Work Projects Administration Oregon Federal Art Project collection

The Work Projects Administration (WPA) was originally named the Works Progress Administration when it was established as a national agency on May 6, 1935, by an executive order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was established as a relief measure during the Great Depression and lasted until it was phased out in 1943, after it was rendered unnecessary by increased employment and reduced relief rolls. Activities of the Work Projects Administration in any given area of the country were dependent on the needs and skills of the persons on relief in that area, since the main prerequisite for WPA employment was one's certified relief status. WPA's building program included the construction of 116,000 buildings, 78,000 bridges, and 651,000 miles of road and the improvement of 800 airports. Also a part of WPA's diversified activities were the Federal Art Project, the Federal Writers' Project, and the Federal Theatre Project. Close to 10,000 drawings, paintings, and sculptured works were produced through WPA, and many public buildings (especially post offices) were decorated with murals. At its peak WPA had about 3.5 million persons on its payrolls. Altogether WPA employed a total of 8.5 million persons, and total federal appropriations for the program amounted to almost $11 billion.

In Oregon, artists and crafts people worked on projects for schools, universities, hospitals, and the Forest Service. This collection includes photographs of paintings and murals that were installed in Oregon public schools, University of Oregon and Doernbecher Memorial Hospital for Children, Portland, Oregon.

The most well known Forest Service project was the construction of Timberline Lodge on Oregon's Mt. Hood. On June 11, 1936, ground was broken for a project unique in America. Timberline Lodge was built entirely by hand, inside and out, by unemployed crafts people hired by the Federal Works Progress Administration. The work was done in an amazingly short time - the intensity of the project being due not only to the weather but also to the uncertainty of the WPA's future. From the first drawings, made in early 1936, to the dedication of the completed lodge by President Franklin Roosevelt in September 1937, only 15 months elapsed.

In 1978, Timberline Lodge was declared a National Historic Landmark.

Sources: www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0852725.html. See D. S. Howard, WPA and Federal Relief Policy (1943) Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2004. www.encyclopedia.com/html/W/WorkP1roj.asp Timberline Lodge web site: www.timberlinelodge.com/lodge/history.shtm.