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April 14, 2003 -
December 6, 2003
"C.C. CAMP IS A SWELL PLACE FOR A BOY TO LEARN."
Recording Our History: Writers and Artists
Art for the People
For Teachers
Resources
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Do you use cemetery records to trace your family tree?
Are you curious to know what historic buildings were still standing in
the 1930s? Why was a mural painted in the post office in a Virginia
town? Who built the state parks and their rustic cabins? What did a
woman in Appalachia think about her life in 1938? Answers to these and
other questions can be found because of government programs that put
men and women, black and white, young and old, blue collar and white
collar, to work during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Some of the
projects yielded collections of materials that we still use today in
genealogical, historical, sociological, and cultural research.
Faced with massive economic collapse and widespread unemployment,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the United States Congress
initiated a variety of government programs, known collectively as the
New Deal, during the Great Depression. These programs, often known by
their initials, built roads, public buildings, and airports; sponsored
music, theater, and mural paintings; documented popular art and
historical records and buildings; and employed millions of people,
including women and teenagers, not only to teach skills but also to
keep job skills in the workforce. Legacies of the New Deal in
Virginia offers overviews of two major components of Roosevelt's
New Deal—the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Work Projects
Administration—whose achievements continue to enrich our lives.
Related Resources See a
list of selected resources or the bibliography
The New Deal in Virginia (pdf).
WPA Life Histories
About the WPA Life
Histories Collection
Virginia Historical Inventory
About the Virginia
Historical Inventory |
