Between 1933 and 1934, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) opened nearly 3,000 Emergency Nursery Schools (ENS) for low-income children. The schools were free. The children were provided with nourishing meals and medical attention; played together; were read to and taught how to brush their teeth, comb their hair and use proper table manners. The day nurseries provided jobs to thousands of unemployed workers as teachers, cooks and supervisors. In 1942, the U.S. Senate authorized $20 million to provide public care for children whose mothers were employed in the war effort. By 1944, enrollment neared 130,000 children. In 1965, Congress passed a bipartisan bill to establish national child-development and day-care centers, but the bill was vetoed by President Nixon, who dismissed it as “family weakening.” Today, there is still is no broad-based federally supported child care.
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By Brent McKee
Eighty years after the New Deal opened thousands of nursery schools, millions of Americans struggle to find affordable childcare. It is a problem that is reported year after year, decade after decade, with half-hearted, insufficiently-funded “solutions” offered up from time to time. READ MORE |
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By Ted Mann
To appreciate the full reach of the New Deal, it is instructive to travel to the smaller towns and cities where public works and artworks funded by the WPA—often unrecognized for their provenance—are coming to light. READ MORE |
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 Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
Happy Birthday Mr. President, Ceremony & Birthday Cake
January 30, at 3 pm ET
The National Park Service will hold a Rose Garden Ceremony to commemorate Franklin Roosevelt's Birthday, followed by birthday cake and refreshments. Open to the public. MORE INFO
LOCATION: Rose Garden, FDR Presidential Library, Hyde Park, NY
 Mill Valley Public Library
"Marin as Muse: Artists in Mill Valley and Environs, 1870–2020"
Through January 31, 2024
With its unrivaled natural beauty and proximity to San Francisco, Marin County has long been a magnet for artists. This exhibition explores some of the most notable artists and groups that left their mark on the area, including New Deal artists. MORE INFO
Saturday, January 27, 2024
3:00-4:30pm PT Mill Valley Library
In conjunction with the "Marin as Muse" exhibit, a symposium features art historians and curators discussing artists active in the region since the 1940s. Speakers include Living New Deal founder Gray Brechin, as well as Lucienne Allen, Natasha Boas and Corey Keller.
LOCATION: The Lucretia Little History Room, Mill Valley Public Library, Mill Valley, CA
 The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens
“Art for the People: WPA-Era Paintings from the Dijkstra Collection"
Through March 18, 2023
An exhibition of nineteen striking works drawn from the collection of Sandra and Bram Dijkstra, “Art for the People” explores representational paintings created during the Great Depression, with a focus on artists of the WPA. MORE INFO
LOCATION: The Huntington Museum, Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art, San Marino, CA
 Metropolitan Museum of Art
"The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism”
February 25-July 28, 2024
The exhibition features over 150 artworks including paintings, sculpture, photography, film and ephemera, delving into the far-reaching impact of Black artists during the 1920s through 40s, including artists working for the Federal Art Project.
LOCATION: The Met Fifth Avenue, Gallery 999, New York, NY
 San Diego History Center
On Exhibit
The exhibition traces artist Belle Baranceanu's experience working for the government’s fine art projects and demonstrates the New Deal’s contributions to an artistic renaissance in San Diego and the rest of America. ONLINE EXHIBITION | MORE INFO
LOCATION: Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
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New Deal programs helped improve farmland and agricultural practices in the Dust Bowl. The legacy of these programs can be seen across the Great Plains, but perhaps none so lastingly as in the town formerly known as Monroe. READ MORE
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 A Magic Garden
Tilden Regional Parks Botanic Garden
Berkeley, California
By Ralph Benson
Thanks to seed gathering by CCC crews and the support provided by the WPA to the East Bay Regional Park District just before the onset of World War II, today we all can enjoy a botanical tour of California just by strolling along the picturesque paths of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in the hills above Berkeley, California. READ MORE
Tell us about your favorite New Deal Site. Send us a first-person story of 100 (or so) words about your favorite New Deal site and why you chose it. Send your submissions to: [email protected]. Thanks!
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Some links may limit access for nonsubscribers. Please support local journalism, if you can.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt would be “fighting mad” about conservative attempts to undermine Social Security, says his grandson, Jim Roosevelt, on the first episode of a new podcast. “We’d see him actively pressuring Congress” to support Social Security and working to elect lawmakers who champion his legacy program in the face of myriad proposals to cut and privatize it. By James Roosevelt
Podcast: “You Earned This,” December 15, 2023
National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare
Will Bidenism outlive Biden? The President's revolution is yet to bear fruit
President Biden has gone to great lengths to present himself as the heir of FDR and came to power offering Rooseveltian-style comfort and hope to the American people during the Covid pandemic. But for some reason, the more he tries to emulate America’s most beloved Democratic president, the less popular he becomes.’
By Gary Gerstle
UnHerd, December 14, 2023
Set for a relaunch, the 98-minute documentary celebrates the Great Depression-era art to come out of the WPA and Federal Art Project. Written, narrated and directed by Michael Maglaras, the film recounts the story of how a flourishing production of federally funded art gave Americans back their hope and sense of purpose.
By Anna Sexton
The Collector, December 11, 2023
Los Altos Native’s Academic Bestseller Becomes an Audiobook
Living New Deal founder and former Los Altos resident Gray Brechin seems to have left a mark in the field of historical geography. Just this month, he released an audiobook for his 1999 academic bestseller “Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin,” in which he discusses the unsustainable growth of cities such as San Francisco and their impact on the environment.
By Oscar Johnson
Town Crier, December 5, 2023
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“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”
— President Franklin D. Roosevelt Remarks to the Daughters of the American Revolution Washington, D.C. April 21, 1938
YOUR DONATIONS KEEP THE NEW DEAL SPIRIT ALIVE.
The Living New Deal thanks you for your generous support!
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