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Color Archival Pigment Print New Mexico Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Fort Bliss National Cemetery El Paso Texas Stone Rock Wall
Garwood Schoolhouse Garwood Missouri midwest PWA WPA rustic Stonework Architecture
Cemetery Opening Fort Sumner New Mexico 2020 WPA PWA Works Progress Administration Southwest Color Photograph Rustic Americana
Color Archival Pigment Print Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Elmwood Cemetery Bowie Texas Funeral Procession
Color Archival Pigment Print Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Fair Park Rock Field Childress Texas Baseball Recreation Sport Amateur Little League
Color Archival Pigment Print Orogrande School New Mexico Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Pueblo Revivalist Architecture
Wood Gormley Elementary School Santa Fe New Mexico WPA Works Progress Administration Pueblo Revivalist Architecture Color Archival Pigment Print
Roosevelt County Courthouse Portales New Mexico Color Archival Pigment Print WPA Works Progress Administration Art Deco Architecture
Public Library Clayton New Mexico color archival pigment print pueblo revivalist architecture
Color Archival Pigment Print New Mexico Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Socorro Grade School Garfield Edward Torrres
Marshall Junior High School Clovis New Mexico WPA Works Progress Administration New Deal Roosevelt Pueblo Revivalist Architecture Color Archival Pigment Print
Color Archival Pigment Print Auditorium, Phoenix College Phoenix Arizona 2020 American Southwest Works Progress Administration WPA Great Depression FDR Franklin Roosevelt
Archival Pigment Print Color Post Office Hollywood California Works Progress Administration WPA New Deal FDR Roosevelt Great Depression Public Works
WPA Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Great Depression Public Works Archival Pigment Print Fort Lewis College Old Fort Lewis Campus Hesperus Colorado 2021
Color Archival Pigment Print City Hall Salina Utah 2021 WPA Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Great Depression Public Works
Archival Pigment Print City Park Band Shell Twin Falls Idaho WPA Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Great Depression Public Works
Archival Pigment Print Arco City Building Arco Idaho 2021 WPA Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Great Depression Public Works
Color Archival Pigment Print Taft Stadium Oklahoma City WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest
Will Rogers High School Tulsa Oklahoma WPA Works Progress Administration New Deal Roosevelt midwest PWA
Color Archival Pigment PrintUnited States Courthouse and Post Office Abilene Texas Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt Great Depression New Deal
Color Archival Pigment Print Dealey Plaza Dallas Texas Works Progress Administration WPA Kennedy Assassination Texas Book Depository American History Sothwest
Color Archival Pigment Print Houston Elementary School Denison Texas American Southwest Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt Great Depression New Deal American History
Color Archival Pigment Print Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Boys & Girls Clubs Wichita Falls Texas Education School American Southwest
Post Office Russell Kansas WPA Works Progress Administration PWA New Deal Roosevelt Rural Colonial Revivalist Architecture
Color Archival Pigment Print Civic Center Music Hall Oklahoma City WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest
Color Archival Pigment Print Municipal Building City Hall Oklahoma City WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest
Color Archival Pigment Print Jackson County Courthouse Kansas City Missouri 2022 WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest Art Deco Architecture Architectural Style
Color Archival Pigment Print City Hall Kansas City Missouri 2022 WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest Art Deco Architecture Architectural Style
Color Archival Pigment Print Southeast High School Kansas City Missouri WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest Art Deco Architecture Architectural Style
Color Archival Pigment Print Lincoln High School Kansas City Missouri WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest Art Deco Architecture Architectural Style
Color Archival Pigment Print WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest Soldier's Memorial St. Louis Missouri 2022 First World War
Color Archival Pigment Print 138th Infantry Armory Building St. Louis Missouri 2022 WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest
Color Archival Pigment Print Jewel Box Forest Park St. Louis Missouri WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest
Color Archival Pigment Print Illinois National Guard Armory Rockford 2020 WPA Works Progress Administration New Deal FDR Roosevelt Public Works Art Deco
Color Archival Pigment PrintJames E. Roberts Special School (former) Indianapolis Indiana 2022 WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest Art Deco Architecture Architectural Style
Color Archival Pigment Print WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Midwest Columbus Ohio City Hall
Color Archival Pigment Print Federal Building Addition Wheeling West Virginia 2022 WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression Jobs
Color Archival Pigment Print Metuchen Public Library Metuchen New Jersey 2022 WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression Colonial Architectural Style
Color Archival Pigment Print Hinchliffe Stadium Paterson New Jersey Works Progress Administration WPA New Deal FDR Great Depression Roosevelt Negro Leagues Baseball Stadium Ticket Office
Color Archival Pigment Print WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression Central High School Philadelphia Pennsylvania 2022 Art Deco Architectural Architecture Style
Color Archival Pigment Print WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression Penn State University State College Pennsylvania Colonial Classical Architectural Style Osmond Laboratory
Department Interior Washington DC Color Archival Pigment Print WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression
Smithsonian Institution National Portrait Gallery Washington DC Color Archival Pigment Print WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression
Jefferson Memorial Washington DC Color Archival Pigment Print WPA Works Progress Administration FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression

Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

Give a man a dole, and you save his body and destroy his spirit.
Give him a job and you save both body and spirit.

Harry Hopkins, WPA Administrator

The early years of the Great Depression saw one in four Americans without work and economic activity nearly halved. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) created under the Roosevelt administration hired more than 8.5 million people to work on 1.4 million projects. Nearly a century later, over 15,000 sites remain and many still operate, including schools, government facilities, parks, and murals.

These images comprise an on-going documentary survey of selected extant and abandoned WPA sites in my home state of New Mexico and other parts of the country. This project illustrates at least two benefits, namely, near-term job creation that helped people back then, and the longer-term transformation of place evident today.

Fort Bliss National Cemetery, Fort Bliss, Texas, October 27, 2022
Garwood Schoolhouse, Garwood, Missouri, September 19, 2020
Cemetery Opening, Fort Sumner, New Mexico, 2020
Elmwood Cemetery, Bowie, Texas, March 16, 2022
Fair Park Rock Field, Childress, Texas, March 16, 2022
Orogrande School, Orogrande, New Mexico, October 29, 2022
Wood Gormley Elementary School, Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 21, 2020
Roosevelt County Courthouse, Portales, New Mexico, July 19, 2020
Public Library (Monroe Building), Clayton, New Mexico, September 21, 2020
Socorro Grade School, Socorro, New Mexico, October 26, 2022
Marshall Junior High School, Clovis, New Mexico, March 24, 2019
Auditorium, Phoenix College, Phoenix, Arizona, October 7, 2020
Post Office, Hollywood, California, May 9, 2019
Fort Lewis College, Old Fort Lewis Campus, Hesperus, Colorado, June 29, 2021
City Hall, Salina, Utah, June 28, 2021
City Park Band Shell, Twin Falls, Idaho, June 26, 2021
Arco City Building, Arco, Idaho, June 26, 2021
Taft Stadium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, November 18, 2022
Will Rogers High School, Tulsa, Oklahoma, September 20, 2020
United States Courthouse and Post Office, Abilene, Texas, March 19, 2022
Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas, March 19, 2022
Houston Elementary School, Denison, Texas, March 18, 2022
Boys & Girls Clubs, Wichita Falls, Texas, March 17, 2022
Post Office, Russell, Kansas, September 10, 2020
Civic Center Music Hall, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, November 18, 2022
Municipal Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, November 18, 2022
Jackson County Courthouse, Kansas City, Missouri, November 19, 2022
City Hall, Kansas City, Missouri, November 19, 2022
Southeast High School, Kansas City, Missouri, November 19, 2022
Lincoln High School, Kansas City, Missouri, November 19, 2022
Soldier’s Memorial Building, St. Louis, Missouri, November 20, 2022
138th Infantry Armory Building, St. Louis, Missouri, November 20, 2022
The Jewel Box, Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri, November 20, 2022
Illinois National Guard Armory, Rockford, Illinois, September 14, 2020
James E. Roberts Special School (former), Indianapolis, Indiana, 2022
City Hall, East Wing, Columbus, Ohio, November 21, 2022
Federal Building Addition, Wheeling, West Virginia, November 22, 2022
Metuchen Public Library, Metuchen, New Jersey, November 28, 2022
Hinchliffe Stadium, Paterson, New Jersey, November 27, 2022
Central High School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 28, 2022
Osmond Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, State College Pennsylvania, November 23, 2022
Department of Interior, Washington, DC, November 30, 2022
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, December 1, 2022
Jefferson Memorial, Washington, DC, November 30, 2022
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