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Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

Archival Pigment Print Arco City Building Arco Idaho 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
Dexter School Gymnasium Dexter Missouri PWA WPA Works Progress Administration New Deal Roosevelt midwest
Garwood Schoolhouse Garwood Missouri midwest PWA WPA rustic Stonework Architecture
Color Archival Pigment Print Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Vargas Field Stadium Winslow Arizona
Post Office Yuma Arizona WPA Works Progress Administration FDR New Deal Great Depression
Color Archival Pigment Print Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Prescott National Guard Armory Grace Sparkes Activity Center
Will Rogers High School Tulsa Oklahoma WPA Works Progress Administration New Deal Roosevelt midwest PWA
Color Archival Pigment Print City Hall Salina Utah 2021 WPA Works Progress Administration WPA FDR 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
Archival Pigment Print WPA Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Great Depression Public Works Montezuma County Courthouse Cortez Colorado 2021
WPA Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Great Depression Public Works Archival Pigment Print Smiley Junior High School Durango Colorado 2021
Post Office Downers Grove Illinois midwest PWA WPA Works Progress Administration New Deal Roosevelt
Post Office Russell Kansas WPA Works Progress Administration PWA New Deal Roosevelt Rural Colonial Revivalist Architecture
Archival Pigment Print Color Post Office Hollywood California Works Progress Administration WPA New Deal FDR Roosevelt Great Depression Public Works
Color Archival Pigment Print Taylor County Welfare Office Agriculture Agricultural Works Progress Administration WPA Building American Southwest New Deal FDR Franklin Roosevelt Great Depression
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 William Travis Education Building Weatherford Texas School Works Progress Administration WPA New Deal FDR Great Depression Franklin Roosevelt
Color Archival Pigment Print Dealey Plaza Dallas Texas Works Progress Administration WPA Kennedy Assassination Texas Book Depository American History Sothwest
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
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 Decatur Visitors Center Post Office Decatur Texas
Color Archival Pigment Print Courtyard Theatre Plano Texas Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest
Color Archival Pigment Print Grayson County Courthouse Sherman Texas Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression Architecture
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
Color Archival Pigment Print Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Post Office Quanah Texas
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 Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Childress High School Gymnasium Childress Texas American Southwest
Color Archival Pigment Print Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Childress County Heritage Museum Childress Texas American Southwest
Color Archival Pigment Print Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Childress County Courthouse Childress Texas American Southwest Art Deco Architecture
Color Archival Pigment Print Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Football Stadium Memphis Texas
Color Archival Pigment Print Works Progress Administration WPA FDR Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Great Depression American Southwest Marvin Jones Federal Building Amarillo Texas American Southwest

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

Debates on issues like climate change, immigration, and certainly the recent COVID-19 pandemic suggest a divide on the merits of making sacrifices today for a better tomorrow. This is not unprecedented. The early years of the Great Depression saw one in four Americans without work and economic activity nearly halved. In its midst of this calamity, 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 the early stage of a documentary survey of selected extant and abandoned WPA sites in different parts of the United States. The intent of this project is to illustrate at least two benefits, namely, near-term job creation that helped people back then, and the longer-term transformation of place evident today.

A separate slide show includes a selection of sites found in my home state of New Mexico.

Arco City Building, Arco, Idaho, June 26, 2021
City Park Band Shell, Twin Falls, Idaho, June 26, 2021
Dexter School Gymnasium, Dexter, Missouri, 2020
Garwood Schoolhouse, Garwood, Missouri, September 19, 2020
Vargas Field, Winslow, Arizona, November 23, 2021
Post Office, Yuma Arizona, June 12, 2021
Grace Sparks Activity Center (Prescott National Guard Armory), Prescott, Arizona, November 29, 2021
Will Rogers High School, Tulsa, Oklahoma, September 20, 2020
City Hall, Salina, Utah, June 28, 2021
Fort Lewis College, Old Fort Lewis Campus, Hesperus, Colorado, June 29, 2021
Montezuma County Courthouse, Cortez, Colorado, June 18, 2021
Smiley Junior High School (former), Durango, Colorado, June 29, 2021
Post Office, Downers Grove, Illinois, September 18, 2020
Post Office, Russell, Kansas, September 10, 2020
Post Office, Hollywood, California, May 9, 2019
Taylor County Welfare Office, Abilene, Texas, March 19, 2022
United States Courthouse and Post Office, Abilene, Texas, March 19, 2022
William Travis Education Building, Weatherford, Texas, March 19, 2022
Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas, March 19, 2022
Fort Bliss National Cemetery, Fort Bliss, Texas, October 27, 2022
Elmwood Cemetery, Bowie, Texas, March 16, 2022
Decatur Visitors Center (former Post Office), Decatur, Texas, March 17, 2022
Courtyard Theatre, Plano, Texas, March 18, 2022
Grayson County Courthouse, Sherman, Texas, March 18, 2022
Houston Elementary School, Denison, Texas, March 18, 2022
Boys & Girls Clubs, Wichita Falls, Texas, March 17, 2022
Post Office, Quanah, Texas, March 16, 2022
Fair Park Rock Field, Childress, Texas, March 16, 2022
Childress High School Gymnasium, Childress, Texas, March 16, 2022
Childress County Heritage Museum, Childress, Texas, March 16, 2022
Childress County Courthouse, Childress, Texas, March 16, 2022
Football Stadium, Memphis, Texas, March 16, 2022
Marvin Jones Federal Building, Amarillo, Texas, March 16, 2022
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