85th Anniversary of the WPA

85 years ago today, on May 6, 1935, the Works Progress Administration became a part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal programs to get the United States back to stability. It was on that date that he signed Executive Order 7034. In 1939 it was retitled the Work Projects Administration and it had many divisions.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) affected so many lives and some projects still do that today. For family historians, it produced much that we may still use today.

The National Genealogical Society’s NGS Magazine Volume 45, Number 4, Oct-Dec 2019 is filled with WPA-related articles. My contribution was based on 25 years of research and presentations on the topic.

I also did a video for Ancestry Academy on the WPA and it is accompanied by a handout. https://www.ancestryacademy.com/the-wpa-a-good-deal-for-genealogists