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Works Progress Administration (view source)
Revision as of 00:17, August 4, 2009
, 00:17, August 4, 2009add
WPA continued and extended the [[FERA]] relief programs started by [[Herbert Hoover]] and continued under [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. Unliker FERA (which funded state and local programs), the WPA was run directly by the federal government.
WPA continued and extended the [[FERA]] relief programs started by [[Herbert Hoover]] and continued under [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. Unliker FERA (which funded state and local programs), the WPA was run directly by the federal government.
Headed by [[Harry Hopkins]], the WPA provided jobs and income to millions of unemployed during the [[Great Depression]]. It built many public buildings and roads, and as well operated a large arts project. Until it was closed down by Congress in 1943, it was the largest employer in the country — indeed, the largest employer in most states. Only unemployed people on relief were eligible for most of its jobs. The hourly wages were the prevailing wages in the area, but workers could not work more than 30 hours a week. Before 1940, there was no training involved to teach people new skills.
Headed by [[Harry Hopkins]], the WPA provided jobs and income to millions of unemployed during the [[Great Depression]]. It built many public buildings and roads, and as well operated a large arts project. Until it was closed down by Congress in 1943, it was the largest employer in the country — indeed, the largest employer in most states. Only unemployed people on relief were eligible for most of its jobs. The hourly wages were the prevailing wages in the area, but workers could not work more than 30 hours a week. Before 1940, there was no training involved to teach people new skills. Unskilled workers were very happy to have a real job and a real paycheck rather than waiting in line for food baskets. However skilled workers who found themselves on the WPA were embarrassed by the downskilled jobs and tried to hide their status. Thus actors did not want their names to appear on programs for WPA theater productions, fearing they would be stigmatized as poor actors. [[Image:Wpa4.jpg|thumb|300px|poster from WPA arts project]]
[[Image:Wpa4.jpg|thumb|300px|poster from WPA arts project]]
After the program died it was seldom referenced in politics, either pro or con. Some liberals often had a fond memory of the WPA and therefore an effort was made to set up a jobs program under President [[Jimmy Carter]] in the late 1970s, but by then unskilled manual laborers made up too small a proportion of the work force to make a difference.
==Overview==
==Overview==