad Branch Road to...
  • Logan Playground Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration, and the Civil Works Administration (WPA) funded improvements at the Logan Playground in Washington DC. The work consisted of the following improvements: WPA, 1935-1936, “grading 1,000 cubic yards.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia 1936) WPA, 1936-1937, “Completed grading, fencing 400 linear feet; one gate.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia 1937) WPA, 1937-1938, “Installation of equipment.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia 1938)
  • Luzon Avenue NW Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Luzon Avenue NW. from Sixteenth Street to Whittier Street. The WPA graded this road, and also prepared it for paving with a foundation of salvaged material. “In addition to fine grading and placing of salvaged material, this project required a small amount of heavy grading.”  
  • M Street SE Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of M Street SE, from Fairlawn Avenue to Anacostia Road. The WPA graded this road, and also prepared it for pavement by putting in a foundation of recycled road material (e.g., concrete, rock, macadam).
  • MacArthur Boulevard NW - Washington DC
    In 1935-36, Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief crews built a new roadway in the district's northwestern quadrant, west of Glover Park. Based on the description from the National Archives, this was most like an extension and expansion of  Conduit Road, now MacArthur Boulevard: "West of Glover Park, on the heights overlooking the Potomac, WPA workers completed a task which involved real pioneering, even though it was carried on within a few miles of the Capitol of the Nation. A labor battalion there cut through a literal wilderness on the very outskirts of the Capitol. Several weeks afterwards a broad city thoroughfare...
  • Macomb Playground Improvements - Washington DC
    The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) funded improvements at the Macomb Playground in Washington DC between 1935 and 1936. The crews graded 1,500 cubic yards.  
  • Macomb Street NW Divorcement Sewers - Washington DC
    In 1938, the Public Works Administration (PWA) allotted $47,870 for the Macomb Street Divorcement Sewers project. Two new sewer lines were installed in the area of Macomb Street and 38th Street NW, running southwest in the direction of Massachusetts Avenue for a length of about 5,000 linear feet (nearly one mile). These divorcement sewers separated domestic sewage from storm water run-off (two products that had previously collected in a combined sewer line), allowing the sewage to be treated at the new Blue Plains facility and reducing pollution caused by periodic overflow during rain storms. The divorcement sewer project was completed in early-to-mid...
  • Malcolm X Avenue SE Extension - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a roadway extension from Nichols Avenue to Bolling Field in southeast Washington DC in 1942. Judging from the current roadway network, this extension appears to have been Portland Street, which is now Malcolm X Avenue. Nichols is now Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. This project was part of a major program of road building and repaying across DC undertaken during the New Deal.  Like all such road work, it is probably invisible today due to subsequent repavings; but the street itself is still there.
  • Marion Park Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1935, the Public Works Administration (PWA) funded renovations for Marion Park, southeast of the Capitol, such as sidewalk repair, landscaping, and so forth.  Marion Park was first established in 1886, but like other parks in the district had suffered neglect for many years. The New Deal undertook a major program of parks improvement across the city in the 1930s with input from the PWA, Civil Works Administration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  It is likely that the labor for Marion Park improvements was provided by the WPA. Marion park has recently been the scene of controversy,...
  • Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building - Washington DC
    The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building is named after Marriner Stoddard Eccles (1890-1977), FDR’s Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1934-1948. It was built from 1935-1937, at a cost of $3,484,000. The Federal Reserve paid for the building out of its own funds, and also took part in the construction plans. The architect of the Federal Reserve Building was Paul P. Cret, and the contractor was the George A. Fuller Company. FDR dedicated the building on October 20, 1937, and Congress named the building after Eccles in 1982.
  • Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial - Washington DC
    Mary McLeod Bethune was a major figure in the New Deal and one of the highest placed African Americans in American government up to that time. She served as director of the National Youth Administration’s Division of Negro Affairs and was part of President Roosevelt’s informal advisory group, the “Black Cabinet.”  In 1935, she founded the National Council of Negro Women, a non-profit organization that still operates today (see the Living New Deal’s full biography, “Mary McLeod Bethune (1873-1955)”).  Bethune passed away in 1955. The Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial was created by Boston artist Robert Berks. It was paid for with...
  • Maryland Avenue Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Maryland Avenue NE. from Bladensburg Road to Nineteenth Street. The WPA graded this road, and also prepared it for paving with a foundation of salvaged material. “This work was done in connection with the paving of a portion of the roadway with cement concrete under the supervision of the Construction Division .”  
  • Massachusetts Avenue NW Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out repaving and other improvements to a segment of Massachusetts Avenue NW, from Wisconsin Avenue to Nebraska Avenue, in 1935-36. “The roadway of Massachusetts Avenue NW, from Wisconsin Avenue to Nebraska Avenue, was improved with combination cement curb and gutter and the old macadam roadway was covered with a bituminous surface. With the exception of two narrow strips adjacent to the gutters, practically no new concrete base was laid.” The work was part of the $949,496 WPA allotment for DC roadwork for fiscal year 1936. This WPA roadwork is probably not discernible today due to subsequent road maintenance,...
  • Massachusetts Avenue SE Extension - Washington DC
    According to Work: A Journal of Progress, in 1935-1936 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) extended Massachusetts Avenue SE approximately one mile from Anacostia Road at Randle Circle to Alabama Avenue near the Maryland border, along the southern border of Fort Circle Park. This project was part of a nearly $1 million in WPA road work around the district in 1935-36. The road still exists though the WPA pavement is probably invisible today.
  • Maud Street NW Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Maud Street NW, from Macomb Street to Loughboro Road. The WPA graded this road, and also prepared it for pavement by putting in a foundation of recycled road material (e.g., concrete, rock, macadam).
  • McMillan Playground Building and Carvings (former) - Washington DC
    Works Progress Administration (WPA) records in the National Archives report that the WPA constructed a recreation building at the McMillan Playground in northwest DC and that New Deal wood carvings were installed inside. The building opened in 1938. The playground was likely in the Bloomingdale neighborhood near the McMillan reservoir. The Park View DC blog reports that in 1934, Eleanor Roosevelt participated in a tree planting ceremony at the playground, which according to the writer was located at 1st and Bryant streets NW. There no longer appears to be a McMillan Playground, but we are told that the recreation building is still...
  • McMillan Playground Improvements - Washington DC
    The Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded improvements at the McMillan Playground in Washington DC. Completed between 1935 and 1938, the work consisted of “Fencing (2,400 feet, 8-foot); completed installation of drainage system.” The WPA completed the following work: 1935-1936, “new recreation building, begun under Civil Works Administration, carried forward to 70% completion; 4 tennis courts subgraded; grading 500 cubic yards.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia  1936) Federal Art Project, 1935-1936, “A fine set of murals depicting games of the eighteenth century has been carved in wood and painted for the McMillan playground house…” . (Report of...
  • Meade and Grant Street Houses - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Meade and Grant Street Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 107 living units was built for African American national defense workers (Washington, DC was highly segregated at the time). It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the structures still exist, but it is not likely since these homes were classified as “demountable,” i.e., intended to be taken down and salvaged sometime after the war. The ADA’s 10-year report (see source list below) indicates that the Meade and Grant Street Houses...
  • Meridian Hill Park Completion - Washington DC
    Meridian Hill Park is a formal, landscaped park in the Columbia Heights neighborhood, with terraces, pools, balustrades and a large cascade in the Italian baroque style. It is, in many people's estimation, the jewel of the District parks system.   Land for the park was purchased in 1910 and construction began in 1912, but was never completed.  In 1935-36, the PWA stepped in to fund completion of the park by providing a grant of $145,000. A 1936 article in the Washington Daily News described the work being done: “Cascades completed and placed in operation. South terraces graded; top soiled and seeded; shrubs and...
  • Merritt Middle School (former) - Washington DC
    Merritt Middle School was built in 1942-43 with funding by Public Works Adminstration (PWA) (part of the Federal Works Agency) to the DC Commissioners for the Board of Education.  It is unknown if the district government paid a portion from its own funds. The school closed in 2009 and the site has been retrofitted as a district police headquarters.   The look of the present building – 1960s brutalism – suggests that the school had been rebuilt since the New Deal.
  • Michigan (former Concord) Avenue NW Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Concord Avenue N, from North Capitol Street to Third Street.  This was a WPA curb and gutter project: “This constitutes the first step in the development of this roadway to connect North Capitol Street and Georgia Avenue.” Concord Avenue was later renamed Michigan Avenue and further improvements have been made.
  • Michigan Avenue NE Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) made improvements to Michigan Avenue NE., low-level roadway south of viaduct from Seventh Street to Baltimore & Ohio R. R. tracks, thence north under viaduct to University Station. The WPA improved this road with recycled material and the “laying of a thin blanket of bituminous material.”  
  • Michigan Avenue NW Paving - Washington DC
    In 1933, the Washington Post announced the approval of several road surfacing projects funded by the federal PWA: "Among projects approved here are paving of Sixteenth street, Constitution Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Columbia Road, Foxhall Road, Good Hope Road, New Hampshire Avenue, Benning Road and Conduit Road, widening of E Street back of the White House and widening of Thirteenth Street" (October 9, 1933). It is not clear which section of Michigan Avenue was repaved, but other infrastructure projects in the vicinity make the stretch near MacMillan Reservoir a likely candidate for paving. The labor was most likely provided by relief workers in the...
  • Minnesota Avenue Sewer - Washington DC
    In 1940, in a retrospective on four years of public works improvements in the city, the Washington Post reported that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) had installed a sewer on Minnesota Avenue at Blaine Street in northeast DC. This was part of the massive New Deal era upgrade in the city's sewage system, with many new sewer lines, separation of storm and sanitary sewers and building the first sewage treatment plant at Blue Plains.  
  • Monroe Playground Improvements - Washington DC
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and the Works Progress Administration funded improvements at the Monroe Playground in Washington DC in 1934-1935. The work consisted of the following improvements: “Graded, moved and remodeled shelter-house, relocated equipment.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia 1935) FERA, 1934-1935, “Retaining wall 72 feet long.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia 1936) WPA, 1937-1938, “Additional fencing; reconstruction of toilets.” (Report of the Government of the District of Columbia 1938)
  • Monroe Street Houses - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Monroe Street Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 90 living units was built for white national defense workers (Washington, DC was highly segregated at the time). It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the structures still exist, but it is not likely since these homes were classified as “demountable,” i.e., intended to be taken down and salvaged sometime after the war. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced...
  • Montana Avenue NE Improvements - Washington DC
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Montana Avenue NE, from Bladensburg Road to New York Avenue. The WPA graded this road, and also prepared it for paving with a foundation of salvaged material: “The old material is obtained from old roadways which have deteriorated due to the strain of heavy later-day traffic and were replaced by new standard type pavements.” Also, “The improvement of this roadway constituted a short cut from the northeast to the southeast section of the city. It permits traffic to avoid the heavily traveled intersection of Bladensburg Road and New York Avenue.”
  • Montello Avenue Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1936-37, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved the District of Columbia property yard at Montello Avenue and Mount Olivet Road. The work consisted of road paving.  
  • Montrose Park Playground - Washington DC
    The Federal Emergency Relief Administration funded improvements at the Montrose Park Playground in Washington DC between, 1934-1935. The work consisted of “egraded basketball and volley ball courts.”  
  • Mount Pleasant Library: Battaglia Murals - Washington DC
    In 1934, Aurelius Battaglia painted two murals for the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood library,  "Animal Circus" and  "Animal Orchestra."   They occupy two reading alcoves off the Children's Room to this day. Funding was provided by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), an early New Deal relief program for unemployed artists. Later, Battaglia moved to California and joined Walt Disney, animating classics such as Dumbo, Pinocchio and Fantasia. Mount Pleasant is a branch of the DC public library system.  The lovely building was paid for by the Carnegie Foundation in 1903.
  • Municipal Fish Market Pier Reconstruction - Washington DC
    In 1937, the District of Columbia government contracted with the Fred Drew Co. to reconstruct the Municipal Fish Market Pier (also called Pier No. 1). The cost of the project was $20,000 (about $366,000 in 2020 dollars) and funds were provided via the District of Columbia Appropriation Act for 1937, signed into law by Franklin Roosevelt on June 23, 1936. The project was part of a broad New Deal initiative to modernize and beautify the Washington Channel and Southwest Waterfront areas. Work started on April 19, 1937 and was completed three months later, on July 13. The DC Government noted: “The...
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