New Deal Accomplishments

Above: "Slope," a watercolor by Thomas S. Baker (1907-1986), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1938. Image from the Smithsonian American Art Museum . Above: In many states across America, the New Deal built or improved winter recreation facilities. For example, the WPA built 310 miles of new ski trails and improved another 59 miles. The scene above is at Charleston Mountain, Nevada, ca. 1938, where "Through the efforts of the WPA and the Forest Service, this area has been opened up and developed for the enjoyment of the sports enthusiasts of southern Nevada." Quote and photo from the National Archives . Above: A man takes flight from a WPA-built ski jump, located on Pleasant Mountain, Bridgton, Maine, ca. 1938. Between 1935 and 1943, WPA workers built 65 new ski jumps and had 15 projects to improve existing jumps. The WPA's predecessor, the Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), built 48 new ski jumps (...

America's vast network of conservation districts was born from the Soil Conservation Service, the CCC, FDR, and New Deal model legislation. Above: These are members of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 2889, at Camp SCS-9-T, in Bogata, Texas, 1936. This company was one of the many CCC companies across the United States that worked under the direction of the New Deal's Soil Conservation Service  (SCS). Company 2889, alongside SCS technicians and engineers, worked on private farms showing owners how to protect their land from soil erosion and premature water loss. The CCC enrollees "sodded pastures, built gully control and check dams, terraced fields, and made outlet channels." Quote and photo from: Civilian Conservation Corps, Official Annual, 1936, Tyler District, 8th Corps Area (Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Direct Advertising Co., 1936). Used here for educational and non-commercial purposes . Above: The New Deal's Soil Conservation Service did extensive work...

Above: "No. 2 the Clipper," an oil on canvas painting by Cedric W. Windas (1888-1966), created while he was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), 1934. Between 1933 and 1934, PWAP artists created 54 portraits, 2,938 water colors, and 3,821 oil paintings. Image from the Smithsonian American Art Museum . Above: "Harlem River," an oil on canvas painting by Palmer Cole Hayden (1890-1973) created while he was in the New Deal's Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP), between 1935 and 1938. 10,204 easel paintings were created by TRAP artists for "Federal offices and buildings, penal institutions, hospitals and educational institutions" ("Treasury Relief Art Project – Administration – Final Report – Statistics," in " Papers of Marlene Park and Gerald E. Markowitz (Federal Arts Projects Research Materials) ," FDR Presidential Library and Museum). Image from the Baltimore Museum of Art . Above: This is part of a longer n...

Above: The Lake Dallas Fish Hatchery in Denton County, Texas, was one of the largest in the nation. It was constructed by WPA workers, 1937-1938. The description for this photograph, taken near the time of its completion, explained that the hatchery consisted of 52 ponds and "supplies 17 counties with big mouth black bass, calico bass, channel catfish, crappie, cherry bream, long eared bream, and green perch [more commonly known as green sunfish]." Photo from the National Archives . Above: The WPA-built superintendent's house at the Lake Dallas Fish Hatchery, ca. 1938. The hatchery only lasted until 1953, when it was sacrificed for a large dam and water impoundment project (what is now the "Lewisville Lake"), but it was very successful in propagating fish. For example, in 1951 it "produced 750,000 baby bass, 500,000 bream, 300,000 crappie, and a like number of channel cat" ("Lake Dallas Fish Hatchery, Which Has Great Record, To Be Submerged,...