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APRIL 2021


** A PLACE OF PILGRIMAGE
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On April 12, 1945, President Franklin Roosevelt died of a stroke while at the Little White House at Warm Springs, Georgia. He was 63. During his twelve years as president, FDR sought rest and renewal at a modest 6-room cottage near the therapeutic waters that relieved the symptoms of his polio. He credited this time at Warm Springs as the inspiration for his New Deal programs to alleviate rural poverty.
The Little White House is today a National Historic Landmark and a place of pilgrimage, receiving more than 100,000 visitors a year. John Kennedy visited during his 1960 campaign for president. Jimmy Carter opened his presidential campaign here in 1976. Joe Biden chose Warm Springs as a final stop during his 2020 presidential run. “This place, Warm Springs, is a reminder that though broken, each of us can be healed,” Biden said. "That as a people and a country, we can overcome this devastating virus, that we can heal a suffering world, and yes, we can restore our soul and save our country.”
Watch: Newsreel, the Funeral of FDR, April 12, 1945 ([link removed].) (2:40 minutes)


** Rekindling the Federal Writers’ Project ([link removed])
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** by David Kipen

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I can make the case for a reinvented FWP til I'm blue in the face, but I’m really only trying to convince 536 people—federal legislators to pass the bill, and President Biden to sign it. Some of those marks will be pushovers. The rest could be murder. READ MORE ([link removed])
The New Deal Artists of the Monkey Block ([link removed])
By Harvey Smith

Fostered by the New Deal, the community of artists that came together at The Monkey Block offers an inspirational example that, if replicated, could buoy the lives of artists, writers and performers and perhaps even lead to a new renaissance in American art.
READ MORE ([link removed])
Listen: “Inside Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s Life in San Francisco.” ([link removed])
By Mariso Medina-Cadena
KQED, December 3, 2020
HAPPENINGS
A Living New Deal Webinar
"Reigniting the Spirit of the New Deal’s Federal Writers’ Project" ([link removed])
Thursday, May 6, 2021, 5pm PDT

The Federal Writers' Project (FWP), launched in 1935 under the Works Progress Administration ([link removed]) (WPA), employed thousands of out-of-work writers, researchers, historians and librarians during the Great Depression and produced hundreds of publications. Best known are the American Guides to states and cities.
Speakers: Susan Rubenstein DeMasi is a freelance writer and the author of "Henry Alsberg: The Driving Force of the New Deal Federal Writers’ Project". David Kipen, former book critic for the San Francisco Chronicle and Director of Literature for the National Endowment of the Arts, authored the introductions to four American Guides reissued by UC Press. Fern Nesson, an attorney and fine arts photographer, uses her American Guides on road trips, which she chronicles in her column, "Travels with the WPA State Guides ([link removed]) ,” featured on the Living New Deal’s website. FREE. REGISTER ([link removed])
New from The Living New Deal
Map and Guide to the New Deal in Washington, D.C. ([link removed])

The Living New Deal’s new "Map and Guide to the Art and Architecture of the New Deal, Washington, D.C.” displays over 500 federal buildings, libraries, parks, roads, artworks and more. It features descriptions and photos of key sites and a walking tour of the National Mall. The map is available for sale at livingnewdeal.org ([link removed] ) , along with maps to the New Deal in San Francisco and New York City.
Community College of Baltimore County Online Course
“The Culture of the 1930s" with William Barry ([link removed])
Mondays, April 12-June 21, 1-2:30pm EDT
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Explore the cultural and artistic activities of this tumultuous period of U.S. history including the art, artists, public art, movies, radio, theater and literature of the decade. Learn more ([link removed]) .
Berkshire Magazine, Arcadia Publishing and Norman Rockwell Museum
"4 Freedom Essay & Poetry Contest" ([link removed])
Deadline for entries, April 19, 2021

Freedom of Speech. Freedom of Worship. Freedom from Want. Freedom from Fear. Franklin Roosevelt outlined these basic human rights in his famous 4 Freedoms speech in 1941. Learn more ([link removed]) .
Frances Perkins Center Online Public Policy Forum 2021
“Conscience and Courage, Frances Perkins and Feng Shan Ho, Little Known Heroes Who Saved Lives” ([link removed])
Sunday, April 25, 2021 3pm EDT

Learn about how Frances Perkins and Dr. Feng Shan Ho used their positions of public office and ingenious strategies, despite strong national government opposition, to provide tens of thousands of Jews a means of escape from the Holocaust in Europe. Keynote speakers: Bat-Ami Zucker, historian and professor emerita, Bar-Ilan University, Israel; and Manli Ho, a journalist and biographer for her late father, Dr. Feng Shan Ho, Consul-General of China in Vienna 1938-40. Learn more ([link removed]) .
THE NEW DEAL IN THE NEWS
Some links may limit access for nonsubscribers. Please support local journalism, if you can.

The Enduring Lessons of the New Deal Writers Project ([link removed])
At its peak, the Federal Writers’ Project employed more than six thousand people."It was, by turns, a literary, anthropological, and sociological experiment. It was also radically journalistic—an exercise in sending reporters out into a misunderstood country and capturing the stories of people whose voices typically went unheard."
By Jon Allsop
Columbia Journalism Review, December 20, 2020

The Black Woman Artist Who Crafted a Life She Was Told She Couldn’t Have ([link removed])
Augusta Savage fought racism to earn acclaim as a sculptor. In 1937, she worked with the W.P.A. Federal Art Project to establish the Harlem Community Art Center and became its first director. Eleanor Roosevelt attended its inauguration,
By Concepción de León
The New York Times, March 30, 2021

What Biden and FDR May End Up Having In Common ([link removed])
President Biden promised to be "the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen"
He may find the key to success is to tacitly reach back to the New Deal. Even then, the country can expect some tensions and letdowns.
By Steven Greenhouse
The New York Times, March 15, 2021
"I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished."
— Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Second Inaugural Address, January 20, 1937

In Case You Missed It

Through the Federal Writers’ Program we have the stories of enslaved people in their own words.
Listen: Behind the Former Slave Narratives Captured by a New Deal Program ([link removed]) (7 minutes)
NPR, All Things Considered
February 17, 2021

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, ** Lisa Thompson ([link removed])

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