The U.S. Congress established the Works Progress Administration (later the Work Projects Administration) in Spring 1935. The Congress appropriated over $1 billion for this agency, which paid wages ranging from fifteen to ninety dollars per month to trans-form individuals then on direct relief into "work relief" public employees. The WPA carried an average of 2.1 million workers on its rolls each year between 1935 and 1941. These government employees engaged in tasks as widely varied as hoeing weeds and creating bibliographies.

Collection is open for research.