The Federal Writers Project

Author : David A. Taylor
Publisher : Turner Publishing Company
Page : 307 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2010-04-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9780470885888

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Soul of a People by David A. Taylor Pdf

Soul of a People is about a handful of people who were on the Federal Writer's Project in the 1930s and a glimpse of America at a turning point. This particular handful of characters went from poverty to great things later, and included John Cheever, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, and Studs Terkel. In the 1930s they were all caught up in an effort to describe America in a series of WPA guides. Through striking images and firsthand accounts, the book reveals their experiences and the most vivid excerpts from selected guides and interviews: Harlem schoolchildren, truckers, Chicago fishmongers, Cuban cigar makers, a Florida midwife, Nebraskan meatpackers, and blind musicians. Drawing on new discoveries from personal collections, archives, and recent biographies, a new picture has emerged in the last decade of how the participants' individual dramas intersected with the larger picture of their subjects. This book illuminates what it felt like to live that experience, how going from joblessness to reporting on their own communities affected artists with varied visions, as well as what feelings such a passage involved: shame humiliation, anger, excitement, nostalgia, and adventure. Also revealed is how the WPA writers anticipated, and perhaps paved the way for, the political movements of the following decades, including the Civil Rights movement, the Women's Right movement, and the Native American rights movement.

Author : Scott Borchert
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2021-06-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9780374719050

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Republic of Detours by Scott Borchert Pdf

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice | Winner of the New Deal Book Award An immersive account of the New Deal project that created state-by-state guidebooks to America, in the midst of the Great Depression—and employed some of the biggest names in American letters The plan was as idealistic as it was audacious—and utterly unprecedented. Take thousands of hard-up writers and put them to work charting a country on the brink of social and economic collapse, with the aim of producing a series of guidebooks to the then forty-eight states—along with hundreds of other publications dedicated to cities, regions, and towns—while also gathering reams of folklore, narratives of formerly enslaved people, and even recipes, all of varying quality, each revealing distinct sensibilities. All this was the singular purview of the Federal Writers’ Project, a division of the Works Progress Administration founded in 1935 to employ jobless writers, from once-bestselling novelists and acclaimed poets to the more dubiously qualified. The FWP took up the lofty goal of rediscovering America in words and soon found itself embroiled in the day’s most heated arguments regarding radical politics, racial inclusion, and the purpose of writing—forcing it to reckon with the promises and failures of both the New Deal and the American experiment itself. Scott Borchert’s Republic of Detours tells the story of this raucous and remarkable undertaking by delving into the experiences of key figures and tracing the FWP from its optimistic early days to its dismemberment by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. We observe notable writers at their day jobs, including Nelson Algren, broke and smarting from the failure of his first novel; Zora Neale Hurston, the most widely published Black woman in the country; and Richard Wright, who arrived in the FWP’s chaotic New York City office on an upward career trajectory courtesy of the WPA. Meanwhile, Ralph Ellison, Studs Terkel, John Cheever, and other future literary stars found encouragement and security on the FWP payroll. By way of these and other stories, Borchert illuminates an essentially noble enterprise that sought to create a broad and inclusive self-portrait of America at a time when the nation’s very identity and future were thrown into question. As the United States enters a new era of economic distress, political strife, and culture-industry turmoil, this book’s lessons are urgent and strong.

Author : Catherine A. Stewart
Publisher : UNC Press Books
Page : 372 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2016-02-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9781469626277

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Long Past Slavery by Catherine A. Stewart Pdf

From 1936 to 1939, the New Deal's Federal Writers' Project collected life stories from more than 2,300 former African American slaves. These narratives are now widely used as a source to understand the lived experience of those who made the transition from slavery to freedom. But in this examination of the project and its legacy, Catherine A. Stewart shows it was the product of competing visions of the past, as ex-slaves' memories of bondage, emancipation, and life as freedpeople were used to craft arguments for and against full inclusion of African Americans in society. Stewart demonstrates how project administrators, such as the folklorist John Lomax; white and black interviewers, including Zora Neale Hurston; and the ex-slaves themselves fought to shape understandings of black identity. She reveals that some influential project employees were also members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, intent on memorializing the Old South. Stewart places ex-slaves at the center of debates over black citizenship to illuminate African Americans' struggle to redefine their past as well as their future in the face of formidable opposition. By shedding new light on a critically important episode in the history of race, remembrance, and the legacy of slavery in the United States, Stewart compels readers to rethink a prominent archive used to construct that history.

Author : Federal Writers' Project
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 456 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 1939
Category : Southern States
ISBN : UVA:X000548635

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These are Our Lives by Federal Writers' Project Pdf

Author : Wendy Griswold
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 376 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2016-08-26
Category : History
ISBN : 9780226357836

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American Guides by Wendy Griswold Pdf

In the midst of the Great Depression, Americans were nearly universally literate--and they were hungry for the written word. With an eye to this market and as a response to unemployment, Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration created the Federal Writers' Project. They produced the Project's American Guides, an impressively produced series that set out not only to direct travelers on which routes to take and what to see throughout the country, but also to celebrate the distinctive characteristics of each individual state. The series unintentionally diversified American literary culture's cast of characters--promoting women, minority, and rural writers--while it also institutionalized the innovative idea that American culture comes in state-shaped boxes.

Author : Jerrold Hirsch
Publisher : Univ of North Carolina Press
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2004-07-21
Category : History
ISBN : 9780807861660

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Portrait of America by Jerrold Hirsch Pdf

How well do we know our country? Whom do we include when we use the word "American"? These are not just contemporary issues but recurring questions Americans have asked themselves throughout their history--and questions that were addressed when, in 1935, the Roosevelt administration created the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration. Although the immediate context of the FWP was work relief, national FWP officials developed programs that spoke to much larger and longer-standing debates over the nature of American identity and culture and the very definition of who was an American. Hirsch reviews the founding of the FWP and the significance of its American Guide series, considering the choices made by administrators who wanted to celebrate diversity as a positive aspect of American cultural identity. In his exploration of the FWP's other writings, Hirsch discusses the project's pioneering use of oral history in interviews with ordinary southerners, ex-slaves, ethnic minorities, and industrial workers. He also examines congressional critics of the FWP vision; the occasional opposition of local Federal Writers, especially in the South; and how the FWP's vision changed in response to the challenge of World War II. In the course of this study, Hirsch raises thought-provoking questions about the relationships between diversity and unity, government and culture, and, ultimately, culture and democracy.

Author : Federal Writers' Project
Publisher : Pantheon
Page : 818 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 1982
Category : History
ISBN : MINN:31951001216801L

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The WPA Guide to New York City by Federal Writers' Project Pdf

This tour guide for time travelers offers New York lovers and 1930s buffs an endlessly fascinating look at life as it was lived in the days when a trolley ride cost five cents, a room at the Plaza was $7.50, and the new World's Fair was the talk of the town. Hailed by the New York Times as one of the 10 best books ever written about the city. Photos. Maps.

Author : J. J. BUTTS
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2024
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0814258034

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DARK MIRROR by J. J. BUTTS Pdf

Author : Ann Lacy,Anne Valley-Fox
Publisher : Sunstone Press
Page : 486 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Frontier and pioneer life
ISBN : 9780865346338

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Outlaws & Desperados by Ann Lacy,Anne Valley-Fox Pdf

Between 1936 and 1940, field workers in the Federal Writers' Project collected many accounts that provide an authentic and vivid picture of the early days of New Mexico. This volume focuses on outlaws and desperados.

Author : Jerre Mangione
Publisher : Syracuse University Press
Page : 436 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 1996-11-01
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 0815604157

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The Dream and the Deal by Jerre Mangione Pdf

Almost 7000 authors—including Richard Wright, John Cheever, and Saul Bellow—were employed by this federal program, which saved many literary careers during the Depression and which also produced the best state guidebooks ever written.

Author : Best Books on
Publisher : Best Books on
Page : 749 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 1940
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9781623760342

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Ohio by Best Books on Pdf

Author : Susan Rubenstein DeMasi
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2016-07-13
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781476626017

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Henry Alsberg by Susan Rubenstein DeMasi Pdf

During the Great Depression, Henry Alsberg, a journalist with a passion for social justice, directed the Federal Writers' Project, a New Deal program of the Works Progress Administration. Under his guidance, thousands of unemployed writers were hired. Despite attacks from the House Committee on Un-American Activities, the Project produced more than 1,000 publications from 1935 to 1939, including the still highly acclaimed American Guide series. Some writers, such as Richard Wright, went on to storied careers. Alsberg led the Project’s collection of more than 10,000 oral histories from ex-slaves, immigrants and others. Alsberg was also a leader in the struggle to save Jewish pogrom survivors in Eastern Europe. Later, he initiated the first major effort to assist international political prisoners. His friends included anarchist revolutionary Emma Goldman and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. This book brings Alsberg to light as an important but forgotten figure of the 20th century.

Author : Federal Writers' Project
Publisher : Trinity University Press
Page : 634 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2013-10-31
Category : History
ISBN : 9781595342331

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The WPA Guide to Ohio by Federal Writers' Project Pdf

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. For a reader interested in small town life in the early 20th century, the WPA Guide to Ohio is an excellent resource. A series of photographs by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration is well complemented with 17 selective essays about the political, industrial, and cultural life in the Buckeye State. The essay on the economy provides interesting information on the labor movement in Ohio.

Author : Federal Writers' Project
Publisher : Pantheon
Page : 430 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 1938
Category : New Orleans (La.)
ISBN : 0394715888

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The WPA Guide to New Orleans by Federal Writers' Project Pdf

Author : Federal Writers' Project Staff
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 1991-12
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 078125664X

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New Hampshire - Collected Works of Federal Writers Project by Federal Writers' Project Staff Pdf