 The infrastructure bills now stuck in Congress could reverse the decades-long dismantling of the New Deal. Popular with the public, the legislation includes funding for a new Civilian Conservation Corps—a Civilian Climate Corps. The original CCC, arguably the most popular of the New Deal’s programs, hired millions of young men to plant forests, build parks, fight fires, prevent flooding and restore drought-stricken soils. A new Corps would do this and more to meet the climate crisis and hire those the original CCC excluded—women. A recent opinion poll shows 85 percent of Democrats and more than 60 percent of all voters favor a CCC today.
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By James Steinbauer
The American landscape we’re living in today—the worst economic slump since the Great Depression; flooding and hurricanes in the East; drought and wildfires in the West—is, in many ways, similar to the one Roosevelt inherited. It’s against this backdrop that President Biden has proposed revitalizing the CCC. READ MORE
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 Women in the Woods
By Susan Ives
Without a work component, a program for unemployed women based on the CCC appeared to be little more than a government-sponsored vacation. The program was presumed a boondoggle. Skeptics branded it the “She-She-She.” READ MORE
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Living New Deal Webinar Series, “The Next New Deal”
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 "Biden’s Civilian Climate Corps: Lessons from the Original CCC"
Thursday, October 21, 5pm PDT (8pm EDT)
The CCC not only reshaped the land but the political landscape, as well. Neil Maher is author of the award winning Nature’s New Deal, The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement. He is a Professor of History in the Federated History Department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University at Newark. Free. REGISTER
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 Free Library of Philadelphia
EXHIBIT: "For the Greatest Number: The New Deal Revisited”
Monday through Friday 9:00am– 5:00pm
The Great Depression affected everyone, but not equally. It’s not just history. The country is again facing a choice: What do we owe our neighbors? What does our country owe us?
Third Floor of the Parkway Central Library
1901 Vine St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Free
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 FDR Library and Museum
“Art of the New Deal"
A selection of New Deal art from the collections of the FDR Library in Hyde Park, New York.
VIEW THE EXHIBIT
The library recently reopened: Hours and information
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Some links may limit access for nonsubscribers. Please support local journalism, if you can.
How FDR’s Original Green New Deal Challenged Jim Crow
Widespread arguments that the New Deal was fundamentally racist could well be deployed to weaken support for anything echoing the New Deal — including the idea of a new Civilian Climate Corps —even though such bold federal initiatives are essential to the welfare of all working people in this country.
By Paul J. Baicich and Richard A. Walker
JACOBIN, September 26, 2021
9 Questions about the Civilian Climate Corps Answered
In his executive order, Biden laid out a litany of objectives for the Climate Corps: “The initiative shall aim to conserve and restore public lands and waters, bolster community resilience, increase reforestation, increase carbon sequestration in the agricultural sector, protect biodiversity, improve access to recreation, and address the changing climate.”
By Tik Root
The Washington Post, September 16, 2021
That Time America Almost Had a 30-hour Work Week
In 1933, the Senate passed, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt supported, a bill to reduce the standard work week to only 30 hours. Business leaders were up in arms.
By Gillian Brockell
The Washington Post, September 6, 2021
A new New Deal is What America Urgently Needs
What our nation needs now is a New Deal for Public Health, a set of ambitious initiatives to combat this and future crises.
By Sigal Altzmon
The Hill, September 28, 2021
Historic Site Where FDR Rehabilitated Needs Donations
While Governor of New York, FDR sought rehabilitation from polio in the mineral pools at Warm Springs, Georgia, where he had built a modest residence, later dubbed The Little White House. Friends of the Little White House is now asking for donations to restore the pools.
By Karyssa D’Agostino
WRBL.com, September 9, 2021
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“For nearly four years you have had an Administration which…had to struggle with the old enemies of peace--business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me--and I welcome their hatred.”
— FDR, October 31, 1936
In Case You Missed It
PODCAST: "Tax-funded Smut Here! Government Funding Woes”
Public money for the arts—including from some sources that may surprise you—continues to stoke controversy. Guests include Sharon Ann Musher, member of the Living New Deal Research Board and author of Democratic Art: The New Deal’s Influence on American Culture and Clare Croft, author of Dancers As Diplomats: American Choreography in Cultural Exchange.
YOUR DONATIONS KEEP THE NEW DEAL SPIRIT ALIVE.
The Living New Deal thanks you for your generous support!
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