American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA : When FDR Put the Nation to Work (54 page)

Yet today the government is asserting its rights to the work that it once scrapped. The General Services Administration, the custodian of federal property, is reclaiming WPA pieces that have fallen into private hands. In June 2006 it stopped a Pennsylvania auction house from selling a consigned painting by WPA artist R. A. D. Miller entitled “House with Fence,” valued at $10,000 to $15,000. Ownership records don’t count, says the GSA, because the government never sold the pieces in the first place. Relying on tips, it targets works that are advertised online or in auction catalogues as WPA art and that still have the Works Progress Administration labels that were pasted to the back to identify them. A GSA fine arts specialist says perhaps half a dozen pieces a year are reclaimed and placed in public buildings or donated to approved institutions. Private art dealers say that collectors have reacted by removing the labels before trying to sell WPA pieces, despite the destruction of provenance that this represents.

The murals have fared better. They, like other works of the WPA, are being rediscovered and restored at sites from New York to California. The works of Charles Alston, Alfred Crimi, Vertis Hayes, and Georgette Seabrooke at Harlem Hospital in New York City were taken down and restored starting in 2005, for reinstallation in a new patient pavilion by 2009. At Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, at the Beach Chalet across from the Pacific Ocean, the frescoes of Lucien Labault, Primo Caredio’s mosaics, and the staircase wood carvings of Michael Von Meyer were cleaned and brought back to their original splendor in 1997 and now anchor the park’s visitors’ center. In Chicago, an artist and art historian named Heather Becker has spearheaded an effort to locate, preserve, and restore WPA and other early-twentieth-century murals, which has evolved into the country’s largest mural preservation program. As a result, the Chicago area now boasts some 437 restored murals in sixty-eight locations, primarily in public schools. Nationally, the National New Deal Preservation Association was formed in 1998 to bring attention to WPA and other New Deal art, construction, and conservation projects.

Looking back, what does the WPA mean? Is it a historic artifact almost lost to living memory, or a model for some sort of future government initiative? Many people wonder if anything like the WPA will ever happen again. The answer to that, at least in terms of the wholesale offering of public jobs, is almost certainly no, despite circumstances such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in which it is possible to imagine the benefits of a vast labor force mobilized by a committed government.

What, then, did it mean for the government to exchange faith with its people in such an unprecedented way? In looking at the legacy of the WPA, the fact that shines through the statistics and the human stories, the administrative dramas and political attacks, is the New Deal’s fundamental wisdom of treating people as a resource and not as a commodity. Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins believed that people given a job to do would do it well, and the fact that their paychecks were issued by the government would make not a whit of difference. They were right. The workers of the WPA shone. They excelled. They created works that even without restoration have lasted for more than seventy years and still stand strong, art that is admired, research that is relied upon, infrastructure that endures. They clothed the threadbare, fed the hungry, taught the illiterate, innoculated the vulnerable. They turned toys that were rich children’s discards into poor children’s treasures. They fought floods and hurricanes and forest fires with bravery that exists today only in the memory of the fewer and fewer who survive, in moldering newsprint, and in the great memory bank created by the Internet. This history and these stories, great and small, remain to be discovered by those who seek them. Those who do will be enriched by what they learn.

One final accomplishment of the WPA’s workers must never be forgotten. These ordinary men and women proved to be extraordinary beyond all expectation. They were golden threads woven in the national fabric. In this, they shamed the political philosophy that discounted their value and rewarded the one that placed its faith in them, thus fulfilling the founding vision of a government by and for its people.
All
its people.

GLOSSARY OF NEW DEAL “INITIALIZED” AGENCIES

AAA: Agricultural Adjustment Administration. Agency established under the Agricultural Adjustment Act, May 1933, to regulate crop and livestock production.

CCC: Civilian Conservation Corps. Created by presidential act March 31, 1933, to employ young men eighteen to twenty-five in conservation work in national parks and forests.

CWA: Civil Works Administration. Temporary jobs program during winter of 1933–34.

FAP: Federal Art Project.

FERA: Federal Emergency Relief Administration. First federal relief agency established under the Federal Emergency Relief Act, May 12, 1933.

FMP: Federal Music Project.

FSRC: Federal Surplus Relief Corporation. Agency that processed surplus food and fuel for distribution to relief clients. Later became the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation.

FTP: Federal Theatre Project.

FWA: Federal Works Agency. The entity created in Roosevelt’s government reorganization plan in 1939. It included the Work Projects Administration and the reduced Public Works Administration.

FWP: Federal Writers’ Project.

NRA: National Recovery Administration. Agency set up under the National Industrial Recovery Act, June 1933, to establish and monitor “voluntary” industry-wide codes setting production levels and employment standards.

NYA: National Youth Administration. Agency established under the WPA to provide part-time jobs for high school and college students to allow them to earn money while continuing to study.

PWA: Public Works Administration. Construction agency set up under the National Industrial Recovery Act to build major public works.

RFC: Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Agency established under Herbert Hoover, January 22, 1932, to make emergency loans to banks, railroads, and insurance companies. Later authorized to make loans to state and local governments to provide jobs.

TERA: Temporary Emergency Relief Administration. New York State relief agency established under governor Franklin Roosevelt, November 1931.

TVA: Tennessee Valley Authority. Multistate public agency created in May 1933 to build hydroelectric dams to bring electricity and development to a large part of the rural South.

WPA: Works Progress Administration. Established by presidential order May 6, 1935, to move unemployed workers from relief to jobs and to rebuild the national infrastructure. Name later changed to Work Projects Administration.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WPA

A (Very) Partial List by State

ALABAMA

Birmingham: Vulcan Park observation tower

Brundidge: “We Piddle Around” Theater (formerly Brundidge City Hall)

Sylacauga: Isabel Anderson Comer Museum and Arts Center (formerly B. B. Comer Memorial Library)

ALASKA

Ketchikan: Federal Building

ARIZONA

Coolidge: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

Naco: Turquoise Valley Golf Course club house

ARKANSAS

Jasper: Newton County Courthouse

Mountain Home: Baxter County Courthouse

CALIFORNIA

Clayton: Summit Building at Mount Diablo State Park

Mendocino County: Mendocino Woodlands State Park

San Bernardino County: Asistencia, Mission San Gabriel

San Francisco: Cow Palace, murals at Beach Chalet

San Jose: National Guard Armory

COLORADO

Denver: Bonnie Brae Park

Mesa Verde National Park: historic dioramas

Pueblo: City Park (including Lake Joy, Monkey Mountain, and Monkey Island), Pueblo Junior College

CONNECTICUT

New Haven: Chatfield Hollow State Park tower

Norwalk: Oak Hills Park Golf Course; murals at Norwalk City Hall, Norwalk Transit District, Norwalk Community College, Norwalk Public Library, and the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk

Stamford: Michael A. Boyle Stadium

DELAWARE

Hancock: Hancock Golf Course

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Washington: murals at Smithsonian American Art Museum

FLORIDA

Tavernier Key: Monroe County Health Department (built as a school and hurricane refuge)

Fort Myers: Fort Myers Yacht Basin

GEORGIA

Clayton: nine-hole golf course at Rabun County Golf Club

Macon: Macon City Hall, Ocmulgee National Monument

HAWAII

Oahu and outer islands: civilian and military airfields

IDAHO

Arco: Recreation Hall

Boise: Ada County Courthouse and murals

Idaho Falls: Idaho Falls Airport Historic District

ILLINOIS

Aurora: Phillips Park Golf Course

Brookfield: Brookfield Zoo

Chicago: Zoo Rookery at Lincoln Park Zoo

Dixon: park system bridges and landscaping

Murphysboro: Riverside Park baseball field and band shell

INDIANA

Hammond: Hammond Civic Center

Michigan City: Washington Park Zoo improvements

Mishawaka: Battell Park band shell and rock garden

IOWA

Clinton: Stone Lookout Tower

Dubuque: Eagle Point Park, Shot Tower restoration

KANSAS

Hiawatha: National Guard Armory

Hutchinson: Prairie Dunes Golf Course

KENTUCKY

Ashland: Central Park, Putnam Stadium at Paul Blazer High School

LOUISIANA

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University’s Tiger Stadium addition

New Orleans: Crescent City Golf Course

MAINE

Caribou: Nylander Museum

Portland: Portland Observatory Maritime Signal Tower restoration

MARYLAND

Cumberland: Constitution Park pool

Frederick County: Camp David presidential retreat

MASSACHUSETTS

Danvers: murals at Danvers Town Hall

Haverhill: Haverhill Stadium

Hyde Park: George Wright Golf Course

Melrose: Stone wall in Wyoming Cemetery

New Bedford: New Bedford Municipal Golf Course

MICHIGAN

East Lansing: East Wing and murals at Michigan State University’s Kresge Art Museum

Kalamazoo: Milham Park Municipal Golf Course

MINNESOTA

Currie: Beach House and Mess Hall at Lake Shetek State Park

Roseau: Roseau City Hall

St. Paul: Keller Golf Course, Minnehaha Playground building

MISSISSIPPI

Carrollton: Carrollton Community House

Jackson: terminal building at Hawkins Field (airport), castle and Elephant House Café at Jackson Zoo

MISSOURI

Arrow Rock: open shelter and stone bridge at Arrow Rock State Historic Site

St. Louis: picnic shelters at Tilles Park, Grand Staircase at Fort Belle Fontaine Park

MONTANA

Bozeman: Longfellow School

Kalispell: Buffalo Hill Golf Course

Lewiston: Rock ponds and bridges at Big Springs Trout Hatchery

Miles City: Denton Field baseball stadium

NEBRASKA

Lincoln: “The Smoke Signal” sculpture at Pioneer Park

Nebraska City: Stone footbridge at Steinhart Park

NEVADA

Reno: Washoe County Golf Course, Southside School annex

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Laconia: Gunstock Mountain Lodge

Manchester: airport terminal building

Nashua: Holman Stadium

NEW JERSEY

Alpine: Lookout Inn on the Palisades Parkway

Newark: murals at Newark City Hall

Somerset: Great Swamp drainage ditches

NEW MEXICO

Claunch: Old School House

Fort Sumner: mural at De Baca County Courthouse

Magdalena: old WPA gym

NEW YORK

Bethpage: Bethpage State Park golf courses

Buffalo: Buffalo Memorial Auditorium

Bronx: Split Rock Golf Course

Fair Haven: Fair Haven Beach State Park

New York City: La Guardia Airport

West Point: stained glass and painted murals at U.S. Military Academy’s Washington Hall (cadet mess)

NORTH CAROLINA

Cullowhee: Western Carolina University’s Breese Gymnasium

Goldsboro: Old Station 1 fire station

Roanoke Island: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site

NORTH DAKOTA

Bismarck: Edwards House at Camp Grafton (North Dakota National Guard)

Linton: Emmons County Courthouse

Minot: Pioneer Bowl

OHIO

Akron: Rubber Bowl stadium at University of Akron

Cleveland: Forest Hill Park

Columbus: Ohio State University Golf Course

OKLAHOMA

Fort Gibson: Fort Gibson Historic Site restoration

OREGON

Eugene: Civic Stadium, Howe Memorial Gates at University of Oregon

Mount Hood: Timberline Lodge

Portland: Stone House at Forest Park

PENNSYLVANIA

Pittsburgh: Stone stairs and bridges at Schenley Park

Philadelphia: reading room at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Library, buildings at Fairmount Park

York: WPA Models and Dioramas at Indian Steps Museum

RHODE ISLAND

Barrington: Stone fireplaces at Dr. George B. Haines Memorial Park

Providence: Stone staircase at Neutaconkanut Hill Park

SOUTH CAROLINA

Charleston: Dock Street Theatre restoration

Columbia: McKissick Museum at University of South Carolina

SOUTH DAKOTA

Philip: Philip Auditorium

Rapid City: Dinosaur Park

TENNESSEE

Bristol: Stone Castle Stadium at Tennessee High School

Kingsport, Johnson City, and Bristol tri-cities: airports in Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, and Jackson

Memphis: Children’s Museum of Memphis (formerly National Guard Armory)

Nashville: Fort Negley restoration

TEXAS

Dallas: Dealey Plaza

La Porte: San Jacinto Monument

San Antonio: River Walk

UTAH

Garfield County: Bryce Canyon Airport, between Escalante and Panguitch

Helper: Helper Civic Auditorium

Salt Lake City: rotunda murals at the Utah State Capitol

VERMONT

Montpelier: Recreation Park

VIRGINIA

Fredericksburg: Spotsylvania County Courthouse annex

WASHINGTON

Seattle: Woodland Park Zoo

WEST VIRGINIA

Fairmont: Stone walls at East-West Stadium

WISCONSIN

Hales Corner: Golf club house at Whitnall Park

Milwaukee: Sculptures at Parklawn Housing Project

Milwaukee County: swimming pools, pavilions, Milwaukee County park system

Wauwatosa: Murals at Wauwatosa East High School

WYOMING

Casper: Natrona County High School

Dayton: Dayton Community Hall

Newcastle: Anna Miller Museum (building originally constructed for the Wyoming National Guard)