Works Progress Administration
The
Works Progress Administration (later
Works Projects Administration, abbreviated
WPA), was created on
May 6,
1935 with the signing of
Executive Order 7034. It was the largest and most comprehensive
New Deal agency. It was a "make work" program that provided jobs and income to the unemployed during the
Great Depression. WPA projects primarily employed blue-collar workers in construction projects across the nation, but also employed white-collar workers and artists on smaller-scale projects. With unemployment figures falling fast due to
World War II-related employment,
Franklin D. Roosevelt shut down the WPA on
December 4,
1943.
Famous WPA projects include: