Today in History: Works Progress Administration
Today in History–April 8–the Library of Congress features the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which was funded by the the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved on this day in 1935. This national works program, created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, employed more than 8.5 million people on 1.4 million public projects before it was disbanded in 1943. Learn more about the Library’s treasure trove of WPA materials by visiting the Today in History section and clicking the links below.
Primary source collections
- American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1940
- Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections, 1937-1942
- WPA Federal Theatre Project
- WPA poster collection
- WPA image set
- WPA audio recordings
- WPA reports & transcripts
- WPA historical newspaper coverage
- Works Progress Administration historical newspaper coverage
- 21st -Century WPA act (legislation)
Teaching resources
- Infrastructure and Primary Sources: Posters from the Works Progress Administration Teaching with the Library of Congress
- Primary Source Learning: Teaching with Primary Source Posters
Related resources