A New Deal for the Arts
From the National Archives and Records Administration. Site is divided into sections such as "Work Pays America", "Activist Arts," and "Useful Arts" that contain brief historical explanations and links to posters, prints, and photographs of New Deal programs.

American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940
Part of the National Digital Collection of the Library of Congress. "These life histories were written by the staff of the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers' Project for the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936-1940. The Library of Congress collection includes 2,900 documents representing the work of over 300 writers from 24 states." Search by keyword to obtain lists of digitized texts or click on a state to find out about subjects covered or the names of Project workers conducting the interviews. Also includes images of the actual pages.

American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library
Historical Collections for the Natonal Digital Collection of the Library of Congress. Type "WPA" in the search engine on the upper right side of the page to view an extensive list of digitized WPA holdings.

A Brief Overview of the History of the WPA
Written by Margaret Bing, Cataloger/Curator of the Bienes Center for the Literary Arts. A good place to start for basic information on the historical importance and achievements of this New Deal agency. This historical essay was included as part of the online version of a 1998 exhibit of WPA items from the Center's extensive New Deal/WPA collection.

By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943
"The By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943 collection consists of 908 boldly colored and graphically diverse original posters produced from 1936 to 1943 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest. These striking silkscreen, lithograph, and woodcut posters were designed to publicize health and safety programs; cultural programs including art exhibitions, theatrical, and musical performances; travel and tourism; educational programs; and community activities in seventeen states and the District of Columbia."

Historic Florida: Report of Historic Site Survey
From the Florida Heritage Collection (FHC), this site contains links for all Florida counties to digitized chapters of a 1937 historical site survey conducted by the Florida Works Progress Administration. By clicking on any Florida county, you will be able to view the original survey for that county describing historical places of interest. The whole FHC site is also full-text searchable.

Jukin' it Out: Contested Visions of Florida in New Deal Narratives
Created by Juliet Gorman in 2001 of Oberlin College. In her words, this site "explores the issues of narrative and representation in two New Deal cultural projects. Through the work of the Federal Writers' Project in Florida and photographs taken by the Farm Security Administration, I use the image of Florida to work out larger questions about a 'nation of communities,' documentary expression in the 1930s, and the politics of public history... The site is organized into four categories of material: musings on the logic of the Thirties to help you contextualize these cultural projects, an exploration of the Florida guidebook written by the FWP, an introduction to the photography of the FSA, and a study of jook joints, which brings together both sets of sources to mine some of Florida's rich cultural life."

National New Deal Preservation Association
A non-profit organization whose purpose is "to identify, document and preserve the New Deal visual and performing arts, literature, crafts, structures and environmental projects and to educate people about these important legacies." Of particular note is the extensive bibliography of New Deal books, many of which can be purchased directly through the Association.

New Deal Cultural Programs: Experiments in Cultural Democracy
Created by Don Adams and Arlene Goldbard, this site offers brief information on federal spending on cultural programs in the 1930's including the WPA and its predecessor organizations. Provides a good overview of WPA programs, particularly the projects that were part of the Federal One initiative of the WPA.

New Deal Network
"NDN seeks to make the most of the interactive, communications and publication capacities of the Internet. Its designers intend to bring many different institutions and individuals into the ongoing construction of the site and to stimulate students and historians throughout the United States to discover and document the human and material legacy of the New Deal. At the core of the New Deal Network is a database of photographs, political cartoons, and texts (speeches, letters, and other historic documents from the New Deal period). Currently there are over 20,000 items in this database, many of them previously accessible only to scholars." Type in "WPA" (with or without quotation marks) in the search engine on top of page.

The New Deal Stage: Selections from the Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939
"This online presentation includes over 13,000 images of items selected from the Federal Theatre Project Collection at the Library of Congress. Featured here are stage and costume designs, still photographs, posters, and scripts for productions of Macbeth and The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus as staged by Orson Welles, and for Power, a topical drama of the period (over 3,000 images). Also included are 68 other playscripts (6,500 images) and 168 documents selected from the Federal Theatre Project Administrative Records (3,700 images). The Federal Theatre Project was one of five arts-related projects established during the first term of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt under the Works Progress Administration (WPA)."

Norwalk's Collection of WPA Murals
The city of Norwalk, Connecticut, is home to the nation's largest collection of murals from the WPA. Originally created for Norwalk High School and other public buildings, these murals are on display in several public locations. The Norwalk Transit District has created this site which allows the user to access images of the forty-five murals by thumbnail or text description.

Search the Web for information on the WPA
Pre-formatted search using the Google search engine. Uses Boolean search string: "Works Progress Administration" OR "Work Projects Administration" (with quotation marks) to retrieve links to many Internet sources. Works Progress Administration was the name of the federal agency until the 1939 Reorganization Act changed its name to Work Projects Administration. The former name is the most commonly used full name for the agency and how the agency is classed according to Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH).  However, the agency is known best by its abbreviation. Research tip: try a Google search for information on the WPA in a particular state by typing in "WPA" (with or without quotation marks) followed by the state's name.

They Didn't All Carry Shovels: WPA Workers and the Illinois State Museum
Written by Jim L. Zimmer of the Illinois State Museum Lockport Gallery for the July-August, 2002 issue of Illinois Heritage, this article details the history and accomplishments of the Illinois Statewide Museum Extension Project.  As such, it is one of very few sources of historical information about the MEP or similar state-run WPA projects on the Web. 

The WPA: An Exhibition of Works Progress Administration (WPA) Literature and Art from the Collections of the Bienes Center for the Literary Arts
This is the online version of the Center's 1998 exhibition and features 261 books, pamphlets, ephemera, and artworks from the Bienes Center's collections. Many of the books and pamphlets were from the Federal Art Project (FAP) and the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP). Also included are items from the Museum Extension Project.

W.P.A. – New Deal Art During the Great Depression
Focusing mostly on the artist-commissioned murals of the WPA, this site contains links to states subdivided by cities and towns links to information or images about WPA artwork, particularly murals. Also has links to information about WPA exhibitions, historical information, research sites, artist biographies, art conservation and preservation resources, and WPA art curriculum websites.

WPA Sin Nombre: Hispana and Hispano Artists of the New Deal Era
"Hundreds of Hispana and Hispano artists created art for the various New Deal programs during the 1930s and 1940s under the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Sin Nombre (Without Name) presents the work of these artists, who have been almost completely undocumented during this important period."

WPA Special Documents Collection of the Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives
Of particular note: images and transcription of a twenty-one page 1936 brochure produced by the WPA for its workers entitled: "Our Job with the WPA" and a general information twenty-six page brochure from 1939, "Questions and Answers on the WPA" (images only).

Women's Work Relief in the Great Depression
Featured article from Mississippi History Now (2004), the online publication of the Mississippi Historical Society profiling the professional career of Mississippian Ellen Sullivan Woodward, the Director of the Women's and Professionals Projects Division of the WPA. The article also discusses the role of women in the WPA, Mississippi women, the work of the Division, the problems facing black women and women generally in the WPA, and women's work and war. Also includes a selected bibliography.