Some came into being by law, some by executive order; some are well known, some are not; some changed names or were amended in mid-course; some lasted only a few years, some still exist. It can be confusing, and we hope that this list can help sort things out. The list of programs is as complete as you will find anywhere.
For each New Deal program, there is a summary of the law, agency, goals and achievements, as well as key actors and legacies. These are based heavily on primary sources (which are cited) and are as accurate as possible.
—Click on a program name and a pop-up text will appear.
—Click here for all New Deal programs listed alphabetically
—For a chronology of programs, see the New Deal Timeline page.
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (1932)
Created during the Hoover Administration, expanded by FDR.
Helped finance public works, industry, and national defense activities.
National Industrial Recovery Act (1933)
Created National Recovery Administration (NRA).
Legalized industry collaboration for price controls and collective bargaining for labor.
Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933, Reauthorized 1938)
Created Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA).
Introduced measures to reduce crop supply, stabilize prices and support farm incomes.
Electric Home and Farm Authority (1934)
Helped Americans purchase electric appliances; worked in conjunction with the TVA and the Rural Electrification Administration.
Income and Wealth Taxes (1934-1941)
Greater emphasis on progressive taxation and taxation on wealth; consistent revenue increases achieved.
Federal Credit Unions (1934)
Offered Americans cooperative savings and loan opportunities, as well as an alternative to usury.
U.S. Travel Bureau (1937)
Helped increase recreational travel & tourism within the United States.
Emergency Banking Relief Act (1933)
Gave the president emergency powers over the US banking system, under which he called a ‘bank holiday’ to allow evaluation of all banks and closure of insolvent ones.
Glass-Steagall Banking Act (1933)
Created Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to insure personal bank accounts
Separated commercial from investment banking – The ‘Firewall.’
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (1933)
Insured bank deposits against bank failure, up to a certain level.
Federal Credit Unions (1934)
Offered Americans cooperative savings and loan opportunities, as well as an alternative to usury.
Securities Act (1933) & Securities Exchange Act (1934)
Created Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Allowed federal regulation of stock trading in public corporations.
Gold Reserve Act (1934)
Called in all private gold and created a government hoard (Fort Knox).
Bankruptcy Reform (1934-1938)
Protected farms from creditor repossession; aided distressed cities and towns; reformed business bankruptcies; created more personal bankruptcy options.
Banking Act (1935)
Restructured and centralized the Federal Reserve Bank.
Public Utility Holding Company Act (1935)
Protected consumers from certain rate increases, and also from high-risk speculation activities.
Federal Emergency Relief Act (1933)
Created the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).
Gave financial aid to states to support local relief programs for the destitute.
Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation (FSCC) (1933) – named Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (1933-1935), then Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation (1935-1940)
Distributed surplus food and commodities to those in need.
Railroad Retirement Board (1934)
Administers the Railroad Retirement Program, as well as many other benefit programs for rail industry workers.
Emergency Relief Appropriation Acts (1935-1943)
Provided funding for New Deal work agencies, especially the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
Social Security Act (1935)
Created a national system of pensions, unemployment insurance and aid to mothers with children, and created Social Security Administration (SSA) to administer it.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) (1933)
Created under Emergency Conservation Act.
Put unemployed, unskilled young men to work on rural and park improvements.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (1933)
Created under the Tennessee Valley Authority Act.
Planned river basin development based on dams and hydroelectricity.
Public Works Administration (PWA) (1933)
Created under the National Industrial Recovery Act.
Paid private contractors to build large-scale projects proposed by states.
Civil Works Administration (CWA) (1933)
Created by Executive Order as temporary work relief under FERA.
Hired unemployed directly to work on local projects; became model for WPA.
Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) (1933)
Created under the Federal Emergency Relief Act to award grants to states for works programs to hire the unemployed and provide direct relief payments to the indigent.
Works Progress Administration (WPA) (1935) – renamed Work Projects Administration (1939)
Created by Executive Order to fund state and local public works projects.
Hired the unemployed directly and became the largest of all public works programs.
National Youth Administration (NYA) (1935)
Created by Executive Order as a subdivision of the WPA.
Hired young men and women, both in and out of school, for works programs.
Rural Electrification Administration (REA) (1935)
Created by Executive Order to bring electricity to isolated rural areas.
Made permanent by Rural Electrification Act (1936).
Soil Conservation Service (SCS) (1935)
Created by Soil Conservation Act (1935) to continue work of Soil Erosion Service (SES) created under Emergency Conservation Act (1933).
Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) (1918) – renamed Public Roads Administration (1939)
Built roads in national parks & forests, assisted states with road construction, helped beautify highways, and conducted various transportation studies.
U.S. Post Office Department (1792)
Worked with the U.S. Treasury, and later the Public Buildings Administration (PBA), to create new post office buildings and artworks in post offices.
Bureau of Reclamation (1902)
Built dams and irrigation projects in the western states and major river basin projects on the Columbia, Colorado & Sacramento River systems.
Army Corps of Engineers (1802)
Built levees, dams and canals across the country, built the Missouri river basin project and made levee improvements along the Mississippi, Ohio and Sacramento Rivers.
Quartermaster Corps (1775)
Responsible for the movement of supplies, food, and services to support American troops. During the New Deal, the Quartermaster Corps received substantial funding from both the Public Works Administration (PWA) and emergency relief appropriation acts.
U.S. Armed Forces and National Defense Industries
Improvements to military bases, funding for Naval & Coast Guard vessels, jobs for defense industry workers & tradesmen, energy for airplane production, job training for young unemployed men & women, discipline & leadership skills in the CCC.
Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) (1933)
Paid for by the CWA and operated by the U.S. Treasury.
Art & Culture Projects of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) (1934)
Plays, concerts, and artwork.
Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA) (1934)– originally called Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture (TSPS) from 1934 to 1938, then Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA) from 1938 to 1939, and then finally just Section of Fine Arts (SFA, located in the newly-created Public Buildings Administration, from 1939 to 1943 .
Oversaw artworks created to enhance public buildings, notably post offices.
Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) (1935)
The smallest of the programs to hire unemployed artists to create public artworks.
Indian Arts and Crafts Board (1935)
Created to promote and protect Indian arts and crafts.
Federal Project Number One (Federal One) (1935)
Created by the WPA to employ artists, writers, historians and other professionals
The largest of the arts programs, with five divisions:
—Federal Art Project (FAP) (1935)
—Federal Music Project (FMP) (1935)
—Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) (1935)
—Federal Theatre Project (FTP) (1935)
—Historical Records Survey (HRS) (1935)
A reorganization in 1939 changed the names of the first three to WPA Arts Program, WPA Music Program and WPA Writers’ Program, eliminated the Theater project, and made the HRS part of the WPA’s Research and Records Program.
Federal Dance Project (1936)
An offshoot of the Federal Theatre Project, created to provide special opportunities for unemployed dancers.
National Youth Administration Dance Group (1936)
A small performing arts division within the NYA.
National Archives and Records Administration (1934)
America’s national repository for historic documents, photographs, and other records.
Historic Sites Act (1935)
Made the conservation of historic sites a responsibility of the National Park Service and gave it power to survey, select and preserve buildings and sites of national significance.
Historical Records Survey (HRS) (1935)
Inventoried federal, state, and local records; work product is used today by historians, researchers, and genealogists.
U.S. Treasury, Public Buildings Branch (PBB) (1933) – called Public Works Branch from 1933-1935, then Public Buildings Branch from 1935-1939
Part of new Procurement Division created to consolidate federal building activities.
Managed the construction and repair of most federal buildings.
Managed Treasury Section of Painting & Sculpture and Treasury Relief Art Project.
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) (1937)
Created by Bonneville Power Act.
Managed electric power grid and sales from the Columbia River project.
Public Buildings Administration (PBA) (1939)
Created under the Reorganization Act of 1939 to manage all federal (non-military) buildings, taking over the work of the U.S. Treasury Procurement Division.
Federal Works Agency (FWA) (1939)
Created under the Reorganization Act of 1939 as an umbrella agency to
administer existing public works programs, including the PWA, WPA, USHA, PRA (BPR), and PBA.
Federal Security Agency (FSA) (1939)
Created under the Reorganization Act of 1939 to manage a number of federal agencies & offices, including the the CCC, the NYA, and the Social Security Board.
Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933, Reauthorized 1938)
Created Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) for price stabilization and income support through government purchases, marketing boards, and land retirement.
Farm Credit Act (1933)
Created Farm Credit Administration (FCA).
Oversight of all farm credit programs & refinancing of farm mortgages.
Electric Home and Farm Authority (1934)
Helped Americans purchase electric appliances; worked in conjunction with the TVA and the Rural Electrification Administration.
Bankruptcy Reform (1934-1938)
Protected farms from creditor repossession; aided distressed cities and towns; reformed business bankruptcies; created more personal bankruptcy options.
Virgin Islands Company (1934)
Rehabilitated the sugar and rum industries of the Virgin Islands; reduced unemployment; provided various farm services and loan programs; coordinated with a homesteading program.
Shelterbelt Project (1934)
A large tree-planting project in the Great Plains, to protect against wind erosion and to provide work for the unemployed.
Resettlement Administration (RA) (1935)
Evolved from earlier emergency relief legislation.
Created planned communities for Americans whose livelihoods had been upturned by the Depression; rehabilitated overused land; made loans to farmers.
Soil Conservation Act (1935)
Created Social Conservation Service (SCS) to help build soil protection and water conservation works, following on success of emergency Soil Erosion Service (SES).
Rural Electrification Act (1936)
Preceded by Executive Order creating Rural Electrification Administration (REA) (1935); brought electric grid to distant rural areas.
Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (1937)
Provided aid to tenant farmers and sharecroppers.
Home Owners’ Loan Act (1933)
Created Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC).
Provided financial assistance to home owners and the mortgage industry.
Alley Dwelling Authority (1934)
Improved housing for low-income residents of Washington, DC.
National Housing Act (1934)
Created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to guarantee mortgages with banks
Created the Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corporation to act like Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (see above) for Savings and Loan institutions.
United States Housing Act (1937)
Created U.S. Housing Authority (USHA) to build public housing.
National Industrial Recovery Act (1933)
Insured the right of workers to organize, provides for a national minimum wage and outlaws child labor.
Wagner-Peyser Act / U.S. Employment Service (1933)
Abolished and then re-formed the U.S. Employment Service (USES) into a more efficient agency; The USES helped reconnect jobless workers to the labor market.
Railroad Retirement Board (1934)
Administers the Railroad Retirement Program, as well as many other benefit programs for rail industry workers.
National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) (1935)
Reaffirmed the right of collective bargaining, with rules and enforcement by a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Social Security Act (1935)
Provided unemployment insurance and social security taxes on payrolls and paychecks.
Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)
Restored rights lost when the National Industrial Recovery Act was overturned by the Supreme Court: minimum wage and no child labor.
National Cancer Institute Act (1937)
Created the National Cancer Institute within the National Institute of Health.
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (1938)
Improved public safety for consumers.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) (1933)
Created under Emergency Conservation Act. Put unemployed, unskilled young men to work on rural and park improvements.
Federal Parks Reorganization (1933)
Transferred all national monuments and battlefields under the National Park Service by Executive Order, as well as federal buildings in Washington D.C.
Shelterbelt Project (1934)
A large tree-planting project in the Great Plains, to protect against wind erosion and to provide work for the unemployed.
Fish & Wildlife Conservation Acts (1934)
Created bird and wildlife refuges on federal land and created a sound funding system for purchasing marginal farmlands for new refuges.
Soil Conservation Act (1935)
Created Social Conservation Service (SCS) to help stop soil erosion and water loss on degraded farmlands, continuing the work of the emergency Soil Erosion Service (SES).
Taylor Grazing Act (1935)
Ended free grazing on federal lands and created regulated grazing districts across the country, administered by a new Grazing Service in the Department of the Interior.
Repeal of Prohibition (1933)
21st amendment to the Constitution approved by Congress, followed by states.
Export-Import Bank (1934)
Created to help facilitate trade with other nations; Began as two banks, consolidated into one in 1936.
Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act (1934)
Led to trade agreements with 19 countries between 1934 and 1939.
Communications Act (1934)
Established Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate radio spectrum.
Robinson-Patman Act (1936)
Also called the “Anti-Price Discrimination Act”; strengthened rules against monopolistic control and pricing (chiefly aimed at chain stores); complemented by Wheeler-Lea Act (1938).
Civil Aeronautics Act (1938)
Established the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA); later split into the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to regulate carriers and the Civil Aeronautics Administration (later, the Federal Aviation Administration) to control air traffic.
Indian Reorganization Act (1934)
Land returned or added to tribal holdings, development of tribal businesses promoted, a system of credit established, a return to self-governance.
Virgin Islands Company (1934)
Rehabilitated the sugar and rum industries of the Virgin Islands; reduced unemployment; provided various farm services and loan programs; coordinated with a homesteading program.
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) (1935)
Large-scale public works program, hired thousands of unemployed men & women, long-lasting improvements to infrastructure, education, health, agricultural land, etc.
Indians in Oklahoma and Native Alaskans (1936)
Extended provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act to these areas.
Civil Rights Section, Department of Justice (1939)
Investigated civil rights and civil liberties violations. Forerunner to today’s Civil Rights Division.
Federal Forum Project (1936)
Brought Americans together to discuss current events and problems.
United States Film Service (1938)
Produced educational and dramatic films about environmental and socio-economic problems. For more information, see our biography of Pare Lorentz.
These summaries are the work of Brent McKee, with assistance from Richard A Walker.
If you spot an error or omission, please write us at i[email protected]
