Federal Writers Project Analysis

449 Words2 Pages
The Federal Writers' Project was one of four New Deal arts projects that were created as part of the Works Progress Administration in 1935 to provide work relief for the unemployed. New Deal relief administrator Harry Hopkins realized the need for specific relief programs for white-collar workers, including writers and other artists. In addition to the Federal Writers Project the other arts projects were the Federal Theatre Project, the Federal Art Project, and the Federal Music Project. During World War II the cost of war led to the end of the Federal Writers' Project and the other Federal One programs. The Federal Writers Project gave thousands of unemployed writers work over a thousand stories on American topics during the Great Depression. The idea that Federal Writers Project writers would work on government manuals and reports was quickly discarded. Another option would have given…show more content…
The FWP progressed from a set of tour books, educational pamphlets, to essays of the state guides, ethnic studies, and folklore studies. The FWP's Life in America series had 150 volumes on a range of topics. Interviews with former slaves, farm and cotton-mill owners, and workers published in These Are Our Lives (1939) this gave more knowledge on American history. Larger defense budget in the years leading up to World War II took money away from the FWP. By 1939, budget cuts had forced the project to scale down to 3,500 workers, although it was so popular that every state provided money to keep it alive when Congress reduced funding in 1939. The Federal Writers' Project was eliminated along with the WPA in 1943 and much of its unpublished work was lost or destroyed. Even so, the FWP left a large impact in its American Guide and life in America series and in its tales folklore
Open Document