Scott Borchert is the winner of the Living New Deal’s first annual New Deal Book Award for his 2021 book about the Federal Writers’ Project, Republic of Detours: How the New Deal Paid Broke Writers to Rediscover America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). The Award Committee called it: "...a beautifully written and timely book, whose ramble through the lives of New Dealers reminds us of what can be accomplished when the federal government supports American artists to create an enduring legacy.”
Eric Rauchway, Distinguished Professor of History at the University of California, Davis, and chair of the Award Committee, presented Borchert with a plaque and $1,000 prize at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY at the 18th Annual Roosevelt Reading Festival.
Borchert was one of three nominees for the New Deal Book Award who participated in the Reading Festival, along with Mary Jane Appel, biographer of Russell Lee: A Photographer’s Life and Legacy (Liveright Books in association with the Library of Congress), and Greg Zipes, author of Justice and Faith: The Frank Murphy Story (University of Michigan Press). Their books were selected from a dozen submissions, including biographies of New Deal artists, a study of race and resistance, and an assessment of the New Deal's place in American history.
The Living New Deal recently added the 17,000th New Deal site to our website! This achievement is testimony to the diligent, unseen work of our volunteer National Associates and staff researchers. Their work is the foundation of everything we do. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The additions to the website include #16,999, B&O Railroad Locomotive No. 50, the first diesel locomotive built in the United States, which was financed by the Public Works Administration. The PWA's program to modernize the railroads was hailed at the time as a revolution in rail transport. Even more impressive is site #17,000, the University of Pennsylvania's Differential Analyzer. Contrary to the misconception that all New Deal relief work was manual labor, this analog computer, built between 1934-35 by the Civil Works Administration and Federal Emergency Relief Administration, was an essential stepping stone to the world's first digital computer, the ENIAC, built in the same lab a decade later.
The New Deal’s imprint was nationwide. We continue to surpass milestones for the number of New Deal discoveries per state, such as in Oregon (200), Kansas (200), Wyoming (250) and Texas (1,000). Shout-outs to Living New Deal team members Judith Kenny in Portland, Oregon; Barbara Pendleton in Kansas City, Kansas; Susan Klein in Fort Worth, Texas; Evan Kalish for his sleuthing in Wyoming, Texas, New Mexico and South Carolina; and Richard Walker for recent discoveries in Arizona and Oregon. Our thanks to Brent McKee, who submitted sites 16,999 and 17,000. And to Elena Ion who does the yeo(wo)man work entering the site data sent to us from everywhere.
Expanding Our Social Media Efforts
The Living New Deal's social media accounts are thriving, Our Twitter account now has more than 1,000 followers—a key tipping point. Our Facebook friends number over 2,000. “Art is Life” (with 10,000 followers on Facebook) made Living New Deal a featured Instagram site. This steady growth in our social media presence is owing to staffers Brent McKee, Elena Ion and Shae Corey.
Thanks to our donors, Shae Corey is now on staff and is boosting our social media efforts enormously. Shae also is doing research work, helping to process archival materials gathered over years by Project Founder Gray Brechin. Shae also represented the Living New Deal at the Washington DC annual History Fair, where our print map of the nation’s capital was celebrated. To help keep Shae on the job, please consider a donation to the Living New Deal for Education & Outreach.
Looking Back and Looking Ahead
We recently published our 2021 Annual Report. Created by Susan Ives Communications, the report highlights the achievements of our biggest year yet.
The 90th anniversary of the launch of the New Deal (1933-1942) will soon be upon us. The Living New Deal is planning ways to honor the New Deal’s legacy and its lasting contributions to the nation. Today, when faith in government and elections is being tested, it is more important than ever to reflect upon the immense good the New Deal promised—and delivered—to everyday Americans.
In 2023, we hope to produce the fourth in our series of New Deal maps to America’s cities—New Deal Los Angeles. Our plans also include setting in motion a nationwide network in support of endangered New Deal art. With your help, we will continue to uphold the New Deal as a model for future generations.
Thank you for your ongoing support, which makes our work possible.
The Living New Deal recently added the 17,000th New Deal site to our website! This achievement is testimony to the diligent, unseen work of our volunteer National Associates and staff researchers. Their work is the foundation of everything we do. Find us on 
We recently published our 2021 Annual Report. Created by Susan Ives Communications, the report highlights the achievements of our biggest year yet.
