 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.
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By Eric Rauchway
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
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 Maintaining Civilization
By Gray Brechin
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
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 Call for Submissions
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.
Contact: [email protected]
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 Frances Perkins Center Virtual Garden Party
"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
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Living New Deal Webinar Series, “The Next New Deal”
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 "The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Federal Writers’ Project"
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, 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
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 "Why The New Deal Matters"
Thursday, September 30, 5pm PST (8PM EDT)
Eric Rauchway, author of Why the New Deal Matters and historian Lizbeth Cohen examine the New Deal’s lasting imprint on America and on democracy, itself. Free. REGISTER
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 "Biden’s Civilian Climate Corps: Lessons from the Original CCC"
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. He is assistant professor of history at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University, Newark. Free. REGISTER
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Some links may limit access for nonsubscribers. Please support local journalism, if you can.
The Unusual Group Trying to Turn Biden into FDR
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
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
More than two out of three Americans support President Biden’s proposal to invest in infrastructure, according to a poll conducted by Monmouth University. 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
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
The Civilian Climate Corps is a proposal to create a jobs program to employ many Americans, potentially millions, to combat the climate crisis with conservation, carbon reduction and adaptation projects across the country. The idea was inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps.
By Sharon Zhang
Truthout, July 20, 2021
Murals at San Francisco School Should Stay for Now, Judge Says
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
The wreath-laying ceremony took place on July 26, 2021, the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, at the FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C.
By Andrew Pulrang
Forbes, July 27, 2021
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"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.”
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