
On April 8, 1935 — 87 years ago today — Congress voted to approve the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a central part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal."
In his inaugural address on March 4, 1933, Roosevelt promised Americans that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" and outlined his New Deal — an expansion of the federal government as an instrument of employment opportunity and welfare.
In April, 1935, the WPA was established under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, as a means of creating government jobs for some of the nation's many unemployed.
Under the direction of Harry L. Hopkins, the WPA employed more than 8.5 million persons on 1.4 million public projects before it was disbanded in 1943. The program chose work that would not interfere with private enterprise, especially vast public building projects like the construction of highways, bridges and dams.
However, the WPA also provided federal funding for students, who were given work under the National Youth Administration.
The careers of many important American artists were also launched thanks by WPA endowments. Although its scale was unprecedented, the WPA never managed to serve more than a quarter of the nation's unemployed. Its programs were extremely popular, though, and contributed significantly to Roosevelt's landslide reelection in 1936.
Among the artists that the WPA assisted were Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Orson Welles, Arthur Miller, Burt Lancaster, Arlene Francis, Katherine Dunham, John Cage, John Houseman, Marc Blitzstein and Burgess Meredith.
Famous writers, who didn’t need assistance, included Eugene O’Neill and George Bernard Shaw, who offered their plays to the WPA for no money.
Photographers included Berenice Abbott, Andreas Feininger, August Sander, Dorothea Lange, Eadweard Muybridge, Edward Steichen, Gordon Parks, Lewis Hine, W. Eugene Smith, Walker Evans and William Gottlieb.
Lesser known artists also flourished under the WPA. Many veterans of the program went on to major motion picture studios and animation operations like Walt Disney Studios.
It was Congress that pulled the plug on the WPA when unemployments lessened due to World War II. It never came back even though it could rescue many creative people in the continuing recession since 2008.

Rehearsal for The Cradle Will Rock, 1937
The musical by Marc Blitzstein, was originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project of the Works Progress Administration. It was directed by Orson Welles and produced by John Houseman.
The musical is a Brechtian allegory of corruption and corporate greed and includes a panoply of societal figures. Set in "Steeltown, USA," it follows the efforts of Larry Foreman to unionize the town's workers and combat wicked, greedy businessman Mr. Mister, who controls the town's factory, press, church and social organization.
The Cradle Will Rock was to begin previews on Broadway June 16, 1937 at the Maxine Elliott Theatre with elaborate sets and a full orchestra. The production was shut down four days before its opening by the WPA.
The government claimed that due to budget cuts, the WPA was reorganizing its arts projects, and all openings of WPA plays, musicals, concerts and art galleries were to be delayed until after July 1. However, many asserted that the musical had been censored because the pro-union plot was "too radical."
The theatre was padlocked and surrounded by security guards to prevent anyone from stealing props or costumes, as these were considered U. S. Government property.
Welles, Houseman and Blitzstein, seeking a way to privately produce the show, rented the much larger Venice Theatre and a piano just in time for the scheduled preview on June 16, 1937.
The 600 audience members, who had gathered outside the Maxine Elliot Theatre for the preview, travelled 21 blocks north to the Venice Theatre. Many were on foot.
The sold-out house grew even larger when the show's creators invited people off the street to attend for free.
The musicians' union refused to play for the show unless Houseman could provide their full salaries, and Actors' Equity Association said that its members could not perform onstage at the new theatre without approval of the original producer (the federal government).
The show's creators thus planned for Blitzstein to perform the entire musical at the piano. Just after beginning the first number, Blitzstein was joined by Olive Stanton, the actress playing Moll, from the audience.
During the rest of the performance, various actors joined in with Blitzstein and performed the entire musical from their seats in the house.
Orson Welles told me the story during a long lunch in 1985. After his death later that year, I decided to option the property.
I took it to Tim Robbins, who wrote the script and directed the film. I was executive producer. “Cradle Will Rock” was released by Touchtone Films in 1999.