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Re: WPA Federal Writers Project in Massachusetts



I, too, have been trying to locate WPA materials relating to Nashua, NH for
a "primary sources," interdisciplinary project with our local high school
sophomores.  Besides NUCMC and WPA, here are some other exploration ideas:

NARA-WALTHAM: You may find something at NARA-Waltham, MA. They didn't have
any NH materials, but I think I recall the person I spoke to in Waltham
saying that they did have "some" Massachusetts WPA material. But I didn't
ask about the content because it wasn't of interest to me.

LIBRARIES:  We had 12 volumes of Federal Writers' Project material in our
city library.  Some were original text (i.e., typewritten pages subsequently
bound by the library); some were photocopies. Our State Library had no
Writers' project papers, however it did have an index which identified a
depository as "Manchester/University of New Hampshire."  There is no
UNH-Manchester (or there wasn't in the 1930's), and NARA informed me that
the "Manchester" designation meant the Manchester City Library.  So I also
need to visit that library, as well.  Maybe the indexes will give some clues
as to where Massachusetts materials were originally deposited?

STATE UNIVERSITY: As a land grant school and a federal records depository, I
knew that UNH has a considerable collection of WPA material -- I just
haven't had a chance to get out there to examine the collection. Maybe
UMASS-Amherst has some material as well?

HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: The NH Historical Association has nothing -- a staff
member told me they may have had some material at one time, but if they did,
it has since been thrown away.  (Not uncommon, unfortunately.) Maybe the
Massachusetts' historical association has some material?

MUNICIPAL REPORTS:  I have found references to WPA and FERA projects in our
annual municipal reports, though very little that is specific to the
Writers' Project in terms of titles, topics, etc. They were helpful to me,
though, in identifying which municipal buildings were WPA construction
projects.

OTHER SOURCES:  I also have found that WPA materials have been dispersed.
For example, blueprints for WPA may be in an Engineering Library,
photographs are housed in the Photographs collection, etc.  Though these are
not related to the Federal Writers' Project, it does show how materials can
be dispersed outside of the NARA basic internet search engines.

Good luck!  I'd be interested in any search tips you come up with. From my
perspective, WPA material is a great way to get students involved in the
history of their community, and the teachers I'm working with are excited
about gathering as much local WPA material as they can during the summer
months, for use in next year's classwork.  It's like looking for those
proverbial needles-in-a-haystack, though.

Paul R. Bergeron
City Clerk
229 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03060
Telephone: 603/589-3010
Fax: 603/589-3029
http://www.gonashua.com/



-----Original Message-----
From: Katherine S. Sturdevant [mailto:kssturdevant@JUNO.COM]
Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2001 1:46 PM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Re: WPA Federal Writers Project in Massachusetts


Please reply to the list on this WPA question. I am interested in the
American Guide and also still researching the Graves Registration
Project, if anyone knows anything.

Kathy Sturdevant

On Sat, 2 Jun 2001 12:09:26 -0400 Wendy Griswold
<w-griswold@NORTHWESTERN.EDU> writes:
> I'm a professor doing research on the WPA Federal Writers' Project
> and their
> compilation of the the American Guide Series volumes for each state.
>  Can
> anyone tell me where there might be archival  materials on the
> Massachusetts
> Federal Writers Project of the mid-1930s?  I've used NUCMC and know
> about
> the material at the National Archives in Washington.  Now I am
> trying to
> find out if there is any significant collection of material
> (especially
> correspondence, notes, etc. relating to the American Guide Series
> volume on
> Massachusetts) that remained in Massachusetts.  Thanks very much.
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
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