Works Progress Administration (WPA):

V. C. Jones School.WPA nurse with little boy and girl.

The Works Progress Adminstration employed hundreds of thousands of Americans to assist in reversing the economic depression of the 1930s. It was established by executive order by President Roosevelt on May 6, 1935.

WPA in New Orleans

WPA projects in New Orleans included street paving, building construction, rehabilitation and demolition, lakefront reclamation, library construction, book binding, and adult education. Of particular note was the fact that the WPA hired a great number of African Americans to implement projects in New Orleans. During a time of Jim Crow laws, segregation and extreme discrimination in employment and all other settings, WPA ensured that many African Americans had meaningful work worthy of their talents.

For more information on the WPA:

Brief Overview of the WPA and it's programs
www.co.broward.fl.us/lii10204.htm

WPA American Life Histories
rs6.loc.gov/wpaintro/wpahome.html

"Been Here so Long" Selections from the WPA American Slave Narratives
newdeal.feri.org/asn/index.htm

WPA Photograph Collection from the New Orleans Public Library
nutrias.org/photos/wpa/wpaphotos.htm

By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943
memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaposters/wpahome.html