WPA Records

The W. P. A., or Works Project Administration, was a national program and helped to employ many workers to carry out public works projects. When the Great Depression hit in 1929 the economy of the nation collapsed and many Americans were put on the street with no home, no money, and no jobs. The United States Congress set aside $4.88 billion dollars from the emergency Relief Fund in an attempt to get the nation back on its feet. A number of projects were begun by building the infrastructure of the nation. Many schools, airports, seaports, and bridges where built. Things like Hoover Dam were constructed to put people to work and restore the nations’ economy.

In the field of the humanities, the arts and cultural aspect were not forgotten. Many of the Post Offices at the time had murals painted on their walls. Artists were employed to paint or write. Out of this portion of the money, people were hired to copy records and make them available to the general public. Several of the major projects in the field of genealogy of real interest were the gathering and cataloging of the various census taken through the years from 1790 to 1900 by this time. The soundex system for the 1880 census is one of the byproducts of this Works Progress Administration undertaking. Another of the projects was the cemetery catalogue.

Each state undertook with their allotted money, a wide variety of projects. Tennessee opted to employ people in each county to collect and record data of a genealogical nature. Some were sent to the courthouses to record many of the various books available. Others were sent into the cemeteries of the county to record the burials at that time. Still others were sent out to gather the various personal papers, Civil War letters, diaries, Bible records, and any other material that the families would allow them to make copies. To help with the employment situation, several people would be hired to copy the material, others hired to type the material and then there were always the supervisory personnel. In this manner, the effects of the Great Depression were beginning to diminish ever so slowly.

In the course of time, critics began to raise opposition to the various state projects. Some considered the arts to be a waste of time and thought the airports were not needed. We have to realize in the late 1930s air travel was not what it is today. Airports and airplanes were more of a toy still for the rich and famous. So when President Roosevelt signed the order to terminate the project on June 30, 1943, America was beginning to gear up for the production of war machinery since we were at war on two fronts, in the Pacific and in Europe.

Many of these records have stood the test of time, especially for the genealogist. Just look at the collection of Bible records. Since these were owned and kept by the individual families, many of them have disappeared and you have little or no access to them. Isn’t it wonderful that you at least have some of the records to examine? The same is true of the cemetery records. Many of the gravestones have been destroyed, broken or no longer readable. At the time the information was taken, we can get a reading of them. In many cases, the record keeper stated that there was just a “funeral home marker” and these have certainly disappeared through the years. Since many families could not afford a marker at the time, this is the only record of the grave.

We recognize that there are many errors in these records since most of those who gathered the information were not trained to read the old script, but they did the best they could. Even if 85% of the information is correct, at least we have a fairly good record of our history.

Happy Hunting!