Guide to the WPA Collection MS 314

Finding aid prepared by Samantha Mills

San Diego History Center Document Collection

1649 El Prado, Suite 3

San Diego, CA, 92101

619-232-6203

December 29, 2016

Title: WPA Collection

Identifier/Call Number: MS 314

Contributing Institution: San Diego History Center Document Collection

Language of Material: English

Physical Description: 5.5 Linear feet (11 boxes)

Date (bulk): Bulk, 1937-1942

Date (inclusive): 1835-1942

Abstract: This is an artificial collection of bound works created under several projects funded by the Works Progress Administration in San Diego during the late 1930s.

creator: United States. Works Progress Administration.

Biographical / Historical Notes

The Works Progress Administration was a New Deal agency formed in 1935 to alleviate unemployment. 8.5 million people were employed by the WPA over eight years, primarily unskilled labor carrying out public works projects such as the construction of buildings and roads. Some of the smaller projects such as Federal Project Number One employed musicians, writers, and other artists for large media and literacy projects.

Most of the items in this collection were created for the City Library Extension Project, the City Schools Curriculum Project, or the Federal Writers’ Project. The City Library Extension Project had workers rebind pre-existing publications for use in local libraries. The San Diego City Schools Curriculum Project employed dozens of local workers to produce educational materials for numerous subjects and then test them in classrooms. Approximately 500 copies were produced of each approved work. The Federal Writers’ Project, run under the auspice of Federal Project Number One, funded the creation of local histories, oral histories, ethnographies, children’s books, and other civic-minded works.

Scope and Content

This is an artificial collection of bound works created under several projects funded by the Works Progress Administration in San Diego during the late 1930s. These include pre-existing publications rebound for library use, educational materials developed for classroom use, and local history materials on place names and historic landmarks.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in four series:

Series I: City Library Extension Project;

Series II: City Schools Curriculum Project;

Series III: Federal Writers’ Project;

Series IV: Miscellanea.

Within each series, publications are arranged alphabetically by title.

Preferred Citation

WPA Collection, MS 314, San Diego History Center Document Archives, San Diego, CA.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Brent Stout in May 2016.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

City Library Extension Project.

City Schools Curriculum Project.

Federal Writers Project.

Series I: City Library Extension Project

Box-folder 1:1

Across The Plains in 1859: The Journal of an Emigrant (J.A. Wilkinson), 1859

Box-folder 9:1

Cabrillo 1542, by Charles Lummis, 1913

Box-folder 1:2

The Culture of the Luiseno Indians, by Philip Stedman Sparkman, 1908 August 7

Box-folder 1:3

Diary of Miguel Costano, 1911 August

Box-folder 1:4

Diary of Nelson Kingsley, 1914 December

Box-folder 1:5

Diary of Pedro Fages, 1911 July

Box-folder 1:6

Doniphan’s Expedition: Account of the Conquest of New Mexico, by Alexander William Doniphan, 1914

Box-folder 9:2

Hammond’s Modern Atlas of the World, undated

Box-folder 2:1

Landmarks of California, 1932-1937

Box-folder 2:2

On Land and Sea: California in Years 1843-44-45, by William H. Thomes, 1892

Box-folder 2:3

The Narrative of the Portola Expedition of 1769-1770, 1910 March

Box-folder 2:4

San Diego County Place Names: A-F, by Lena B. Hunsicker, undated

Box-folder 3:1

San Diego County Place Names: G-O, by Lena B. Hunsicker, undated

Box-folder 3:2

San Diego County Place Names: P-Z, by Lena B. Hunsicker, undated

Box-folder 3:3

Santa Fe Trail, Patch to Empire, by Frederick Simpich, 1929

Box-folder 9:3

Selections from Picturesque San Diego by Douglas Gunn, undated

Box-folder 3:4

Short Diary of Pedro Font, 1913 March

Box-folder 9:4

Southern California I-IV, 1900

Box-folder 9:5

Southern California V-VIII, 1900

Box-folder 9:6

Southern California IX-XII, 1900

Box-folder 3:5

Southwestern Adventure an Exploration, 1938

Box-folder 3:6

The Story of San Diego, by Walter Gifford Smith, 1892

Series II: City Schools Curriculum Project

Box-folder 4:1

A Guide to San Diego Libraries, 1940

Box-folder 4:2

Arts and Crafts of the Pueblo Indians for Teacher Reference, 1941

Box-folder 4:3

Customs and Culture of the Pueblo Indians for Teacher Reference, 1940

Box-folder 10:1

Gauges used by U.S. Bureau of Standards 1, 1939

Box-folder 10:2

Gauges used by U.S. Bureau of Standards 2, 1939

Box-folder 4:4

Horton Builds a City, by John Baker, 1940

Box-folder 4:5

How the Family Gets Its Food, 1938-1939

Box-folder 4:6

How the Family Lives at Home, 1938-1939

Box-folder 4:7

How the Family Travels, 1938-1939

Box-folder 4:8

Let’s Go to the Zoo, by Janette Pratt, 1936

Box-folder 5:1

Markets and Marketing, 1938-1939

Box-folder 10:3

Markets 2, 1939

Box-folder 10:4

Medical Discoveries 1, 1939

Box-folder 10:5

Medical Discoveries 2, 1939

Box-folder 10:6

Mexico, 1939

Box-folder 5:2

Mount Palomar Window to the Stars, by Hardigan Clower, 1940

Box-folder 5:3

Operating the City Government of San Diego, by Amy Hart Campbell, 1938

Box-folder 5:4

Our Use of Water, 1938-1939

Box-folder 11:1

Out West 1, 1939

Box-folder 5:5

Poetry Supplement: Communication and Records, 1938

Box-folder 5:6

Poetry Supplement: Heat and Light, 1938

Box-folder 5:7

Poetry Supplement: How the Family gets its Food, 1938

Box-folder 5:8

Poetry Supplement: How the Family Lives at Home, 1938

Box-folder 5:9

Poetry Supplement: How the Family Travels, 1938

Box-folder 5:10

Poetry Supplement: Living in a Chinese or a Japanese Home, 1938

Box-folder 5:11

Poetry Supplement: Living in a Pueblo Indian Home, 1938

Box-folder 6:1

Poetry Supplement: Living in California, 1938

Box-folder 6:2

Poetry Supplement: Living in our City, 1938

Box-folder 6:3

Poetry Supplement: Our Animal Friends, 1938

Box-folder 6:4

Poetry Supplement: Our use of the Forest, 1938

Box-folder 6:5

Poetry Supplement: Our use of Water, 1938

Box-folder 6:6

Poetry Supplement: Time, 1938

Box-folder 6:7

Poetry Supplement: Tools and Utensils, 1938

Box-folder 6:8

Poetry Supplement: Transportation, 1938

Box-folder 11:2

Rulers and Statesmen, 1939

Box-folder 6:9

San Diego has Five Beaches, by James Clarke, 1941

Box-folder 6:10

San Diego County Government, by Rose Roberts, 1942

Box-folder 6:11

Time, 1938-1939

Box-folder 6:12

Vocations: Painting and Decorating, by Edward Sievers, 1941

Box-folder 6:13

Water Front, by Murray Knowlton, 1937

Series III: Federal Writers' Project

Box-folder 7:1

Court of the Port of San Diego: Record Book A, 1835-1839

Box-folder 7:2

Place Names of San Diego County: A to L (Bawden) c.1938

Box-folder 7:3

Place Names of San Diego County: M to Z (Bawden), c.1938

Box-folder 7:4

Place Names of San Diego County # 2 (Bawden), c.1938

Box-folder 7:5

Place Names of San Diego County # 3 (Bawden), c.1938

Box-folder 7:6

Place Names of San Diego County # 4 (Bawden), c.1938

Box-folder 7:7

Place Names of San Diego County # 5 (Bawden), c.1938

Box-folder 8:1

Place Names of San Diego County # 6 (Bawden), c.1938

Series IV: Miscellanea

Box-folder 8:2

The Adobe Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, by George Tays, 1937

Box-folder 8:3

California Historical Landmark Series: Tip of Ballast Point, by Victor R. Jewett, 1937

Box-folder 8:4

History of California State Parks: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, by Kathleen Camilla Wade, 1937

Box-folder 8:5

La Punta de los Muertos San Diego County, by James Nebergall, 1939

Box-folder 8:6

San Diego County: San Diego County Planning Commission 1937, 1937