Editing Works Progress Administration (section)

===Federal Project Number One===
A significant aspect of the Works Progress Administration was the [[Federal Project Number One]], which had five different parts: the [[Federal Art Project]], the [[Federal Music Project]], the [[Federal Theatre Project]], the [[Federal Writers' Project]], and the [[Historical Records Survey]]. The government wanted to provide new federal cultural support instead of just providing direct grants to private institutions. After only one year, over 40,000 artists and other talented workers had been employed through this project in the United States.<ref name="Adams 1995">{{cite web |url=http://www.wwcd.org/policy/US/newdeal.html |title=New Deal Cultural Programs: Experiments in Cultural Democracy |last1=Adams |first1=Don |last2=Goldbard |first2=Arlene |date=1995 |website=Webster's World of Cultural Democracy |access-date=2016-02-24}}</ref> Cedric Larson stated that "The impact made by the five major cultural projects of the WPA upon the national consciousness is probably greater in total than anyone readily realizes. As channels of communication between the administration and the country at large, both directly and indirectly, the importance of these projects cannot be overestimated, for they all carry a tremendous appeal to the eye, the ear, or the intellect—or all three."<ref name="Larson, Cedric 1939"/>{{Rp|491}}

====Federal Art Project====
{{main|Federal Art Project}}
This project was directed by [[Holger Cahill]], and in 1936 employment peaked at over 5,300 artists. The Arts Service Division created illustrations and posters for the WPA writers, musicians, and theaters. The Exhibition Division had public exhibitions of artwork from the WPA, and artists from the Art Teaching Division were employed in settlement houses and community centers to give classes to an estimated 50,000 children and adults. They set up over 100 art centers around the country that served an estimated eight&nbsp;million individuals.<ref name="Adams 1995"/>

====Federal Music Project====
[[File:WPABandLafayetteSquareNOLA.jpg|thumb|Noon-hour WPA band concert in [[Lafayette Square (New Orleans)|Lafayette Square]], [[New Orleans]] (1940)]]
{{main|Federal Music Project}}
Directed by [[Nikolai Sokoloff]], former principal conductor of the [[Cleveland Orchestra]], the [[Federal Music Project]] employed over 16,000 musicians at its peak. Its purpose was to create jobs for unemployed musicians, It established new ensembles such as chamber groups, orchestras, choral units, opera units, concert bands, military bands, dance bands, and theater orchestras. They gave 131,000 performances and programs to 92&nbsp;million people each week.<ref name="Adams 1995"/> The Federal Music Project performed plays and dances, as well as radio dramas.<ref name="Larson, Cedric 1939">{{cite journal |last=Larson |first=Cedric |date=July 1939 |title=The Cultural Projects of the WPA |journal=[[Public Opinion Quarterly]] |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=491–496 |doi= 10.1086/265324|jstor=2744973 }}</ref>{{Rp|494}} In addition, the Federal Music Project gave music classes to an estimated 132,000 children and adults every week, recorded folk music, served as copyists, arrangers, and librarians to expand the availability of music, and experimented in music therapy.<ref name="Adams 1995"/> Sokoloff stated, "Music can serve no useful purpose unless it is heard, but these totals on the listeners' side are more eloquent than statistics as they show that in this country there is a great hunger and eagerness for music."<ref name="Larson, Cedric 1939"/>{{Rp|494}}

====Federal Theatre Project====
{{main|Federal Theatre Project}}
In 1929, Broadway alone had employed upwards of 25,000 workers, onstage and backstage; in 1933, only 4,000 still had jobs. The Actors' Dinner Club and the Actors' Betterment Association were giving out free meals every day.  Every theatrical district in the country suffered as audiences dwindled.  The New Deal project was directed by playwright [[Hallie Flanagan]], and employed 12,700 performers and staff at its peak. They presented more than 1,000 performances each month to almost one&nbsp;million people, produced 1,200 plays in the four years it was established, and introduced 100 new playwrights. Many performers later became successful in Hollywood including [[Orson Welles]], [[John Houseman]], [[Burt Lancaster]], [[Joseph Cotten]], [[Canada Lee]], [[Will Geer]], [[Joseph Losey]], [[Virgil Thomson]], [[Nicholas Ray]], [[E.G. Marshall]] and [[Sidney Lumet]]. The Federal Theatre Project was the first project to end; it was terminated in June 1939 after Congress zeroed out the funding.<ref name="Adams 1995" /><ref>Susan Quinn, ''The Furious Improvisation: How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands Made High Art out of Desperate Times'' (2008) pp. 62, 280.</ref>

====Federal Writers' Project====
{{main|Federal Writers' Project}}
This project was directed by [[Henry Alsberg]] and employed 6,686 writers at its peak in 1936.<ref name="Adams 1995"/> The FWP created the [[American Guide Series]] which, when completed, consisted of 378 books and pamphlets providing a thorough analysis of the history, social life and culture for every state, city and village in the United States including descriptions of towns, waterways, historic sites, oral histories, photographs, and artwork.<ref name="Adams 1995"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Mosse |first=George |date=2024 |title=Confronting the Nation |location= |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |pages=36-37 |isbn=978-0-299-34644-7}}</ref> An association or group that put up the cost of publication sponsored each book, the cost was anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000. In almost all cases, the book sales were able to reimburse their sponsors.<ref name="Larson, Cedric 1939"/>{{Rp|494}} Additionally, another important part of this project was to record oral histories to create archives such as the [[Slave Narrative]]s and collections of folklore. These writers also participated in research and editorial services to other government agencies.<ref name="Adams 1995"/>

====Historical Records Survey====
{{main|Historical Records Survey}}
This project was the smallest of Federal Project Number One and served to identify, collect, and conserve United States' historical records.<ref name="Adams 1995"/> It is one of the biggest bibliographical efforts and was directed by Luther H. Evans. At its peak, this project employed more than 4,400 workers.<ref name="Larson, Cedric 1939"/>{{Rp|494}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:Little Miss Muffet 1940 poster.jpg|1940 WPA poster using ''[[Little Miss Muffet]]'' to promote reading among children
File:WPA-Cancer-Poster-Herzog.jpg|WPA health education poster about cancer, {{Circa|1936}}–1938
File:The nickel and dime store, WPA poster, ca. 1941.jpg|Poster for the WPA shows various items that can be purchased at the [[Variety store|5 & 10¢]] store
File:Art classes for children LCCN98510141.jpg|WPA poster advertising art classes for children
File:WPA_Zoo_Poster-Elephant.jpg|WPA poster promoting the zoo as a place to visit, showing an elephant
File:WPA_Theatre_Poster-Abraham_Lincoln.jpg|1936 WPA Poster for Federal Theatre Project presentation
File:WPA-Work-Pays-America-Poster.jpg|WPA poster encouraging laborers to work for America
</gallery>