Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA), established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 6, 1935, through Executive Order 7034, was a federal relief program designed to employ millions of unemployed Americans during the Great Depression by funding public works projects.[1] Administered initially by Harry Hopkins, a key New Deal architect who had led prior relief efforts, the agency focused on labor-intensive infrastructure and cultural initiatives rather than direct cash aid, aiming to restore dignity through productive work while stimulating economic activity via government spending.[1] Over its eight-year existence until 1943, the WPA hired approximately 8.5 million workers, reaching a peak employment of over 3 million in 1938, with average monthly wages around $41—deliberately set below prevailing private rates to avoid displacing market jobs.[2] Its projects encompassed thousands of miles of roads and sidewalks, hundreds of public buildings including 4,383 new schools and over 130 hospitals, and enhancements to parks, airports, and utilities, modernizing much of the nation's aging infrastructure.[2] Cultural arms like the Federal Art Project, Federal Writers' Project, and Federal Theatre Project employed artists, writers, and performers to produce murals, guides, and plays, preserving skills amid economic hardship.[3] ![WPA-USA-sign.svg.png][float-right] Despite these outputs, the WPA faced substantial criticism for operational inefficiencies, such as "make-work" tasks like leaf-raking that yielded minimal lasting value, and for serving as a conduit for political patronage, with job assignments often favoring Democratic loyalists and union members, exacerbating perceptions of waste in a program that cost billions without fully resolving underlying unemployment causes.[4] Congressional probes and contemporary reports highlighted administrative bloat and fraud risks in its decentralized structure, where local sponsors influenced project selection, though defenders argued such scale inevitably entailed frictions amid unprecedented relief demands.[4] Renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939 to emphasize tangible results over relief, it wound down as wartime industry absorbed labor, leaving a legacy of physical assets but also debates over fiscal sustainability and government intervention's role in recovery.[1]Establishment
Creation and Objectives
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was established on May 6, 1935, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 7034, drawing authority from the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, which Congress had approved on April 8, 1935, allocating $4 billion for relief efforts.[5][6] This executive action superseded elements of prior relief programs like the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, centralizing federal work-relief initiatives under a single agency to address persistent unemployment amid the Great Depression, where industrial production remained 45% below 1929 levels.[7][8] Harry L. Hopkins, who had previously directed the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and Civil Works Administration, was appointed as the WPA's first administrator, tasked with executing the program's mandate to transition relief recipients from direct aid to productive labor.[9] The core objective was to furnish "useful work" tailored to the skills of the unemployed, thereby providing income while fostering self-respect and averting the psychological harms associated with unearned handouts, as Hopkins argued that direct dole payments preserved the body but eroded the spirit.[10][11] Unlike outright cash assistance, the WPA emphasized projects that yielded tangible public benefits, such as infrastructure improvements, without competing unduly with private sector activities, aiming to employ up to 5 million workers initially while stimulating economic recovery through labor-intensive endeavors.[2] This approach reflected a causal understanding that idle relief undermined work ethic and skills, whereas compensated employment on worthwhile tasks could mitigate destitution, maintain societal productivity, and lay foundations for postwar infrastructure needs, all while prioritizing the most needy applicants based on local relief rolls.[9][12]Administrative Leadership and Organization
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was created on May 6, 1935, through Executive Order 7034 issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt under the provisions of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of April 8, 1935, which allocated $4 billion for relief efforts. Harry L. Hopkins, a social worker and former head of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and Civil Works Administration (CWA), was selected as the inaugural administrator due to his experience in rapid deployment of work relief programs. Hopkins emphasized direct employment over handouts, prioritizing projects that provided immediate jobs while building lasting public infrastructure.[13][14][15] Hopkins led the WPA until December 23, 1938, when he resigned to become Secretary of Commerce, overseeing the employment of millions amid persistent Depression-era unemployment. He was replaced by Francis C. Harrington, an Army colonel and the WPA's former chief engineer and assistant administrator, who focused on streamlining operations and integrating the agency more closely with defense-related projects as war loomed. In July 1939, the WPA was renamed the Work Projects Administration to reflect a shift toward structured project planning rather than progress-oriented relief, though its core functions remained intact under Harrington until its termination in 1943.[16][17] The WPA's organizational framework was hierarchical and decentralized to enable efficient local adaptation. At the apex was the central administration in Washington, D.C., which set national policies, allocated funds, and coordinated with federal agencies. Below it, eight regional offices oversaw broader geographic areas, providing technical guidance and monitoring compliance. State administrations, headed by administrators appointed by the national office—often chosen for their administrative expertise or alignment with Roosevelt's political coalition—managed project certification, worker allocation, and sponsor agreements with local governments. District and county offices handled day-to-day operations, including payroll, timekeeping, and on-site supervision, ensuring projects aligned with community needs while meeting federal labor standards. This structure facilitated the WPA's scale, employing up to 3.3 million workers at peak, but also invited criticisms of inefficiency and political favoritism in appointments.[1][18]Employment Practices
Scale and Selection Processes
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) employed a cumulative total of 8.5 million workers from its inception in 1935 until its termination in 1943, providing temporary public jobs to alleviate unemployment during the Great Depression.[19] Employment levels fluctuated with economic conditions and funding, reaching a peak of over 3 million workers in 1938, with notable surges often occurring in the fall of election years, reflecting allocations influenced by regional political pressures alongside need-based assessments.[2] [20] By early 1936, more than 3 million individuals were engaged in WPA projects nationwide, encompassing a range of infrastructure, arts, and service initiatives.[21] Worker eligibility centered on unemployment, physical ability to perform assigned tasks, and certification of need by local public relief agencies, which investigated applicants' financial circumstances and family dependencies to prioritize those unable to secure private employment.[22] Selection processes emphasized one worker per needy family unit to maximize relief distribution, with preferences extended to heads of households, individuals with dependents, and those enduring the longest periods of joblessness; applicants underwent work tests to verify skills suitability for available projects.[23] [24] State and local WPA administrators, guided by federal quotas derived from relief rolls and unemployment data, assigned certified workers to specific initiatives, aiming to match labor skills—such as construction expertise or artistic talents—to project demands while minimizing displacement in private sectors.[2] This decentralized approach, while efficient for rapid rollout, occasionally permitted informal political favoritism in allocations, as documented in congressional reviews.[10]Wages, Conditions, and Workforce Demographics
The Works Progress Administration established "security wages" calibrated to local prevailing rates for similar private employment but intentionally set lower to prevent displacement of private sector jobs and encourage employers to hire at market levels. Unskilled laborers typically earned between $0.30 and $1.00 per hour, translating to monthly stipends of $30 to $60 depending on regional differentials and hours worked, with certification required monthly to verify ongoing need. [23] In March 1936, average monthly earnings stood at $26.78 in southern states adhering to the lowest schedule and $58.10 across 32 northern and western states. [25] Across the program, workers averaged about $41.57 monthly, supplemented occasionally by local or state contributions but excluding food or transportation allowances. [11] Working conditions emphasized manual labor over mechanization to expand employment rolls, involving tasks such as road building, park maintenance, and structural repairs under rudimentary supervision and with basic tools, often in adverse weather without advanced safety protocols standard in private industry. Employees generally worked 8 hours daily, 5 days weekly, totaling around 120-160 hours monthly, though output quotas and project pacing varied by locale. The program's relief orientation led to criticisms from organized labor, including strikes over sub-market pay, absence of collective bargaining rights, and perceived favoritism toward politically connected hires, though federal guidelines prohibited partisan allocation. [23] The WPA workforce, totaling over 8.5 million unique individuals from 1935 to 1943, prioritized unemployed heads of households from relief rolls, with eligibility favoring those without other employable family members. Men dominated at approximately 86.5% of positions in the 1938 peak year of 3.3 million enrollees, reflecting construction-heavy projects; women, limited to applicants as primary breadwinners (e.g., widows or deserted wives), comprised 13.5%, often segregated into sewing rooms, nurseries, or clerical work under the Women's Division. [11] [20] Racial demographics mirrored broader Depression-era unemployment disparities, with African Americans—facing private market exclusion—accounting for about 15% of early enrollees, or roughly 350,000 workers in 1935 despite comprising under 10% of the national population. This proportion peaked at over 400,000 Black employees in 1939, representing 14% of the total amid national policy mandates for non-discrimination via Executive Order 7046, though enforcement faltered in Southern states where local administrators applied white-preference quotas aligned with relief eligibility ratios, resulting in Blacks receiving fewer projects relative to their overrepresentation on rolls. [26] [26] Most nonwhite workers, including African Americans, were funneled into unskilled roles, with supervisory positions rare (e.g., under 1% in urban centers like New York City). [27] European immigrants and their descendants formed the white majority, while Asian Americans and other minorities participated minimally, constrained by citizenship requirements and regional concentrations. [28]Project Categories
Infrastructure and Construction Initiatives
The Works Progress Administration's infrastructure initiatives focused on labor-intensive construction projects that addressed critical deficiencies in the nation's public works, including transportation, utilities, and civic facilities, employing millions in manual labor to stimulate economic recovery during the Great Depression. Established under Executive Order 7034 on May 6, 1935, these projects prioritized practical improvements over large-scale engineering feats, utilizing unskilled workers under federal supervision to repair and expand existing infrastructure rather than initiating entirely new mega-projects. By emphasizing local needs coordinated through state administrations, the WPA avoided the bureaucratic delays of prior agencies like the Public Works Administration, enabling rapid deployment of resources to rural and urban areas alike.[1] Key transportation achievements included the construction and improvement of roughly 650,000 miles of roads and highways, facilitating better connectivity in underserved regions and supporting agricultural and industrial transport. The program also built or repaired 78,000 bridges, many of which replaced dilapidated wooden structures with more durable designs suited to increasing vehicular traffic. Airport development formed another pillar, with the WPA funding the construction or enlargement of approximately 800 airfields and 700 miles of runways, including expansions at major hubs like LaGuardia Airport in New York, which enhanced civilian and emerging military aviation capabilities.[29] Public building projects constituted a substantial portion of WPA efforts, yielding 125,000 structures such as schools, hospitals, courthouses, and armories that served immediate community needs while providing long-term assets. Specifically, workers built, improved, or renovated 39,370 schools and 2,550 hospitals, often incorporating basic modern amenities like indoor plumbing and electrification in areas previously lacking them. Examples include the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, completed in 1935 with WPA labor for its structural and foundational work, and numerous county courthouses like the Prairie County Courthouse in DeValls Bluff, Arkansas, finished in 1939. These initiatives not only alleviated unemployment—peaking at 8.5 million WPA workers overall—but also upgraded sanitation and water systems, constructing sewers, sidewalks, and public utilities to combat urban decay and rural isolation.[30] Such projects were executed through decentralized state divisions, where engineers oversaw crews using standardized plans to ensure cost efficiency, though variations in local materials and labor availability influenced outcomes. While effective in volume, the emphasis on employment over engineering precision sometimes resulted in temporary fixes rather than permanent solutions, as evidenced by the program's reliance on manual methods over mechanization to maximize jobs. Nonetheless, these efforts laid foundational improvements that persisted into subsequent decades, contributing to national infrastructure resilience without incurring the debt burdens associated with purely capital-intensive alternatives.[11]Arts, Education, and Cultural Programs
The Works Progress Administration's arts, education, and cultural programs operated primarily under Federal Project Number One, approved on September 12, 1935, to employ out-of-work professionals in creative and educational fields amid the Great Depression.[1] These initiatives encompassed the Federal Art Project, Federal Writers' Project, Federal Theatre Project, Federal Music Project, and related efforts like the Historical Records Survey, alongside educational components such as adult literacy classes and nursery schools. By providing relief work, the programs produced tangible cultural outputs while prioritizing employment for the unemployed, with participants selected based on need rather than artistic merit alone.[1] The Federal Art Project supported visual artists in creating public works, including murals, easel paintings, prints, and sculptures for federal buildings, schools, and post offices. Operating across 48 states, it generated approximately 200,000 works of art, with thousands of murals adorning public spaces to promote American themes and regional histories.[31] The project emphasized accessible art for the masses, commissioning pieces that reflected everyday life and national identity, though outputs varied in quality due to the inclusion of non-professional artists to maximize employment.[32] The Federal Writers' Project employed thousands of writers, researchers, and editors to document American life through state guidebooks, oral histories, and ethnic studies. It produced the American Guide Series, comprising 48 state volumes and numerous city guides that cataloged folklore, architecture, and local customs, alongside collections like slave narratives gathered from over 2,300 interviews.[33] These efforts preserved cultural records but faced delays and inconsistencies, as administrative records indicate challenges in coordinating decentralized state units.[1] The Federal Theatre Project, launched in 1935, provided jobs for over 10,000 theater workers and staged free or low-cost productions, including experimental "Living Newspapers" that dramatized social issues like housing and labor disputes. It mounted thousands of performances reaching millions of audiences, fostering regional theater units and vaudeville revivals, though it drew scrutiny for politically charged content that critics alleged veered toward propaganda.[34] The project ended in 1939 amid congressional investigations into alleged communist influences.[35] The Federal Music Project engaged musicians in performing concerts, composing works, and teaching, establishing 48 symphony orchestras and 110 concert bands while providing instruction to over 2.3 million students who could not afford private lessons.[36] It organized community symphonies and music education programs to democratize access to classical and folk music, contributing to the survival of ensembles that later became professional orchestras.[37] Educational initiatives under WPA included adult literacy programs, vocational training, and nursery schools aimed at supporting working parents and underprivileged children. By late 1935, over 1,900 nursery schools operated, serving tens of thousands with health, nutrition, and early education services to mitigate Depression-era hardships.[38] Adult education encompassed 139,756 classes in literacy, arts, crafts, and homemaking, targeting functional illiteracy and skill-building for the unemployed.[39] These programs emphasized practical outcomes, such as improved employability, over ideological training.[1]Economic and Fiscal Dimensions
Funding Mechanisms and Total Expenditures
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) derived its funding principally from federal appropriations enacted by Congress through a sequence of Emergency Relief Appropriation Acts spanning 1935 to 1943, which allocated resources for public works and relief programs during the Great Depression.[40] The inaugural act, passed in April 1935, appropriated roughly $4.8 billion, enabling the program's launch via Executive Order 7034 on May 6, 1935, under the administration of Harry Hopkins.[41] [42] These appropriations were disbursed directly from the U.S. Treasury, emphasizing labor costs, which accounted for approximately 90% of project budgets, with the balance covering materials, equipment, and overhead.[2] [29] While federal funds predominated, project sponsorship by state, local, or federal agencies was mandatory, often requiring non-federal entities to supply matching contributions for non-wage elements such as supplies and site preparation, though no fixed matching ratio was imposed.[2] This structure aimed to leverage local initiative while centralizing wage payments to ensure uniformity and prevent undercutting private sector employment. Subsequent appropriation acts replenished funds amid fluctuating unemployment, with allocations influenced by congressional debates over fiscal sustainability and program efficacy.[29] Aggregate federal expenditures for the WPA from 1935 to its phase-out in 1943 reached approximately $11 billion, supporting over 8.5 million workers on diverse projects.[19] Detailed annual outlays for 1936–1939, drawn from government reports, totaled nearly $7 billion, as itemized below:| Year | Expenditures (in millions) |
|---|---|
| 1936 | $1,295 |
| 1937 | $1,879 |
| 1938 | $1,464 |
| 1939 | $2,125 |