15 ways FDR and the New Deal helped Americans in need of shelter and housing assistance

A desperate need for more and better housing... 

Above: "God's Shadows," a wood engraving print by Todros Geller (1889-1949), created while he was in the WPA's art program, 1940. According to his Wikipedia page, Geller "regarded art as a tool for social reform." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Above: The description for this photograph reads, "Child in doorway of shack of migrant pickers and packing house workers, near Belle Glade, Florida." Photo by Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration, 1939, courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: "Marie Beans, over 80 years old who was a slave in her childhood, having no stove in her kitchen must use an old galvanized bucket for a cooking fire to prepare a meal for her little 3 year old great-great grandaughter at Montgomery, Alabama." WPA photo and caption, 1936, courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Family living in cave until it was condemned by social workers." WPA photo and caption, Newport, Arkanas, between 1935 and 1943, courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Central Railroad Street in Columbus, Georgia, where colored children have only the railroad track as a place to play, and the houses of negro laborers are within 15 feet of the tracks." WPA photo and caption, 1936, courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Unemployed pecan shellers living in shanties renting for fifty cents a week." WPA photo, San Antonio, Texas, between 1935 and 1943, courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Squatters' shacks along the Willamette River. Portland, Oregon." Photo by Arthur Rothstein, Farm Security Administration, 1936, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

15 ways FDR and the New Deal helped Americans in need of shelter and housing assistance:

1. Affordable Single Family Homes

Above: The description for this 1938 photo reads: "WPA workers here are shown putting finishing touches to the roof, tightening the steel tie rods, and adjusting windows. Low cost housing project. Labor furnished by WPA." This house was part of the "Laurel Homes" community in Fort Wayne, Indiana. WPA workers built pre-fabricated sections in a warehouse, and other WPA workers assembled the homes on-site. The houses were rented to both White and Black families who had been living in congested areas, in dilapidated homes, with no private bathrooms, no hot water, no areas for children to play, rodent infestation, and high rates of disease. New residents to this WPA-built community said, "It is a dream come true," "It's just like a palace," and "I think they ought to build 500 of them and tear down all the fire traps and disease spreaders in town." Also, the new residents "were no longer ashamed to invite relatives and friends to their homes" ("50 Families Start Anew in FWHA Cottages," The Palladium-Item (Richmond, Indiana), March 27, 1939, p. 3; also see, "Overview," Fort Wayne Housing Authority.) Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

2. Camps for the Wandering Homeless

Above: During the Great Depression, many Americans wandered around the country looking for work. This caused a financial burden on state & local governments and charities because they were already dealing with their resident homeless populations. The New Deal stepped in and created "transient camps," where these folks could eat, socialize, work, and receive shelter. Here, we see a transient camp in Omaha, Nebraska, October 1936, and transient workers improving their dormitory with a new downspout. The care of resident homeless populations appears to have been left largely to state & local groups during the the New Deal era, but perhaps sometimes with federal funding assistance. WPA photo, courtesy of the National Archives.

3. CCC Camps

Above: Before enrolling in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), many young men roamed the countryside--for example, hitching rides on trains--in an often fruitless attempt to find work and food. In the CCC, they received paid work, recreation opportunities, three square meals, and a safe place to sleep. WPA photo, taken near Mount Hermon, Louisiana, between 1935 and 1942, courtesy of the National Archives.

4. Public Housing

Above: "Public housing in the U.S had its origins in the New Deal" (Prof. Lily Geismer, "America Needs a New Approach on Affordable Housing. History Offers a Guide," TIME, March 25, 2024). Here, we see the PWA-funded Williamsburg Houses in Brooklyn, New York, ca. 1938, one of the many public housing projects created by the New Deal for lower-income Americans (mostly through the United States Housing Authority). Unfortunately, after the New Deal, the U.S. gradually failed to properly fund and maintain public housing--and failed to improve on the very concept of public housing--and many of the projects fell into disrepair, poverty, and crime. Some of the early public housing projects were exclusively for African Americans, and there were even some mixed-race projects. And for those who claim that the government should not be in the business of housing--that it only makes things worse--it should be remembered that "Survey after survey has indicated that great masses of Negroes are living in substandard dwellings for which they are compelled to pay high rents. They have not been able to get out of these slums and blighted areas, because decent, safe and sanitary homes have not been available to them at rentals within their reach" (American Negro Exposition, 1863-1940, Official Program and Guidebook, p. 21). Many low-income Whites (in fact more, in raw numbers) also lived in wretched conditions. Photo from the National Archives.

5. Homes for Older Folks

Above: Across the nation, the New Deal built homes for the aged. Here, we see "Old Folks' Home constructed by PWA. Ancient sourdoughs will spend their reclining years here." The Sitka Pioneer Home still operates today, offering different levels of care for senior citizens in Alaska. WPA or PWA photo & caption, ca. 1937, courtesy of the National Archives.

6. Homes for Orphans

Above: "These little girls make their own beds in the attractive dormitory of the Orphans' home in Houston, Texas. This building was constructed by PWA." WPA photo and caption, ca. 1935-1941, courtesy of the National Archives.

7. Planned Communities and Homesteads

Above: Across the U.S., its territories, and Indian reservations, the New Deal created new communities for people of modest income. One of these was Newport News Homesteads, later re-named Aberdeen Gardens. Many of these planned communities and homestead communities are still with us today, including Aberdeen Gardens. It is on National Register of Historic Places and is also a "U.S. Historic District." See, "Historical Foundation of Aberdeen Gardens." The above image is part of a longer newspaper article in The Richmond News Leader (Richmond, Virginia), December 19, 1936, and comes from newspapers.com. Used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

8. Low-Interest & Long-Term Loans 

Above: The Federal Home Loan Bank Board Building, Washington, DC, ca. 1937, home of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC). Through its HOLC, Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Farm Tenant Act, and other agencies, programs, and legislation, the New Deal provided low-interest & long-term loans that saved homes from foreclosure; created the 30-year mortgage market; helped tenant farmers and sharecroppers purchase their own farms; and more. Much criticism has been leveled at these New Deal programs for not providing enough assistance to African Americans. Some of the criticism is deserved, some is not. For more information, see Jake Blumgart, "Redlining Didn’t Happen Quite the Way We Thought It Did," Governing, September 21, 2021; Price V. Fishback, et al., "The HOLC Maps: How Race and Poverty Influenced Real Estate Professionals’ Evaluation of Lending Risk in the 1930s," The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 83, Issue 4, December 2023, pp. 1019-1056; "FSA Aids Farmers To Become Owners; Reduces Farm Tenants," Associated Negro Press article, in The Daily Bulletin (Dayton, Ohio), December 10, 1945, p. 2; and "Some Farm Figures," The New York Age (New York City), December 28, 1946, p. 6 (this article notes a rise in African American farm ownership, in part, due to the New Deal's Farm Tenant Act). Photo above is by Harris & Ewing, provided courtesy of the Library of Congress.

9. Camps for Migrant Workers

Above: The New Deal's Farm Security Administration made camps for migrant workers, to make their lives a little easier. The description for this photograph reads, "Tulare County. View of Farm Security Administration (FSA) camp for migratory laborers. Farmersville. Seen from water tower, showing pre-fabricated steel shelters for agriculture workers. The building at lower left holds toilet unit. Large building in center is camp laundry. This camp is situated in a cotton, grape, citrus area. California." Here is a brief description of what life was like for migrant workers (many of them dispossessed farmers) of the 1930s: "Mass Exodus From the Plains," American Experience. Photo above by Dorothea Lange, Farm Security Administration, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

10. Better Homes for Military Personnel

Above: All across the U.S., New Deal agencies improved military bases, with new or improved facilities. The description for this 1938 photograph reads, "WPA workmen at Ft. Moultrie have done and are doing all types of repair work to the quarters and to the grounds. Ft. Moutrie, S.C. Shot shows row of quarters for non-commissioned officers. WPA has made these homes more livable through renovations." WPA photo & caption, courtesy of the National Archives.

11. Homes for Civilian Defense Workers

Above: When America entered World War II, it needed new homes for workers who were relocating to defense industry areas. The New Deal's Federal Works Agency (FWA), and its component programs, for example, the Public Buildings Administration, were initially put in charge. Here is a FWA house for a defense industry worker and family in Sheffield, Alabama, ca. 1942, one of several hundred thousand that would ultimately be built by FWA and other agencies. Photo from the National Archives.

12. The G.I. Bill

Above: FDR signed the G.I. Bill into law on June 22, 1944. "By 1955, 4.3 million home loans worth $33 billion had been granted to veterans" ("75 Years of the GI Bill: How Transformative It’s Been," U.S. Department of Defense, January 9, 2019). Postage stamp image scanned from a private collection.

13. Disaster Shelters

Above: WPA workers creating a tent camp for flood survivors in Louisville, Kentucky, February 1937. The WPA and other New Deal agencies responded to many disasters with shelter, food, clothes, search & rescue, clean-up, utility repairs, and re-building. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

14. More Humane Jails and Prisons

Above: "A modern jail (bottom) supercedes the old cages on wheels as convict barracks in Carroll County, Georgia. PWA made this improvement possible." The New Deal modernized many correctional facilities across the U.S. Photo and caption courtesy of the National Archives.

15. Jobs

Above: Employment in programs like the WPA helped many Americans keep their homes. Here, we see Walter Donaldson of Orlando, West Virginia, with his wife and children, 1938. Donaldson had a job in the WPA, and also learned to read and write in a WPA education course (in fact, he was the one-millionth person to learn how to read and write in the WPA). WPA photo, courtesy of the National Archives.

"But above all, try something"

FDR and the New Deal did not solve all of America's housing problems... but programs like HOLC, the 30-year mortgage, the Farm Tenant Act, and the G.I. Bill, saved many homeowners and created millions of new ones. More importantly though--with respect to housing, renting, homelessness, and other social issues--we should remember one of the most valuable of New Deal lessons: On May 22, 1932, at an address at Oglethrope University (Atlanta, Georgia), Franklin Roosevelt said, "The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."

Living in fear of government... while the private sector humiliates, poisons, and kills us

Above: "Civilians," a crayon lithograph by Chet La More (1908-1980), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1937-1938. Sometimes danger and malicious behavior comes from another country; but sometimes it comes from another class. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

When the private sector is the problem

A large portion of the American electorate believes that "big government," regulations, and socialism (even socialism in modest quantities) are things to be feared, while the private sector is borderline holy. "If the government would just get out of the way!" they say in an exasperated tone that pleads, "Don't you get it?!?" But theirs is a perplexing belief, when one considers all the ways the private sector has humiliated, poisoned, and killed us.

Humiliation: The private sector--and the wealthy who largely control it--humiliate us by paying us pathetic wages; pricing us out of the housing market; denying us medicine and healthcare; inflating prices to whatever the market will bear; blocking dignified retirement; and using their wealth and connections to suppress democracy and prop-up plutocracy (thereby making a mockery of our votes).

Yet, when government tries to change these things, huge segments of the American electorate have been trained to recoil and scream in fear, "Nooooo, that would be socialism!!"

Poisoning and killing us: The private sector has poisoned, injured, and killed us--by the tens of millions--with coal dust, asbestos, lead water pipes, cigarettes, fossil fuel emissions, microplastics in our bodies, and more. In many instances (as some of the links will show you), the private sector deliberately withheld information that showed the danger of their products.

But when government tries to keep these things from happening again, large segments of the American electorate object with a defiant and well-rehearsed, "Freedom!!"

Give credit where credit is due. The super-wealthy in America--through their media, think tanks, and bought politicians--have been extraordinarily successful in convincing tens of millions of Americans that government regulations and solutions are bad for them; that every public policy attempt to alleviate their humiliation, poisoning, or death is "godless communism," "evil socialism," and "un-American." The proof of their success lies in our chronic illness, reduced happiness, dropping life expectancy, rising levels of suicide, and plastic-filled bodies.

Thank you private sector! Thank you super-wealthy Americans! Thank you for humiliating, poisoning, injuring, and killing us... while assuring us (comforting us) that there are no alternative routes to freedom and liberty. We understand. It is necessary to destroy us to save us.

25 ways the New Deal helped (and is still helping) Tennessee

1. Social Security

Above: FDR signed Social Security into law in 1935. As of December 2022, there were over 1.5 million residents of Tennessee receiving Social Security payments (OASDI - Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance). Above is a Social Security benefits sliding calculator, highlighting increased benefits enacted by the Republican-controlled 83rd Congress and Republican President Eisenhower, 1953-55. This is an interesting contrast to the modern agenda of the Republican Party, which is to privatize and/or cut Social Security (see, e.g., "Congressional Republicans want big cuts to Social Security," MarketWatch, July 11, 2023).

2. FDIC

Above: Residents of Tennessee can deposit money in their banks, without fear of financial calamity, thanks to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), created by FDR and the New Deal Congress in 1933. Such insurance had long been advocated for, but it was the New Deal that finally made it happen. Images above are from a matchbook, scanned from a private collection.

3. The Wagner Act of 1935 and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

Above: Working class Tennesseans benefited from New Deal labor legislation, especially the Wagner Act (1935) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938). With these laws, Tennesseans and other working class folk across the country could enjoy things we take for granted today, such as overtime pay and the right to collective bargaining. Image above is a Franklin Mint sculpture, scanned from a private collection, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

(Special Note: By 1964, nearly a quarter of Tennessee's workers were in unions. This figure held fairly steady until about 1982 when it began to rapidly decline, all the way down to 5.1% in 2014 (see, "50 Years Of Shrinking Union Membership, In One Map," Planet Money, NPR, February 23, 2015). Union membership has recently increased in Tennessee, but it's still abysmally low. And this decades-long union deterioration has coincided with extreme income & wealth inequality. Unfortunately, Tennessee and other states have developed political and business philosophies that prioritize executive pay and shareholder returns over the wages & benefits of workers, over the affordability of goods, and, in some cases, over product quality.)

4. TVA

Above: The New Deal's TVA controls flooding, offers many recreation opportunties, employs about 10,000 people, and "provides electricity for 153 local power companies serving 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six surrounding states, as well as directly to 58 large industrial customers and federal installations" (Tennessee Valley Authority, "About TVA"). Image scanned from a private collection.

5. REA and Electric Cooperatives

Above: In order to distribute electricity to rural areas, the New Deal created the Rural Electrification Administration (1935-1936), which made low-interest loans to communities that wanted to set-up their own, locally-controlled power companies - "electric cooperatives." Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE, see photo above) was one of those cooperatives and still operates today. MTE's website explains that the private sector was uninterested in providing affordable power to rural areas, so "Farmers and rural residents, encouraged by REA and TVA, took on the job of getting power themselves." Photo above (unknown photographer, ca. 1940) scanned from a private collection.

Above: A lapel pin from Appalachian Electric Cooperative (AEC) in New Market, Tennessee (scanned from a private collection). AEC was formed with a loan from REA in 1940. As of 2024, there are at least 20 New Deal, REA-started electric cooperatives still operating in Tennessee, serving at least 1.2 million customers (see Electric Cooperative directory here). In addition to AEC, they are:

Caney Fork Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Chickasaw Electric Cooperative; Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation; Duck River Electric Membership Corporation; Forked Deer Electric Cooperative; Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative; Gibson Electric Membership Corporation; Holston Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Meriwether-Lewis Electric Cooperative; Middle Tennessee Electric; Mountain Electric Cooperative; Pickwick Electric Cooperative; Plateau Electric Cooperative; Powell Valley Electric Cooperative; Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative; Southwest Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation; Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation; Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation; Volunteer Energy Cooperative.

(Note: Republican presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan both attempted to sabotage the REA's low-interest loan program, in order to please Corporate America. This would haved hiked electric bills for rural Americans. See, e.g., "Co-op Loan Action Spurs Lobby Move," The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee), January 24, 1973, p. 41; and "Plan would boost rural electric bills," The Jackson Sun (Jackson, Tennessee), February 19, 1981, p. 4A.)

6. Electric Home and Farm Authority

Above: The Electric Home and Farm Authority (EHFA, created by FDR's Executive Order No. 6514, December 19, 1933) gave residents of Tennessee and other states the ability to buy electric appliances with low-interest financing. This program was even more valuable when REA and electric cooperatives began greatly expanding electric service in rural America from 1936 onward. Above, we see two employees of EHFA checking out the EHFA showroom in the James Building, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1934. Photo from The Chattanooga Times, September 18, 1934, and newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial puprposes.

7. Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Above: FDR in Tennessee, dedicating Great Smoky Mountains National Park, September 2, 1940. FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps was largely responsible for the development of the park. Today, Tennesseans can camp, fish, hike, view wildlife, go horseback riding, and more at the park. Also, Great Smoky Mountains is the most-visited national park, thus creating a strong tourism economy in Tennessee: "A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 12.9 million visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2022 spent $2.1 billion in communities near the park. That spending supported 32,590 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $3.3 billion" (National Park Service). Photo above from the Tennessee Virtual Archive, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

8. Lake Isom National Wildlife Refuge

Above: A Fish & Wildlife Service brochure for Reelfoot and Lake Isom National Wildlife Refuges (NWR). FDR created the Lake Isom NWR (Tennessee's first NWR) with Executive Order 7953. Today, Tennesseans and others can hunt, hike, boat, fish, and bird-watch at Lake Isom NWR, as well as at nearby Reelfoot NWR (est. 1941, under different legal mechanisms). Image from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

9. The Civilian Conservation Corps

Above: The Glee Club (vocal group) of CCC Company 3462, at Camp SCS-2, Collierville, Tennessee, ca. 1938. Company 3462 worked with the New Deal's Soil Conservation Service and "have as their task stopping the forces of erosion and teaching the people in the vicinity... how to conserve the soil... They build terraces, outlet channels, plant trees, and place sod to stop gully washes." Quote and photo from Civilian Conservation Corp Annual, District D, Fourth Corps Area, pp. 171-173 (Army and Navy Publishing Company, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1938), used here for educational and non-commercial purposes (also see, "Collierville's Soil Soldiers," Morton Museum).

Above: Members of CCC Company 1473, near Bristol, Tennessee, ca. 1935. Between 1933 and 1942, the CCC gave jobs to over 72,000 Tennesseans, planted 36 million trees, stocked 1.8 million fish, created state parks, fought fires, and much more (Perry H. Merrill, Roosevelt's Forest Army: A History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942, Montpelier, VT, 1981, pp. 176-177). Photo above from the Tennessee Virtual Archives, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

10. Fall Creek Falls State Park

Above: A map of Fall Creek Falls State Park, in east central Tennessee (Bledsoe and Van Buren counties). Tennessee State Parks explains: "Fall Creek Falls State Park is one of Tennessee’s largest and most visited state parks... In 1937, the federal government began purchasing the badly eroded land around Fall Creek Falls. The following year, the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began restoring the forest and constructing park facilities. A few years later in 1944, the National Park Service transferred ownership of the park to the State of Tennessee." Today, visitors can enjoy hiking, arts & crafts, music, golf, and more at the park. Image from Tennessee State Parks.

11. The National Youth Administration

Above: The New Deal's National Youth Administration (NYA) gave jobs to many young men and women in Tennessee, both in-school and out-of-school, 1935-1943. During the war, the NYA trained many future Rosie-the-Riveters, Wendy-the-Welders, and other women who worked in the defense industries. The description for this 1942 photo reads, "Knoxville, Tennessee (Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)). Training for war production at NYA (National Youth Administration) school." Photo by Arthur Rothstein, Farm Security Administration, and provided courtesy of the Library of Congress.

12. Bridges 

Above: The New Deal greatly improved Tennessee's infrastructure. The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded many large projects, like the bridge above. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) contributed mightily too, for example, engaging in 5,127 projects to build or improve bridges and viaducts in Tennessee (Federal Works Agency, Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1947, p. 135). Image from The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee), November 29, 1936, and newspapers.com, used for educational and non-commercial purposes.

13. Water and Sewer Lines

Above: The caption for this 1936 photo reads, "Nashville Tenn... 80 WPA workers laying 12" water mains, sewers, and paving street at Mahr Ave and W. Gaines St." The WPA installed 179 miles of new water lines and 158 miles of new storm and sanitary sewer lines in Tennessee (Federal Works Agency, Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1947, p. 136). Photo from the National Archives.

14. Airports

Above: The WPA had several airport projects in Tennessee, for example, at Memphis, Knoxville, Nashville, and Chattanooga. The above scene shows a WPA landing field expansion project at the Chattanooga Airport, 1936. Photo from the National Archives.

15. Public Buildings

Above: The New Deal provided labor and funding for many new or improved public buildings in Tennessee. Above is the PWA-funded Nashville Courthouse and City Hall, ca. 1937. Today, it is called the Davidson County Courthouse and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Photo from the National Archives.

16. Schools and Colleges

Above: The New Deal was frequently limited in what it could do in terms of racial integration, thanks in large part to the U.S. Supreme Court's approval of segregation (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896). But all across America, the New Deal created better facilities for African Americans, such as the Douglass School (above) in Memphis, Tennessee, 1936. The WPA had 734 project to build or improve schools in Tennessee (Federal Works Agency, Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1947, p. 135). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The PWA funded several new buildings at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, such as this administration building, ca. 1936. Photo from the National Archives.

17. Post Offices

Above: The New Deal built many post offices in Tennessee, such as this one in the town of Ripley (constructed in 1937). For more examples, see this search result from the Living New Deal. Several of the post offices were adorned with murals, from the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts. Image from Google Streetview, March 2024, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

18. Farm-to-Market Roads

Above: WPA workers in Tennessee constructed or improved 34,690 miles of roads, and much of it was in the form of "Farm-to-Market" roads - roads that helped farmers sell their produce and goods. The caption for this 1936 photo reads, "Tenn. Fourth District. Dickson Co. Farm-to-Market Road... WPA workmen constructing culverts and building bridge on White Bluff Road where Jones Creek and Buttry Creek join. Bridge replaces a ford which is impassable for four months of the year and after every rain." Statistic from: Federal Works Agency, Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1947, p. 135. Photo from the National Archives.

19. Additional Farm & Agricultural Assistance

Above: A grain elevator near Memphis, Tennessee, constructed with PWA funds, ca. 1935. In addition to large-scale infrastructure improvements--such as roads, bridges, and buildings--farm & agriculture in Tennessee benefited financially from New Deal agencies like the Farm Security Administration and the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation (the latter bought their excess produce and goods), and also from New Deal legislation like the Farm Credit Act and the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act. Photo from the National Archives.

20. School Lunches

Above: Across the nation, the WPA served well over 1 billion school lunches. The description for this 1936 WPA photo reads, "Tenn. Fourth District. Lawrence Co. Hot Lunch Program... children of the West Point School enjoy hot lunches daily at school and are better fitted for work and play. Many of them are from homes hard hit by depression where a properly balanced hot lunch would be very uncertain." Statistic from: Federal Works Agency, Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1947, p. 134. Photo from the National Archives.

21. Healthcare

Above: Children receiving vaccines from the WPA, Memphis, Tennessee, 1937. A little over a year into the WPA program it was reported: "In Tennessee, 1,061 persons have been immunized against typhoid with the aid of WPA nurses, over 5,000 homes have been visited and more than 2,500 children in nursery schools have been given health examinations and treated with first aid" ("Berry Cites Records Against WPA Critics," The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee), October 6, 1936, p. 13). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The PWA-funded John Gaston Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, ca. 1936. While not the most ornate of buildings, it provided a lot extra beds for Tennesseans in need of hospital care. According to the University of Memphis, "It remained one of Memphis' busiest hospitals until it was demolished in 1990 to make way for the growth of the Regional Medical Center 'The Med'." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: In 1936-1937, WPA workers helped build the Knox County Crippled Children's Hospital. The next image and caption shows how this facility has been greatly expanded. Photo from The Knoxville News-Sentinel, May 16, 1937, and newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The East Tennessee Children's Hospital (ETCH) in Knoxville. ETCH explains: "The original 28-bed Knox County Crippled Children’s Hospital is today the 152-bed East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, a group of dedicated professionals operating a series of medical facilities that provide the best in pediatric health care to the children and adolescents of the region." ETCH has put together an incredibly detailed timeline of its history, highlighting the WPA's original help, WPA-assisted expansion in 1938, and then continued improvements and expansions over the decades, leading to today's modern facility. ETCH also explains (here and here) that the doctor's who planned the original facility (Jarrell Penn, Henry Galbraith, and Oscar Schwarzenberg, Sr.) wanted care without discrimination and "Since our first day in 1937, we have had an 'open-door' policy that no child will be denied care because of race, religion or their parents' ability to pay their child's medical bill." Image from Google Streetview, 2019, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

22. Clothing for the Those in Need 

Above: A WPA sewing room project at Hume-Fogg High School, Nashville, Tennessee, 1936. WPA sewing rooms in Tennessee produced 3.5 million items of clothing for Tennesseans in need of assistance (Federal Works Agency, Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1947, p. 134). Photo from the Nashville Banner, November 28, 1936, p. 7, and newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

23. Archaeology and Historic Restoration

Above: These workers were funded by the New Deal's Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and are working on an archaeology project in Tennessee. Photo is from: Smithsonian Archaeological Projects Conducted Under The Federal Emergency Relief Administration, 1933-34, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1935.

Above: A newspaper clipping, highlighting a TVA archaeology project, employing workers from the New Deal's Civil Works Administration (CWA). This is part of a longer article in the Johnson City Staff-News (Johnson City, Tennessee), February 9, 1934. Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The description for this 1936 photo reads, "Restoration of Fort Negley, Nashville, Tenn... 800 men under direction of WPA are restoring old Fort Negley situated on a hill overlooking Nashville..." Today, you can enjoy the Fort Negley Visitors Center and Park. Photo from the National Archives.

24. Historic Preservation and Family History

Above: The WPA's Historical Records Survey (HRS) completed several projects in Tennessee. In the above publication, the reader learns (among many other things) that the Hall of Holography at Lincoln Memorial University (Harrogate, Tennessee) contains photos and/or autographs of famous people, for example, Napolean Bonaparte, Chiang Kai-shek, Alfred Dreyfus (the French officer who was wrongfully imprisoned on Devil's Island), Thomas Jefferson, Rudyard Kipling, and Mark Twain. Image above scanned from a private collection.

Above: The WPA's HRS also helped locate and preserve records important to family history. The above examples show HRS projects in Tennessee for vital records (birth, death, marriage, and divorce records), church archives, and "Bible, Family and Tombstone Records." Also see, "The WPA and Its Impact on Family History," Legacy Tree Genealogists. Images above from Hathitrust, except for the Sumner County book, which is scanned from a private collection.

Above: The WPA interviewed former slaves, and the collected materials are not only important from a general U.S. history perspective, but can also provide family history information. See, e.g., "African American Slave Narratives Collected by the WPA," FamilySearch. Image above from Amazon, showing the R. Christopher Goodwin compilation/edition. Used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

25. Music, Writing, and Art

Above: Between 1935 and 1942, the Memphis WPA Band (part of the Federal Music Project) performed at special events, churches, community centers, auditoriums, parks & playgrounds, medical institutions (such as the Memphis "Home for the Incurables"), and at parades for departing soldiers. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The WPA's Federal Writers' Project produced the Tennessee guide in 1939 (New York: Viking Press), as part of the nationwide, and now famous American Guide Series. The Tennessee guide covers topics such as "The First Americans" (American Indians), industry, agriculture, TVA, African Americans, and the arts. It also includes a removable folded map of the state and 16 recommended driving tours with detailed descriptions of what tourists and vacationers can find along the way. Image scanned from a private copy.

Above: According to the WPA's state guide for Tennessee, "Active centers of the Federal Art Project, set up in 1935, include [in 1939] the Anderson County Federal Art Center at Norris, the University of Chattanooga WPA Federal Art Gallery, and the LeMoyne Federal Art Center at LeMoyne College [a historically Black college that it now called, "LeMoyne-Owen College"] in Memphis" (p. 170). Additonally, "In 1936 the Brooks Memorial Art League, with the assistance of the Works Progress Administration, succeeded in setting up a systemized art library, the first in the State" (p. 169). The newspaper clipping above is part of a longer story from The Chattanooga Daily Times, July 17, 1938, p. 23. Image from newspapers.com and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.