The Federal Writers Project
Introduction
The Federal Writers Project (FWP) was created in 1935. This organization was part of the united states work progress association, otherwise known as the WPA. The goal of the FWP was to employ white collar workers, which were people who had found employment in non-industrial fields of skill, such as librarians, historians, and other types of writers. At the time of it creation, the FWP was aiming to create guide books that discussed topics including the history, culture, economy, and landscape of America. This information was originally going to be composed into a series of books called the American Guide Series. The FWP was prominent and active throughout America for four years, from 1935 to 1939. Although the FWP still existed after 1939, funding had decreased and the program was slowing down rapidly. During this four year span, the project was led and monitored by Henry Alsberg.
The Creation of the FWP
Both the Roosevelt Administration and many writing organizations were concerned with the troubles that all types of writers (lawyers, librarians, educators, and many more professions) suffered through during the Great Depression. Many writers were unemployed, and the New Deal was partially directed to help writers find employment without having to result to industrial work and other blue collar jobs. The New Deal gave writers during the Great Depression a chance to continue to pursue their professions, despite the devastated economy and lack of employment in the specific field of skill of writing. In 1934, a series of meetings were held with Jacob Baker, Henry Alsberg, Katherine Kellock, and many other people. Based on the discussions of these meetings, a project was created that separated different “arts,” and each of these specific skill sets were assigned to people who had experience in that skill. This project eventually became the FWP. The FWP was funded by the federal government until October of 1939. After 1939, the federal government no longer decided to fund the writers who had become a part of this magnificent project. After the federal funding was terminated, the FWP still existed, but was significantly less prominent partly due to the fact that the only funding came from state governments. However, the FWP ceased to exist entirely one year after America became involved in World War Two.
FWP's Content
The FWP involved many topics of information including memoranda, field reports, notes, essay drafts, lists, art, maps, graphs, newspaper excerpts, document transcripts, life histories, folklore material, inventories, statements, appraisals, speeches, records from administration, instructions, scripts, plays, and survey. Furthermore, this project also included many partial projects as well. The information collected through the FWP came from a wide range of time between the years of 1889 and 1942. The FWP had a complete collection of about 300,000 items of information in many various forms. While over one-half of the information collected through the FWP was relating to an supporting the American Guide Series, much of the information explored other topics as well. The FWP grew greatly amongst America, and as it did, other the employees of the project began to dive into other fields of interested, often having to do more so with the personal lives of people living through the Great Depression. These new topics also included both urban and rural folktales, life stories of those living through the hardships, the socialism if different ethnic groups, and accounts of former slaves.
The Writers of the FWP
The main goal and purpose of the FWP was to give writers employment. As part of the New Deal, the FWP was one of many organizations dedicated and devoted to increasing the economic status of America through the increased employment rates of American citizens. Most importantly, the FWP and other organizations like it gave the citizens of the United States confidence that they could resolve their situation and pull out of the Great Depression. The main skill sets of the FWP employees were writers, editors, researchers, art critics, and historians. The FWP paid its many employees a weekly salary of approximately twenty dollars each. This paycheck was given on account of the information and products that were produced by the FWP employees. The FWP gave jobs to people with daily, average professional experience and to those who had a higher status of achievement. The FWP employed a total of 6,600 people, most of whom were amateur professionals. The high-achieving, highly successful employees of the FWP included Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, Nelson Algren, Saul Bellow, John Cleever, and a photographer named Eudora Welty. While many amateur writers wrote about the material and projects that were assigned to the, these more professional writers branched out and explored new topics and new projects. Despite the opportunities that the FWP provided, there were still problems with the employees in the organization. There was a large quantity of constant tension between the professional writers and the amateur writers. Furthermore, many people in the organization doubted the quality of the product of the FWP because of the amateur writers. There was also a lot of criticism from those who thought that the FWP and its writers undermined the ideals of America through their view points and perspectives. However, even though there was a heavy load of skepticism aimed towards the FWP, the writers in this organization ended up producing 275 books and 700 pamphlets, not to mention many other types, forms, and sources of information.
Overview of the FWP
Audio Interviews from the FWP
This is the interview response to the question, "Why did you start giving rent parties?" by Bernice, a West Indian rent party hostess living in New York City. To read more about Bernice and her interview, follow this link.
This is the interview response to the question, "Is your job dangerous?" by Chris Thorsten, a Scandinavian iron worker living in New York City. To read more about Chris and his interview, follow this link.
This is the interview response to the question, "Do you like working in a mill?" by Alice Caudle, a mill worker living in North Carolina. To read more about Alice and her interview, follow this link.
This is the interview response to the question, "What kinds of things did you used to do when you got together with other women?" by Mayme Reese, an African American housewife living in New York City. To read more about Mayme and her interview, follow this link.