American Memory: manuscripts from the Federal Writers Project 1936-1940

One of the many Library of Congress documents available in the American Memory collection is this work by conservationist John Muir, who grew up in Wisconsin in the mid 1800s.

Many of my January posts included images of WPA posters. The WPA is an example of effective government funding. WPA was the originally the U.S. Works Progress. (later Projects) Administration, commonly referred to as the WPA. One of the numerous projects funded through the WPA was the Folklore Project, part of the larger Federal Writers Project. Now, through the marvels of the Internet, you can access images of nearly 3,000 original documents commissioned and/or collected during the Great Depression and housed in the Library of Congress. The documents describe life during those times in 24 states where writers participated. Visit the web site at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/wpahome.html and be prepared to spend some time dipping into all the fascinating things there—not to mention the links to other collections. What a gold mine for writers, readers, educators, and the merely nosey! Government money is not ALL spent on $300 hammers or lining Halliburton’s pockets.