Culture Chronicle

Happy 75th, WPA: Its Genius Holds Lessons for Today's Jobs Crisis
The Huffington Post - April 9, 2010
By Mike Elk

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the Works Progress Administration, the New Deal centerpiece that helped end the Great Depression by directly creating 3.3 million jobs. As we have just experienced the steepest job losses since then, let's take a moment to remind ourselves the economic lessons we learned from that historic program.

First, we learned that after the private sector suffers a major shock to the system, it can't quickly recover on its own. Government must step in.

Second, direct government hiring not only replaces jobs that have been lost, it also primes the pump so the private sector can start hiring again.

Finally, effective government hiring targets the communities hardest hit by economic crisis. For the full article, click here

WPA: Lessons on Design & Government
BrainPickings.com - April 8, 2010
By Maria Popova

What the digging of ditches has to do with design history and the recession.

Today marks the 75th anniversary of Works Progress Administration -- a controversial New Deal government agency created by President Roosevelt in 1935 as an answer to the Great Depression. Though considered by some near-communist in nature, the WPA generated a staggering number of public artifacts and initiatives in its eight-year run -- roads, buildings, parks, bridges, libraries, schools, housing programs, food redistribution efforts. Investing nearly $7 billion in these projects and providing some 8 million jobs, the WPA became the largest employer in the country, offering the most competitive hourly wages within its areas of employment. Among its claims to fame are iconic landmarks like the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, the great mural at West Point military academy, Maryland's Camp David, and New York's LaGuardia Airport. For the full article, click here