Romanticized and Misunderstood: Surveying Works Progress Administration Public Buildings and Structures in Oregon's Willamette Valley
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Date
2018-05-30
Authors
Wood, Timothy W.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Formed under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, the Works Progress
Administration (WPA), employed millions of unemployed Americans to conduct thousands of projects across the United States from 1935-1943. Developed amidst a period of tremendous suffering, WPA activities helped to reinvigorate the nation's struggling economy and instill a sense of hope among the populous that recovery from the Great Depression was possible. As a temporary program, the WPA was intended to provide employment to stabilize the economy until the private sector could recover and to alleviate the hardships that had engulfed the country. In Oregon, there is a lack of documentation and analysis of these projects. This report documents WPA public buildings and structures constructed in the cities of Eugene, Salem and Portland to better understand their historical significance and why the work of the WPA has been confused with other New Deal programs.
Description
178 pages