Administrative Information
Provenance
The records of the Federal Writers' Project and the Historical Records Survey of the United States Work Projects Administration (WPA) were transferred to the Library of Congress by the administration from 1936 to 1944, with the bulk of the material received in 1940-1941. Portions of the records were held by various divisions of the Library before being processed by the Manuscript Division in 1984. Additional items were transferred from other divisions in the Library from 1989 to 1996, and an item was given by the New Jersey Historical Commission in 1997. Records comprising the research library of the United States Work Projects Administration were received in the 1950s and transferred from the Collections Policy Office to the Manuscript Division in 1998. The slave narrative indexing project was conducted by the Library circa 1975, and files from the project were added to the collection in 2008.
Processing History
The records of the United States Work Projects Administration were processed in 1984. The collection was revised and expanded in 1998, 1999, and 2008. The finding aid was revised in 2008.
Transfers
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Some photographs and drawings have been transferred to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. Some maps have been transferred to the Library's Geography and Map Division. Music and material from the Federal Theater Project have been transferred to the Library's Music Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the United States Work Projects Administration Records.
Other Repositories
Other records of the United States Work Projects Administration can be found at the National Archives in Washington D.C., and College Park, Maryland.
Related Material
Related material is available in the Library's American Folklife Center which holds sound recordings of WPA life histories, stories, songs, and ballads, and in the Music Division, which houses the Federal Theatre Project Collection and Federal Music Project Collection . Related collections in the Prints and Photographs Division include the Historic American Building Survey and Historic American Engineering Record, the Work Projects Administration Poster Collection, and the Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection.
Microfilm
Microfilm editions of parts of these records are available on sixty-three reels. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition.
Online Content
Selected items from the United States Work Projects Administration Records and related collections are available on the Library of Congress Web site at the following links:
- Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Color Photographs at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/fsac/
- American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000007
- Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000008
- Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/
- Posters: WPA Posters at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/wpapos/
- California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties Collected by Sidney Robertson Cowellat https://www.loc.gov/collections/sidney-robertson-cowell-northern-california-folk-music/about-this-collection/
- Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections, 1937-1942 at https://www.loc.gov/collections/florida-folklife-from-the-works-progress-administration/about-this-collection/
- The New Deal Stage: Selections from the Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939 at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fedtp/fthome.html
- Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection at https://www.loc.gov/collection/todd-and-sonkin-migrant-workers-from-1940-to-1941/about-this-collection/
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, United States Work Projects Administration Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.