The New Deal and Works Progress Administration

In these classic, fascinating, and often terrifying tales--Mardi Gras Indians, Baby Dolls, the Zulu King, Loup Garou, and the headless horseman of Natchitoches--all share the stage. Ghost stories from around Louisiana mingle with the true horrors of figures such as the infamous "New Orleans Axeman." Learn stories of the Creoles and Cajuns, Southern church traditions, Voodoo rituals, hexes, and charms. Gumbo Ya-Ya, "everybody talks at once," expresses the tension between refinement and profanity, the sacred and the sensual--which defines Louisiana culture to this day. This 70th Anniversary Pelican Publishing unabridged edition's contents are wholly true to the 1945 original edition. First commissioned as a project of the Works Progress Administration Louisiana Writers' Program, it has stood the test of time and is a book beloved by historians, locals, and visitors.

The Blue Ridge Parkway began as a dream in the late 1800s and became reality in 1983 when the 469-mile scenic highway was completed. Heavy construction was done by contractors who won bids for the different projects along various sections of the parkway.

Construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway began in September 1935 at Cumberland Knob. Civilian Conservation Corps troops took care of the roadsides, landscaping, and structure building. As part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, this project was intended to provide jobs throughout the region. Images of America: Building the Blue Ridge Parkway contains approximately 200 construction photographs of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The view that slavery could best be described by those who had themselves experienced it personally has found expression in several thousand commentaries, autobiographies, narratives, and interviews with those who endured. Although most of these accounts appeared before the Civil War, more than one-third are the result of the ambitious efforts of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to interview surviving ex-slaves during the 1930s. The result of these efforts was the Slave Narrative Collection, a group of autobiographical accounts of former slaves that today stands as one of the most enduring and noteworthy achievements of the WPA. Compiled in seventeen states during the years 1936-38, the collection consists of more than two thousand interviews with former slaves, most of them first-person accounts of slave life and the respondents' own reactions to bondage. The interviews afforded aged ex-slaves an unparalleled opportunity to give their personal accounts of life under the peculiar institution, to describe in their own words what it felt like to be a slave in the United States. —Norman R. Yetman, American Memory, Library of Congress  This paperback edition of selected South Carolina narratives is reprinted in facsimile from the typewritten pages of the interviewers, just as they were originally typed.

The view that slavery could best be described by those who had themselves experienced it personally has found expression in several thousand commentaries, autobiographies, narratives, and interviews with those who endured. Although most of these accounts appeared before the Civil War, more than one-third are the result of the ambitious efforts of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to interview surviving ex-slaves during the 1930s. The result of these efforts was the Slave Narrative Collection, a group of autobiographical accounts of former slaves that today stands as one of the most enduring and noteworthy achievements of the WPA. Compiled in seventeen states during the years 1936-38, the collection consists of more than two thousand interviews with former slaves, most of them first-person accounts of slave life and the respondents' own reactions to bondage. The interviews afforded aged ex-slaves an unparalleled opportunity to give their personal accounts of life under the peculiar institution, to describe in their own words what it felt like to be a slave in the United States. —Norman R. Yetman, American Memory, Library of Congress  This paperback edition of selected North Carolina narratives is reprinted in facsimile from the typewritten pages of the interviewers, just as they were originally typed.

The view that slavery could best be described by those who had themselves experienced it personally has found expression in several thousand commentaries, autobiographies, narratives, and interviews with those who endured. Although most of these accounts appeared before the Civil War, more than one-third are the result of the ambitious efforts of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to interview surviving ex-slaves during the 1930s. The result of these efforts was the Slave Narrative Collection—a group of autobiographical accounts of former slaves that today stands as one of the most enduring and noteworthy achievements of the WPA. Compiled in seventeen states during the years 1936-38, the collection consists of more than two thousand interviews with former slaves, most of them first-person accounts of slave life and the respondents' own reactions to bondage. The interviews afforded aged ex-slaves an unparalleled opportunity to give their personal accounts of life under the peculiar institution, to describe in their own words what it felt like to be a slave in the United States. —Norman R. Yetman, American Memory, Library of Congress  This paperback edition of all of the Virginia narratives is reprinted in facsimile from the typewritten pages of the interviewers, just as they were originally typed.

The view that slavery could best be described by those who had themselves experienced it personally has found expression in several thousand commentaries, autobiographies, narratives, and interviews with those who endured. Although most of these accounts appeared before the Civil War, more than one-third are the result of the ambitious efforts of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to interview surviving ex-slaves during the 1930s. The result of these efforts was the Slave Narrative Collection, a group of autobiographical accounts of former slaves that today stands as one of the most enduring and noteworthy achievements of the WPA. Compiled in seventeen states during the years 1936-38, the collection consists of more than two thousand interviews with former slaves, most of them first-person accounts of slave life and the respondents' own reactions to bondage. The interviews afforded aged ex-slaves an unparalleled opportunity to give their personal accounts of life under the peculiar institution, to describe in their own words what it felt like to be a slave in the United States. —Norman R. Yetman, American Memory, Library of Congress  This paperback edition of selected Mississippi narratives is reprinted in facsimile from the typewritten pages of the interviewers, just as they were originally typed.

Author Keri Watson guides readers on a tour through New Deal era Sunshine State parks and post office murals. Even before the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, the Florida economy was depressed from two major hurricanes, a citrus export embargo, and the collapse of the real estate market. Florida desperately needed the relief promised by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal and actively participated in and benefited from a number of federally sponsored initiatives during the Great Depression. These programs were aimed at what the president termed “Relief, Recovery, and Reform,” and they impacted every sector of society from banking and farming to art and architecture. This collection offers a detailed look at the state parks and post offices built in Florida between 1931 and 1946. Looking at Florida’s Depression-era parks and post offices in concert elucidates the ways in which the natural and built environments work together to constitute the cultural landscape and provides insight into the role of the federal government in Florida’s construction as an exotic and tropical paradise.

In 1933, the United States was struggling to survive the Great Depression. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt promised a "New Deal" to put the nation back to work. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was launched in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, where the first camp, Camp Roosevelt, was built. The CCC was widely acclaimed as the most popular of Roosevelt's programs. In Virginia, CCC workers built Shenandoah National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the first six state parks, and more. Despite the program's success, senators from Virginia led the Congressional efforts to kill the CCC in 1942.

The view that slavery could best be described by those who had themselves experienced it personally has found expression in several thousand commentaries, autobiographies, narratives, and interviews with those who endured. Although most of these accounts appeared before the Civil War, more than one-third are the result of the ambitious efforts of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to interview surviving ex-slaves during the 1930s. The result of these efforts was the Slave Narrative Collection, a group of autobiographical accounts of former slaves that today stands as one of the most enduring and noteworthy achievements of the WPA. Compiled in seventeen states during the years 1936-38, the collection consists of more than two thousand interviews with former slaves, most of them first-person accounts of slave life and the respondents' own reactions to bondage. The interviews afforded aged ex-slaves an unparalleled opportunity to give their personal accounts of life under the peculiar institution, to describe in their own words what it felt like to be a slave in the United States. —Norman R. Yetman, American Memory, Library of Congress  This paperback edition of selected Florida narratives is reprinted in facsimile from the typewritten pages of the interviewers, just as they were originally typed.

By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt took his first oath of office, the Great Depression had virtually gutted the nation's agricultural heartland. In Kentucky, nearly one out of every four men was unemployed and relegated to a life of poverty, and as quickly as the economy deflated, so too did morality. "The overwhelming majority of unemployed Americans, who are now walking the streets...would infinitely prefer to work," FDR stated in his 1933 appeal to Congress. So began the New Deal and, with it, a glimmer of hope and enrichment for a lost generation of young men. From 1933 up to the doorstep of World War II, the Civilian Conservation Corps employed some 2.5 million men across the country, with nearly 90,000 enrolled in Kentucky. Native Kentuckian and CCC scholar Connie Huddleston chronicles their story with this collection of unforgettable and astonishing photographs that take you to the front lines of the makeshift camps and through the treacherous landscape, adversity, and toil. The handiwork of the Kentucky "forest army" stretches from Mammoth Cave to the Cumberlands, and their legacy is now preserved within these pages.

Marking the ridgelines and hearts of the Appalachians during the Great Depression, packhorse librarians delivered hope, one book at a time.

When the Great Depression started, folks stumbled on hard times. Many lost their jobs and homes, and they struggled to support their families. But people craved hope for the future, and hope arrived with the packhorse librarians through Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in 1933. Each week, children, families, and schoolhouses celebrated when their packhorse librarian arrived at their doors with books. After being handled by many cherished hands, reading materials needed to be taken out of circulation. The librarians constructed scrapbooks and filled them with beloved items—recipes, quilt patterns, pictures, and stories. Challenges awaited the librarians at every pass. From muddy creeks to snowy hillsides, the packhorse librarians delivered books and hope to their patrons. Although the program ended in 1943, the lasting effects on literacy and the communities these packhorse librarians visited can still be seen today.

Author Nicki Jacobsmeyer lives in rural Missouri, where she writes fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. She inspires others to discover and dream through reading and believes books are windows to the world. 

At a time when our country struggled with a deep financial depression, the United States began to see incredible numbers of men and women who could not find work. During the first days of his administration, Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to create opportunities for this country's uneducated and undereducated young men to find work, help support their families, and receive training in a variety of fields. President Roosevelt's own vision brought about the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Images of America: Georgia's Civilian Conservation Corps examines the role these young men played in developing three national forests, three national monuments, a national battlefield, 10 state parks, and four military installations. This book illustrates and gives voice to the CCC's rich contribution to Georgia's landscape and history and allows us to understand how the creation of this social employment program was once seen as the shining example of FDR's New Deal.

The view that slavery could best be described by those who had themselves experienced it personally has found expression in several thousand commentaries, autobiographies, narratives, and interviews with those who endured. Although most of these accounts appeared before the Civil War, more than one-third are the result of the ambitious efforts of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to interview surviving ex-slaves during the 1930s. The result of these efforts was the Slave Narrative Collection—a group of autobiographical accounts of former slaves that today stands as one of the most enduring and noteworthy achievements of the WPA. Compiled in seventeen states during the years 1936-38, the collection consists of more than two thousand interviews with former slaves, most of them first-person accounts of slave life and the respondents' own reactions to bondage. The interviews afforded aged ex-slaves an unparalleled opportunity to give their personal accounts of life under the peculiar institution, to describe in their own words what it felt like to be a slave in the United States. —Norman R. Yetman, American Memory, Library of Congress  This paperback edition of selected Georgia narratives is reprinted in facsimile from the typewritten pages of the interviewers, just as they were originally typed.

Created by the federal government in 1933 to revitalize a region twice the size of New England, the Tennessee Valley Authority began as an experiment of unprecedented proportions. Seen here through picture postcards, the dramatic achievements of the TVA take on a personal aspect, as individuals visit the hydroelectric projects and enjoy the newly created recreational opportunities. Tangible benefits are also documented, such as improved navigation, new roads and bridges, and abundant and

inexpensive electricity. Influenced by such visionaries as Gifford Pinchot, Theodore Roosevelt, and George Norris, the agency also dealt with regional issues, including river

commerce, soil conservation, and flood control.

Images of America: Mississippi in the Great Depression reveals the politics, the economy, the places, and the people persevering the nation's most trying economic era.

By the time the Great Depression was well underway, Mississippi was still dealing with the lingering effects of the flood of 1927 and the Mississippi Valley drought of 1930. As Pres. Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933, Mississippi senator Pat Harrison, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, oversaw the passage of major New Deal legislation, from which Mississippi reaped many benefits. Other Mississippi politicians like Gov. Mike Connor initiated measures to improve the treatment of inmates at Parchman Prison in the Delta and Gov. Hugh White established the Balancing Agriculture with Industry initiative. Women also played an active role. The Natchez Garden Club successfully spurred tourism by starting the state's first pilgrimage in 1932. Mississippians found employment through the Public Works Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, which stimulated economic development through new and add-on construction in urban and rural areas and the construction of nine state parks. For black Mississippians, segregation and discrimination in New Deal benefits and jobs continued, but what they did receive from the federal government spurred a determination to fight for equality in the Jim Crow South.

Lifelong Mississippian Richelle Putnam is an award-winning author, a Mississippi Arts Commission teaching artist, and a Mississippi Humanities speaker.

Join author Richelle Putnam as she recounts how Mississippian's resolve and fortitude brought the state through one of the hardest economic times in American history.

When the Great Depression erupted, Mississippi had not yet recovered from the boll weevil or the Flood of 1927. Its land suffered from depleted forests and soil. Plus, the state had yet to confront the racial caste systems imprisoning poor whites, African Americans and other minorities. Nevertheless, innovative Mississippians managed to keep their businesses and services open. Meanwhile, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs fostered economic stimulation within the state. Author Richelle Putnam also highlights the state's spiritual and cultural giants, who rose from the nation's poorest state to create a lasting footprint of determination, pride and hope during the Depression era.

The view that slavery could best be described by those who had themselves experienced it personally has found expression in several thousand commentaries, autobiographies, narratives, and interviews with those who endured. Although most of these accounts appeared before the Civil War, more than one-third are the result of the ambitious efforts of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to interview surviving ex-slaves during the 1930s. The result of these efforts was the Slave Narrative Collection, a group of autobiographical accounts of former slaves that today stands as one of the most enduring and noteworthy achievements of the WPA. Compiled in seventeen states during the years 1936-38, the collection consists of more than two thousand interviews with former slaves, most of them first-person accounts of slave life and the respondents' own reactions to bondage. The interviews afforded aged ex-slaves an unparalleled opportunity to give their personal accounts of life under the peculiar institution, to describe in their own words what it felt like to be a slave in the United States. —Norman R. Yetman, American Memory, Library of Congress  This paperback edition of all of the Tennessee narratives is reprinted in facsimile from the typewritten pages of the interviewers, just as they were originally typed.

The view that slavery could best be described by those who had themselves experienced it personally has found expression in several thousand commentaries, autobiographies, narratives, and interviews with those who endured. Although most of these accounts appeared before the Civil War, more than one-third are the result of the ambitious efforts of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to interview surviving ex-slaves during the 1930s. The result of these efforts was the Slave Narrative Collection, a group of autobiographical accounts of former slaves that today stands as one of the most enduring and noteworthy achievements of the WPA. Compiled in seventeen states during the years 1936-38, the collection consists of more than two thousand interviews with former slaves, most of them first-person accounts of slave life and the respondents' own reactions to bondage. The interviews afforded aged ex-slaves an unparalleled opportunity to give their personal accounts of life under the peculiar institution, to describe in their own words what it felt like to be a slave in the United States. —Norman R. Yetman, American Memory, Library of Congress  This paperback edition of all of the Kentucky narratives is reprinted in facsimile from the typewritten pages of the interviewers, just as they were originally typed.