The WPA: Defining What it Means to Be American

  As part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal the Works Progress Administration was created in 1935. The Federal One Project fell under the umbrella of the WPA. Initially designed to put artists and writers back to work, the actaul mission of the WPA developed into something else, something greater. 

  The WPA sought out to define what was American. It sent out writers and collectors to document American culture. It recorded the American Folk and helped to shape a national identity through the stories of unique American people at a time when American pride was most needed.

  We are going to join the WPA in their various ventures of documenting the American Folk. We'll take a tour of North Carolina via the North Carolina Guide Book, listen to the recordings Sidney Robertson Cowell, explore the story of Uncle John Ledbetter's life through and interview with John and Ruby Lomax, explore the complexities of the Federal Theater Project’s production of Macbeth, and see some of the 270,000 images the Farm Security Administration took during its time.

  Through this journey we'll gain a better understanding of what the true mission of the WPA was, to define what it meant to be American. 

Library of Congress. "WPA Publications in the Library Collections". Accessed 12/4/19. https://www.loc.gov/collections/federal-theatre-project-1935-to-1939/articles-and-essays/amassing-american-stuff/wpa-publications-in-the-library-collections/