Scope and Content Note
The Federal Theatre Project (FTP), an agency of the WPA from 1935 to 1939, provided work for thousands of unemployed persons in the theatrical profession. The project was an experiment which mirrored life in the Depression; depicted economic, political, and social problems; developed new audiences; provided opportunities for minorities; and laid the groundwork for much innovation in the theater. It was the first arts endeavor to be supported on an extensive scale by the U.S. government.
The records of the FTP span the years 1932 to 1943, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the years 1935 to 1939. Items with earlier and later dates appear in the collection. Some material from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Civil Works Administration (CWA) is dated as early as 1932. After the FTP ended in 1939, the Historical Record Survey (HRS) completed some research studies and inventories in 1942. A portion of the music file originally belonging to the Federal Music Project (FMP) records is dated 1943.
The materials in the FTP collection are of various types: correspondence, memoranda, reports, forms, lists, play and radio scripts, costume and set designs, posters, manuals, publications, bulletins, charts, blue-prints, research studies, addressograph plates, newspaper clippings, cards, photographs, negatives, slides, playbills, and scrapbooks.
The Administrative Records form the smallest section of the collection (the bulk of the FTP administrative materials is at the National Archives and Records Administration). This series provides background information on the FTP's organization, its policies and procedures, and personnel activity; its advertising and promotional plans; and the scope of its publications. A file on the WPA includes material relating to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Federal Art Project (FAP), the Federal Music Project (FMP), the Federal Writers' Project (FWP), the Historical Records Survey (HRS), and other WPA activities. An extensive card file documents many of the activities of the FTP, and an administrative photographic prints and negatives file contains images of theater workers who qualified for work with the FTP.
The Play Service and Research Records contain much material from the National Service Bureau (NSB), the central record-keeping office of the project, which operated as a clearinghouse of information dealing with play service and research studies.
The Library Records are composed of material and information chiefly collected from sources outside of the FTP and maintained for use by the various units and regions, as well as for community, school, and church-related organizations.
The Production Records combine to form the largest part of the collection. These files relate directly to productions and planned productions. The material includes production bulletins, which were compiled following a production and contained pertinent information regarding that production; playbills, programs, and heralds; costume and set designs; posters and billboard sheets; photographs, negatives, and slides; music for productions; and some correspondence, reports, schedules, and scrapbooks.
An index that matches legacy container numbers (prior to November 2022) in the Federal Theatre Project Collection with those updated in November 2022 is available here.
Some materials in this collection contain offensive or demeaning language.