Robin Freeman
In, perhaps, 2015, I attended a lecture by Grey Brechin which inspired me to put together a string of my experiences which illustrated the profound effect the New Deal has had on my life and how it had been largely… read more
NEW DEAL STORIES COLLECTED BY THE LIVING NEW DEAL
Carl F Murray: Farm security Adminstration and NYA Worker
I moved to Cherry Lake when I was seven years old, in 1935. My Dad worked for Government program called National Youth Administration (NYA). Youths were brought from cities. The young men were taught to be Carpenters, farming, take the of… read more
Ada MacLean Barker: Social Worker and Advocate for the WPA Relief Effort in Georgia. Story by Leslie Larson
ADA MACLEAN BARKER, my grand aunt, spent her social worker career fighting for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief effort in Georgia. Inspired by Hull House in Chicago, she got a degree in social work and spent her career in… read more
Edward Sweeney – CCC Enrollee
My father Edward Sweeney, and his two little brothers, were orphaned when their parents died in the flu pandemic of 1920. He was 2 years old. His single Aunt Kate Shea (later Tighe), picked up the boys from Pennsylvania, and… read more
Wallace Rider Farrington High School, by Theresa Schubert
If you want the complete, accurate history, of a New Deal site: Wallace Rider Farrington High School, I implore you to reach out to our alumni historian, Mr. Al Torco. He is a living legend—my fear is that he will… read more
Louis Schanker (1903-1981) – Artist and Supervisor in the NYC-WPA, by Lou Siegel
We enjoy your website. We are the estate of Louis Schanker. (1903-1981) He was an artist and supervisor in the NYC-WPA. Schanker did the mural at the WNYC studios on the 25th floor of the Municipal building (still there); a… read more
Isidore Horowitz, by Dr. Laura Hapke
During the Second New Deal, a revolution in aid to working people was born. The Social Security Act brought my uncle, Isidore Horowitz, a migrant from Lithuania (then under anti-semitic Russian rule) to tears. He was unemployed, in his thirties,… read more
Arthur Stanley MacArthur – National Youth Administration, by Alison McIntyre
My father, Arthur Stanley MacArthur, worked for the National Youth Administration from 1939 until a few weeks after Pearl Harbor when he was transferring to another agency. He was on his way to an appointment when he had a heart… read more
Ann Hawkins
My father and his two brothers left Ohio when they were in the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. They road the rails to CA and joined the CCC, sending home $75 apiece each month in order to support their families… read more
Elizabeth Martin and A.C. Allen – By Mary Allen Hall
My parents, Elizabeth Martin and A.C. Allen met each other while working in the NYA program in Newton, Alabama in 1938. My mother was from Enterprise, Alabama and was a recent graduate of Alabama College in Montevallo, Alabama. My dad… read more