Special Collections Department
403 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2140

MS 409
United State Work Progress Administration (Iowa)
Special Reports and Narratives of Projects, 1935-1936, undated


Descriptive summary

creator: United States. Works Progress Administration (Iowa)
title: Special Reports and Narratives of Projects
dates: 1935-1936, undated
extent: 0.84 linear feet (2 document boxes)
collection number: MS 409
repository: Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

 

Administrative information

access: Open for research
publication rights: Consult Head, Special Collections Department
preferred citation: United States Works Progress Administration (Iowa) Special Reports and Narratives of Projects, MS 409, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

 

Abstract

This collection contains materials pertaining to the Work Progress Administration's projects in Iowa in the mid-1930s. The WPA was a program developed under Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and provided thousands of jobs to unemployed men and women around the country. In Iowa, most WPA projects focused on public works and community services. WPA workers built airports and worked on agricultural projects, as well as taught adult education courses and made clothes in WPA sewing workshops. The collection includes a folder for each Iowa county detailing the projects operating in that county as well as several reports on projects and about the WPA.

 

Historical note

The Works Progress Administration was created by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins as part of the New Deal in the 1930s to help Americans find work during the nation-wide depression. The organization was responsible for feeding and clothing many families during the depression, and for providing one if not both parents with employment. In Iowa, the WPA provided jobs through a number of public works projects, including the Rural Sanitation Program, Sewing Rooms, airport construction, an adult education program, road construction projects, disposal and purification plants, playground and parks projects, swimming pool construction, dam repair and construction, sewer and water main maintenance, stadium and bleacher repair, school building repairs and renovations, bridge-building projects, and gravel and quarry pit maintenance featured throughout the state. The WPA provided both men and women with jobs and also held workshops for children through their National Youth Administration Program. Each county in Iowa sponsored several projects simultaneously.

 

Collection description

This collection (1935-1936, undated) contains materials pertaining to the WPA's projects in Iowa in the mid-1930s including work reports and summaries, financial reports, statistics and photographs. Each county has its own folder, which contains a map of the county and information about the projects operating in that county. Reports concerning the statewide reach of the WPA and reports on individual projects are also included.

 

Organization

This collection is organized alphabetically by county, with summaries and reports at the beginning of the collection.

 

Container list

Box

Folder

Title

Dates

1

1

Title page and summary of WPA projects (September)

1936

1

2

Interesting Fact About the Works Progress Administration

1936

1

3

Summary of Survey of Federal Archives, State of Iowa

1936

1

4

WPA expenditures by county and state

1936

1

5

WPA labor summary by county and state

1936

1

6

Material purchased for WPA projects

1936

1

7

Labor employment on WPA projects

1936

1

8

Active projects

1936

1

9

Summary of federal projects

undated

1

10

Airport projects

undated

1

11

WPA work camp conservation projects (1 b/w photograph)

undated

1

12

Adult education summary

undated

1

13

Federal Writers Project (Iowa)

undated

1

14

Summary of music project

1936

1

15

Summary of National Youth Administration Program

1935-1936

1

16

WPA Nursery schools

undated

1

17

Summary of recreation projects

undated

1

18

Summary of theatre projects in Iowa

1936

1

19

Summary of Women's and Professional Division

1936

1

20

State map of WPA projects

undated

1

21

WPA District #1 projects

1936

1

22

WPA District #2 projects

1936

1

23

WPA District #3 projects

1936

1

24

WPA District #4 projects

1936

1

25

WPA District #5 projects

1936

1

26

Adair County

1936

1

27

Adams County

1936

1

28

Allamakee County

1936

1

29

Appanoose County

1936

1

30

Audubon County

1936

1

31

Benton County

1936

1

32

Black Hawk County

1936

1

33

Boone County

1936

1

34

Bremer County

1936

1

35

Buchanan County

1936

1

36

Buena Vista County

1936

1

37

Butler County

1936

1

38

Calhoun County

1936

1

39

Carroll County

1936

1

40

Cass County

1936

1

41

Cedar County

1936

1

42

Cerro Gordo County

1936

1

43

Cherokee County

1936

1

44

Chickasaw County

1936

1

45

Clarke County

1936

1

46

Clay County

1936

1

47

Clayton County

1936

1

48

Clinton County

1936

1

49

Crawford County

1936

1

50

Dallas County

1936

1

51

Davis County

1936

1

52

Decatur County

1936

1

53

Delaware County

1936

1

54

Des Moines County

1936

1

55

Dickinson County

1936

1

56

Dubuque County

1936

1

57

Emmett County

1936

1

58

Fayette County

1936

1

59

Floyd County

1936

1

60

Franklin County

1936

1

61

Fremont County

1936

1

62

Greene County

1936

1

63

Grundy County

1936

1

64

Guthrie County

1936

1

65

Hamilton County

1936

1

66

Hancock County

1936

2

1

Harrison County

1936

2

2

Henry County

1936

2

3

Howard County

1936

2

4

Humboldt County

1936

2

5

Ida County

1936

2

6

Iowa County

1936

2

7

Hardin County

1936

2

8

Jackson County

1936

2

9

Jasper County

1936

2

10

Jefferson County

1936

2

11

Johnson County

1936

2

12

Jones County

1936

2

13

Keokuk County

1936

2

14

Kossuth County

1936

2

15

Lee County

1936

2

16

Linn County

1936

2

17

Louisa County

1936

2

18

Lucas County

1936

2

19

Lyon County

1936

2

20

Madison County

1936

2

21

Mahaska County

1936

2

22

Marion County

1936

2

23

Marshall County

1936

2

24

Mills County

1936

2

25

Mitchell County

1936

2

26

Monona County

1936

2

27

Monroe County

1936

2

28

Montgomery County

1936

2

29

Muscatine County

1936

2

30

O'Brien County

1936

2

31

Osceola County

1936

2

32

Page County

1936

2

33

Palo Alto County

1936

2

34

Plymouth County

1936

2

35

Pocahontas County

1936

2

36

Polk County

1936

2

37

Pottawattamie County

1936

2

38

Poweshiek County

1936

2

39

Ringgold County

1936

2

40

Sac County

1936

2

41

Scott County

1936

2

42

Shelby County

1936

2

43

Sioux County

1936

2

44

Story County (1 b/w photograph)

1936

2

45

Tama County

1936

2

46

Taylor County

1936

2

47

Union County

1936

2

48

Van Buren County

1936

2

49

Wapello County

1936

2

50

Warren County

1936

2

51

Washington County

1936

2

52

Wayne County

1936

2

53

Webster County

1936

2

54

Winnebago County

1936

2

55

Winneshiek County

1936

2

56

Woodbury County

1936

2

57

Worth County

1936

2

58

Wright County

1936