New Deal Accomplishment: Thousands of research studies and surveys

Above: A WPA poster, promoting science. Image from the Library of Congress.

Above: A student enrollee in the New Deal's National Youth Administration (NYA) works in the science building at Ezel High School, Kentucky, ca. 1941. Here, perhaps, a seed was planted to pursue a career in medicine or scientific research. The final report of the NYA explained that its "in-school" work program (high school, college, graduate school) attempted "to plan work projects so as to provide students with experience which would supplement their regular school work. This was particularly true in the colleges, where science majors, for example, were employed as laboratory assistants, prospective librarians worked with books, and medical students engaged in medical research" (p. 60). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: This NYA research project appears to be one of the earliest uses of a centrifuge for cancer research. Centrifugation is still used in cancer research today. Image from the NYA's final report.

Above: The description for this photograph--taken between 1935 and 1943--reads, "Making a study of ultra violet rays in the survey of air pollution in New York City." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: A description of a WPA-assisted study on air pollution in New York City (perhaps related to the previous photo), as well as a WPA-assisted study on water pollution in Seattle. From the WPA's Index of Research Projects, Volume III, 1939.

Above: "WPA laboratory technician making a silicosis test," Massachusetts, between 1935 and 1943. Silicosis is a lung-destroying disease that primarily affects people who routinely breathe in small particles, such as workers in the mining industry. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: "Interior of WPA Tuberculosis Research Laboratory," Colorado Springs, Colorado, between 1935 and 1943. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: "The Negro's Contribution in the Social and Cultural Development of America: Science," an oil painting by Millard Owen Sheets (1907-1989). This artwork is part of a larger set of murals that Sheets painted for the U.S. Department of the Interior Building. According to the Living New Deal, he was awarded a contract by the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts in 1939, but the paintings were not installed until 1948. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and Carol M. Highsmith.

Above: The description for this photograph--taken in Ohio between 1935 and 1943--reads: "Leonard B. Corwin, of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, supervisor of the WPA Climatology Project in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy Dist., is here shown with one of the tanks used for weighing and recording rainfall and snowfall." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Some of the 500 WPA workers employed on the climatology project (see previous photo). They are constructing shelters for weather instruments. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: These WPA workers are transcribing data from the climatology project (see previous two photos). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Members of the United States Antarctic Service (USAS) Expedition, 1939-1941. FDR took an especially strong interest in the USAS and helped plan and coordinate the project. The USAS carried out a large number of studies and surveys--mapping, weather, biological, geology, etc.--and set the precedent for permanent and year-round American bases in Antarctica. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The New Deal not only conducted and assisted research studies and surveys, but also built many facilities where research could be taught and carried out, such as the Chemistry Building at Howard University (shown above), the National Cancer Institute, and Patuxent Research Refuge (after the New Deal, Patuxent Research Refuge would play a central role in discovering the destructive impact of DDT and lead shot on wildlife and the environment). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Two studies on low-income populations, carried out by the New Deal's Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), 1933-1935. The first study highlights the never-ending--and rarely fulfilled--need for better housing solutions for the homeless in America. The second study highlights why the New Deal started such an aggressive public housing effort (USHA, Resettlement Communities, Alley Dwelling Authority, etc.). This is important to remember since modern critics of the New Deal focus most of their attention on instances of segregation and displacement, and less on the miserable and sometimes deadly living conditions that sparked New Deal action. Image from the WPA's Index of Research Projects, Volume I, 1938.

Above: WPA workers performing health research. Photo from the Report on Progress of the WPA Program, June 30, 1940.

Advancing Our Knowledge and Capability

Thousands of research studies and surveys were carried out with the assistance of the CWA, FERA, and WPA. Most of these studies are highlighted in the WPA's three-volume Index of Research Projects, 1938-1939. The index summarizes over 5,000 studies and surveys--the majority of which received New Deal work-relief assistance--covering topics such as geography, economics, housing, poverty, biology, illness & disease, public administration, and education.

The New Deal's National Youth Administration (NYA) likely assisted with far more research studies and surveys, due to the nature of its "in-school" work program (see the caption under the second image of this blog post).

How important were these New Deal-assisted studies and surveys? Beyond the fundamental "building block" aspect of research (building on previous findings and then setting the stage for future inquiries), we'll probably never know for sure. But every once in a while, we find a major impact. The WPA's National Health Survey, for example, influenced the creation of Medicaid (see the Living New Deal's summary on "Public Health Projects").

When we think about the New Deal's contribution to knowledge and capability--both at the time and in subsequent years--and then consider the Trump Administration's persistent efforts to cut funding for research and science (while giving enormous tax cuts to the rich and increasing funding for military adventures) we see just how revolutionary the New Deal was - probably advancing science by several decades, just as it had advanced other areas by decades, such as infrastructure and our state & national parks.