Published by Primary Source Microfilm

The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was the most controversial and contentious program of the Work Projects Administration (WPA), an integral part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal." This bold, imaginative and wide-ranging enterprise is the key to understanding literature, culture and society in America during the Depression era.

Archives of the Federal Writers' Project presents the FWP publications of all 47 states involved in the project, which ran from 1933 to 1943. This archive contains more than 450 individual items, many of which are typed or mimeographed and received only limited circulation. The FWP was a part of "Federal One," the arts project established by the WPA to cover music, theater, art and writers. The WPA recognized that steelworkers, bricklayers, share-croppers, and factory workers were not the only section of the economy hit by the Depression. Academics, post-graduate students, journalists, playwrights and novelists were also unemployed. In five years the WPA spent millions, provided literary training and, more significantly, the opportunity for participants to observe, eat and write.

Part One: Publications from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho and Illinois.
9 reels

Part Two: Publications from Indiana, Louisiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York.
11 reels

Part Three: Publications from North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Puerto Rico and Regional and National Publications.
15 reels

Complete Collection: 35 reels