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AUGUST 2021


** Investing In Prosperity ([link removed])
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The New Deal was an unprecedented campaign of national construction. According to a study by economists Price Fishback and Valentina Kachanovskaya, the New Deal cost $41.7 billion at the time—about $827 billion in today’s dollars. What did America get for its money? Michael Hilzik, in his book The New Deal, A Modern History, summed it up this way: “The WPA produced 1,000 miles of new and rebuilt airport runways, 651,000 miles of highway, 124,000 bridges, 8,000 parks and 18,000 playgrounds and athletic fields; some 84,000 miles of drainage pipes, 69,000 highway light standards and 125,000 public buildings were built, rebuilt or expanded. To this day, Americans still rely on its work for transportation, electricity, flood control, housing and community amenities.” The New Deal laid the foundation for the decades of productivity and prosperity that followed. Eighty years on, America's infrastructure has fallen into desperate disrepair. President Biden’s $1 trillion plan to "build back
better” is a belated downpayment on decades of deferred maintenance, as well as investment in America’s future.


** Why The New Deal Matters ([link removed]) [link removed]
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** By Eric Rauchway
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We remember the Great Depression as an economic crisis and the New Deal for its infrastructure. But we should also remember that to Roosevelt— and many who voted for him— the Depression caused a crisis of democracy. READ MORE ([link removed])
Maintaining Civilization ([link removed])


** By Gray Brechin
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Maintenance is not sexy, nor do politicians reap credit for it, so it’s easy to scrimp. The millions of public jobs the New Deal created made the 1930s a golden age not only of building, but also of maintenance.
READ MORE ([link removed])
HAPPENINGS
Call for Submissions ([link removed])
The Living New Deal invites submissions for the first annual New Deal Book Award. Non-fiction books published in 2021 are eligible for the $1,000 award, to be presented at the FDR Presidential Library next summer. The deadline for nominations is November 15, 2021.
Submission guidelines and nomination form ([link removed]) .
Contact: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
Frances Perkins Center Virtual Garden Party ([link removed])
"Attending to Social Justice & Economic Security”
Sunday, August 15, 2021, 5-6pm EDT

Honoring Heather Cox Richardson and Juana Rodriguez Vazquez
Free. Donations are welcome. REGISTER ([link removed])

Living New Deal Webinar Series, “The Next New Deal”
[link removed]"The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Federal Writers’ Project" ([link removed] )
Tuesday, August 31, 5pm PDT (8pm EDT)
A conversation with the author, Scott Borchert, and writer David Kipen.

Scott Borchert, author of Republic of Detours: How the New Deal Paid Broke Writers to Rediscover America ([link removed]) , and writer David Kipen explore the Federal Writers’ Project—from its optimistic early days to its dismemberment by the House Committee on Un-American Activities to the "culture wars" today. Free. REGISTER ([link removed])
"Why The New Deal Matters" ([link removed])
Thursday, September 30, 5pm PST (8PM EDT)

Eric Rauchway, author of Why the New Deal Matters ([link removed] ) and historian Lizbeth Cohen examine the New Deal’s lasting imprint on America and on democracy, itself. Free. REGISTER ([link removed])
"Biden’s Civilian Climate Corps: Lessons from the Original CCC" ([link removed])
Thursday, October 21, 5pm PDT

The CCC not only reshaped the land but the political landscape, as well. Neil Maher is author of Nature's New Deal, The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement ([link removed]) . He is assistant professor of history at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University, Newark. Free. REGISTER ([link removed])
THE NEW DEAL IN THE NEWS
Some links may limit access for nonsubscribers. Please support local journalism, if you can.

The Unusual Group Trying to Turn Biden into FDR ([link removed])
A shadow cabinet hopes it can summon a new New Deal.
By Ruby Cramer
Politico, August 1, 2021

Joe Biden is Electrifying America Like FDR ([link removed])
We should be cleareyed about both the enormous strengths of the United States — its technologies, its universities, its entrepreneurial spirit — and its central weakness: For half a century, compared with other countries, we have underinvested in our people.
By Nicholas Kristof
The New York Times, May 1, 2021

The real lesson of the New Deal: Biden can’t make unforced errors ([link removed])
More than two out of three Americans support President Biden’s proposal to invest in infrastructure, according to a poll conducted by Monmouth University ([link removed]) . The New Deal managed to achieve sweeping popularity but also generated fierce opposition, exposing how steep Biden’s challenge is.
By Jason Scott Smith
The Washington Post, May 4, 2021

Why We Need A New Federal Writers’ Project ([link removed])
The Depression-era Federal Writers’ Project created jobs, fought disinformation and gave voice to the voiceless. We need all of the above now more than ever.
By David Kipen
The Nation, July 12, 2021

84 Democrats Sign Letter Demanding Civilian Climate Corps in Reconciliation Bill ([link removed])
The Civilian Climate Corps is a proposal to create a jobs program to employ many Americans ([link removed]) , potentially millions, to combat the climate crisis with conservation ([link removed]) , carbon reduction and adaptation projects across the country. The idea was inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps ([link removed]) .
By Sharon Zhang
Truthout, July 20, 2021

Murals at San Francisco School Should Stay for Now, Judge Says ([link removed])
In response to a lawsuit, a judge says an environmental review must take place before any action is taken to remove or hide the Depression-era murals that some consider offensive.
By Carol Pogash
The New York Times, July 29, 2021

ADA 31: Progress and Priorities at The FDR Memorial ([link removed])
The wreath-laying ceremony took place on July 26, 2021, the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act ([link removed]) , at the FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C.
By Andrew Pulrang
Forbes, July 27, 2021
FDR SAYS
"Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment. Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it.”
— FDR Inauguration speech, 1933

In Case You Missed It
Listen: 'Republic Of Detours' Revisits A Group Of Quirky, Depression-Era Guides ([link removed])
By Maureen Corrigan, NPR Fresh Air, June 16, 2021 (7 minutes)

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