What is the WPA?
This is a great national crusade to destroy enforced idleness which is an enemy of the human spirit generated by this Depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 28, 1935 “Fireside Chat” President Roosevelt calls the WPA “the most comprehensive work plan in the history of the nation.” It creates jobs on a huge scale, employing a total of eight and a half million people. The WPA spends $10.5 billion, completing well over one million projects from 1935-1943. In Lawrence today, as many community members struggle to find jobs, we are surrounded by the historic accomplishments of WPA workers.