Scope and Content Note
Federal Writers' Project of the United States Work Projects Administration
The records of the Federal Writers' Project of the United States Work Projects Administration span the years 1524-circa 1975, with the bulk of the items created from 1935 to 1942. They are comprised of correspondence, memoranda, field reports, notes, drafts of essays, lists, drawings, maps, graphs, newspaper clippings, transcripts of documents, oral testimony in the form of life histories, folklore material, inventories, statements, critical appraisals, speeches, administrative records, instructions, scripts, plays, and surveys. Material prior to 1935 consists mostly of transcripts made or copied for references purposes or for preservation. The files of the Federal Writers' Project are arranged in the following series: Administrative File, American Guide File, Folklore Project, Social-Ethnic Studies, Special Studies and Projects, Negro Studies Project, Slave Narrative Project, Miscellaneous Records, Miscellany and Printed Matter. A small Addition was made to the records in 1998.
The Federal Writers' Project was created in 1935 as part of the United States Works Progress Administration to provide employment for historians, teachers, writers, librarians, and other white-collar workers. Originally, the purpose of the project was to produce a series of sectional guide books under the name American Guide, focusing on the scenic, historical, cultural, and economic resources of the United States. Eventually, the new programs and projects begun under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration were absorbed by the writers' project.
From its inception in 1935 through late 1939, the Federal Writers' Project was directed by Henry G. Alsberg, a former lawyer who became interested in the theater as a writer and as a director of off-Broadway productions. His correspondence makes up the bulk of the letters in the collection. Associates who also appear as project correspondents include Merle Colby, George Cronin, Joseph Gaer, Reed Harris, and Claire Laning. Among the folklorists represented are Benjamin Albert Botkin and John Avery Lomax. Poets and writers whose works appear in the records include Nelson Algren, Sterling Albert Brown, Jack Conroy, and Richard Wright.
The Administrative File contains correspondence of Alsberg dated mostly from 1939, and instructional matter reflecting the operation of the program. It supplements the Federal Writers' Project administrative records held by the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 69. A finding guide to this material, the Records of the Federal Writers' Project Work Projects Administration, 1935-1944, was compiled by Katherine H. Davidson in 1953.
The American Guide File, the largest series, includes research data and drafts of writings that went into producing state guide books. The records reflect topics such as local history, folklore, economic development, scenic areas, places of interest, local lore, facts, and tours. The books were initiated to stimulate travel to bolster the economy during the Great Depression.
Other series in the Federal Writers' Project Records reflect areas of interest developed by the project: rural and urban folklore, including individual narratives and life histories; studies of customs of social and ethnic groups; source materials regarding African Americans; testimony of ex-slaves and slave-related material including copies of purchase agreements and sale advertisements; and a compilation of printed matter now on microfilm.
Historical Records Survey of the United States Work Projects Administration
The records of the Historical Records Survey of the United States Work Projects Administration span the period 1608-1942, with the bulk of the material copied or transcribed from 1935 to 1942. The records consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, lists, surveys, instructional manuals, guides, personnel records, data sheets, reports, notes, newspaper articles, transcripts of documents, catalog entries, and index cards. The files are arranged in the following series: Administrative File; Manuscript Record Survey, National Office; Church Records Survey, District of Columbia; Municipal Records Survey, District of Columbia; American Imprints Inventory, District of Columbia; Archival and Manuscript Records; Miscellany; Printed Matter; and Addition.
The Historical Records Survey was inaugurated in 1935. Employing white-collar workers, the project inventoried and published state and county historical records. It surveyed and indexed selections of manuscript collections held in public and private depositories, prepared a bibliographic record of books published before the copyright law of 1876, surveyed federal records in state depositories, and undertook related historical projects designed to provide scholars with a more detailed account of public and private records throughout the country.
Reports, guides, instructional material, and correspondence make up the Administrative File of the records. A description of the administrative records of the Historical Records Survey held by the National Archives and Records Administration is contained in the Preliminary Checklist of the Records of the Historical Records Survey, 1935-1942, issued by the National Archives in 1945. Other series in the Library's collection contain scattered documentation of the surveys themselves. Most substantive is source material relating to the District of Columbia. The Church Record Survey, District of Columbia, highlights church and religious activity in Washington, D. C., while the Municipal Records Survey, District of Columbia, focuses on the boards, commissions, and departments of the nation's capital from 1937 to 1941. Prominent in the Archival and Manuscript Records are Mormon life histories and other sources for studying families who settled in Utah.
Research Library of the United States Work Projects Administration
Records relating to the Research Library of the Work Projects Administration were added to the collection in 1999. They contain reports, publications, and related material documenting the social welfare programs of the Depression era. Records span the years 1925-1947, with the bulk dated 1935-1942. The reports were written by state and local agencies of federal programs, particularly the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Work Projects Administration, and also by private organizations such as the American Public Welfare Association, the Chamber of Commerce, Community Chests, and the Family Welfare Association.
Research Library material is organized in a State File and National File. The State File includes reports, publications, financial records, personnel forms, procedural and instructional manuals, photographs, press releases and other promotional material, speeches, newsletters, bulletins, memoranda, and correspondence. Of note are reports written in 1935 on work relief activities by state emergency relief offices. The narrative reports often include photographs and other illustrations, charts, graphs, and statistical data.
The National File includes reports and related records from federal government programs and from the national offices of private welfare organizations.
Material in the Research Library supplements the "Records of the Work Projects Administration," Record Group 69, held by the National Archives and Records Administration.