The livingnewdeal.org website has been transformed, the culmination of two years of planning, design, programming and feedback. The new design is receiving rave reviews for its sleek and roomy look and ease of use— navigating via buttons rather than menus and scrolling. An additional benefit is the greater ease of searching New Deal sites through the database and map. The improvements also make it easier to use the site on laptops and phones. Our immense thanks to webmaster Lisa Thompson and programmer Tod Abbott, and to Dick Walker for design input and to team members, advisors and associates for feedback.
NEW DEAL BOOK AWARD FOR 2022
The Living New Deal presented our second Annual New Deal Book Award to Victoria Wolcott (University of Buffalo). The award ceremony took place at the Roosevelt Reading Festival at FDR Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY. LND team members Gray Brechin and Jeff Gold attended the event. Professor Wolcott discussed her book, Living in the Future, Utopianism and the Long Civil Rights Movement, (University of Chicago Press-2022). Living in the Future reveals the unexplored impact of utopian thought on the major figures of the Civil Rights Movement. A LND webinar featured Dr. Wolcott in dialogue with Professor Kimberly Johnson (New York University). Dr. Johnson, a member of the Living New Deal Research Board, is the new chair of the New Deal Book Award selection committee for books published in 2023. Many thanks to Professor Eric Rauchway (University of California, Davis) for leading the committee over the past two years.
NEW YORK CHAPTER UPDATE
Our New York City Chapter led a New Deal tour of Central Park in May and presented a very impressive webinar on Social Security in June. They partnered with Roosevelt House at Hunter College on two other webinars, one in March on transforming the nation's food system and another in October on New Deal-era Labor Secretary Frances Perkins and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. They also joined in the commemoration at the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company near Manhattan’s Washington Square, where a tragic fire in 1915 sparked Perkins's lifelong dedication to aiding women and other workers.
NEW DEAL 90TH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS
Led by Susan Ives, the Living New Deal produced two impressive events celebrating the 90th anniversary of the New Deal. The first was held at Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, California, where the Civilian Conservation Corps did extensive work during the New Deal. Our partner, the National Park Service, showed the work currently underway to restore Coho salmon habitat and upgrade historic trails in this renowned redwood park.
More than a hundred guests attended a New Deal anniversary celebration at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The museum, built by the WPA, features recently restored murals, mosaics and sculptures commissioned under the Federal Art Project.
Historian and political commentator Heather Cox Richardson was the keynoter who, along with Judge Charles Breyer, LND’s founder Gray Brechin, and the San Francisco historian and author Gary Kamiya, recalled the impact of the New Deal and its relevance today. Aaron Peskin, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, presented a Proclamation to the Living New Deal on behalf of the City. Our thanks to our partners, the San Francisco Maritime Historical National Park Association, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the National Park Service, which provided hourly tours of the building’s architecture and artworks throughout the day. Greenbelt, Maryland and Roosevelt University in Chicago also hosted events honoring the New Deal’s 90th anniversary.
Our Northwest Coordinator Judith Kenny produced the second video in a planned series, "Mapping New Deal Oregon,” funded by the Kinsman Foundation. The CCC's Legacy at Eagle Creek Recreation Area does a fine job of showing off the popular park and its New Deal legacy.
In Los Angeles, Research Assistant Natalie McDonald was selected by the American Historical Association as the AHA Summer Columnist, reporting on aspects of New Deal history in the LA area. Our Social Media Director Sophia Gimenez has been catching the public eye with a well-planned series of posts about LND activities and news.
Living New Deal founder and Project Scholar Gray Brechin continues to keep a busy speaking schedule. In addition to his talks around the Bay Area, Gray recently did a radio interview with writer David Kipen about the New Deal in Los Angeles.
LND Director Dick Walker gave an in-person talk to a conference of park rangers on the New Deal in California parks and several virtual talks for audiences in the Bay Area, Washington DC and Los Angeles, as well as interviews for podcasts and newspapers.
PAUL GROTH BEQUEST
The late Professor Paul Groth (UC Berkeley Department of Geography) left the Living New Deal a substantial bequest that came to us in 2023. Paul was a nationally known expert on American landscapes and a great admirer of the New Deal's contribution to the people and places of the country, as well as an old friend of former colleagues Dick Walker and Gray Brechin. A wonderful online tribute to Paul by his many friends was published before he died so that he could see how well loved he was.
To learn more about bequests, contact Kurt Feichtmeir at [email protected].
The livingnewdeal.org website has been transformed, the culmination of two years of planning, design, programming and feedback. The new design is receiving rave reviews for its sleek and roomy look and ease of use— navigating via buttons rather than menus and scrolling. An additional benefit is the greater ease of searching New Deal sites through the database and map. The improvements also make it easier to use the site on laptops and phones. Our immense thanks to webmaster Lisa Thompson and programmer Tod Abbott, and to Dick Walker for design input and to team members, advisors and associates for feedback.
The Living New Deal presented our second Annual New Deal Book Award to Victoria Wolcott (University of Buffalo). The award ceremony took place at the Roosevelt Reading Festival at FDR Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY. LND team members Gray Brechin and Jeff Gold attended the event. Professor Wolcott discussed her book, Living in the Future, Utopianism and the Long Civil Rights Movement, (University of Chicago Press-2022). Living in the Future reveals the unexplored impact of utopian thought on the major figures of the Civil Rights Movement. A LND webinar featured Dr. Wolcott in dialogue with Professor Kimberly Johnson (New York University). Dr. Johnson, a member of the Living New Deal Research Board, is the new chair of the New Deal Book Award selection committee for books published in 2023. Many thanks to Professor Eric Rauchway (University of California, Davis) for leading the committee over the past two years.
Our New York City Chapter led a New Deal tour of Central Park in May and presented a very impressive webinar on Social Security in June. They partnered with Roosevelt House at Hunter College on two other webinars, one in March on transforming the nation's food system and another in October on New Deal-era Labor Secretary Frances Perkins and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. They also joined in the commemoration at the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company near Manhattan’s Washington Square, where a tragic fire in 1915 sparked Perkins's lifelong dedication to aiding women and other workers.
Led by Susan Ives, the Living New Deal produced two impressive events celebrating the 90th anniversary of the New Deal. The first was held at Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, California, where the Civilian Conservation Corps did extensive work during the New Deal. Our partner, the National Park Service, showed the work currently underway to restore Coho salmon habitat and upgrade historic trails in this renowned redwood park. 
Historian and political commentator Heather Cox Richardson was the keynoter who, along with Judge Charles Breyer, LND’s founder Gray Brechin, and the San Francisco historian and author Gary Kamiya, recalled the impact of the New Deal and its relevance today. Aaron Peskin, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, presented a Proclamation to the Living New Deal on behalf of the City. Our thanks to our partners, the San Francisco Maritime Historical National Park Association, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the National Park Service, which provided hourly tours of the building’s architecture and artworks throughout the day. Greenbelt, Maryland and Roosevelt University in Chicago also hosted events honoring the New Deal’s 90th anniversary.
Our Northwest Coordinator Judith Kenny produced the second video in a planned series, "Mapping New Deal Oregon,” funded by the Kinsman Foundation. 
The late 
