In 2020, the Living New Deal NYC Chapter began a collaboration with the NYC Parks to install new signage at New York City public facilities that were built in 1930s by New Deal agencies. Limited evidence remains today of the… read more
JOIN US! “The New Deal Artistry of Jo Mora” Tuesday, January 18, 5pm PST Adventurer, author and artist of the American West, Jo Mora worked as a cowboy, a guard on a Mexican railroad, and lived with the Hopi in… read more
Living New Deal Advisor June Hopkins, the granddaughter of key New Dealer Harry Hopkins, participated in a panel discussion with other descendants of the original F.D.R. Cabinet and Brain Trust descendants during a conference titled, “The New Deal Then and… read more
The Free Library of Philadelphia is hosting a New Deal exhibit called “For the Greatest Number: The New Deal Revisited.” Co-curated by Laura Stroffolino, who is Print and Picture Collection Curator, and and Caitlin Goodman, Curator of the Rare Book Department,… read more
In every state, volunteers equipped with the Living New Deal’s new mobile app are sending us their New Deal discoveries. Our online New Deal map and database document 17,000 New Deal sites. We believe we’ve just scratched the surface! Our website draws… read more
“The New Deal and Far-Right Extremism: Saving the Republic”Featuring: Kevin Baker, author and historian Wednesday, March 24, 7:00pm EDT7:00pm Eastern/4:00pm Pacific RSVP A link to the webinar will be provided upon registering. Please join us for a Living New Deal… read more
View the Conversation A recording of Tuesday’s luncheon is available here. We hope you find it as fascinating at we did. Please share with anyone who might be interested! NCAC’s virtual luncheon explored the various approaches to resolving tensions around… read more
By Betty Rivard, Charleston, WV Over 1500 documentary photographs were taken by ten professional photographers in West Virginia between 1934 and 1943. These photographs continue to be exhibited, published, and referenced in discussions to this day. Beginning in 2006, the West… read more
Evan Kalish, Postlandia founder and Living New Deal researcher at large published a post about the recent USPS Officials order to cover historic murals in 12 states. Kalish writes that, “[i]nternal emails obtained via the Freedom of Information Act reveal that… read more
Rose Aguilar spoke with Living New Deal’s Gray Brechin and Richard A Walker for the May 14 edition of Your Call on KALW. Walker and Brechin reflect on the state of the country and the unfolding crisis to argue it’s… read more
Gray Brechin was interviewed by By Patrick Sisson for a Curbed story titled, “Stimulus isn’t enough. Our cities need a post-pandemic New Deal.” Reflecting on the current crisis, Brechin noted that, “advocates and boosters of the New Deal constantly spoke of ‘increasing… read more
Dear Friends of the Living New Deal, Like you, we’re rattled. As of today at midnight, the 7 million people living in the Bay Area were put under “lock down” to arrest the spread of the corona virus. Schools, shops,… read more
Dear Friends of the Living New Deal, Like you, we’re rattled. As of today at midnight, the 7 million people living in the Bay Area were put under “lock down” to arrest the spread of the corona virus. Schools, shops,… read more
Update: The Fri., March 6, 6-8pm – Opening Reception will take place as scheduled. We will not to serve food this event, but will provide wine, beer, and water.We will also provide soap/water and hand sanitizer.An update about the March 20… read more
We are thrilled to welcome Teresa Ghilarducci to the Living New Deal NYC branch’s Advisory Council. A labor economist and nationally-recognized expert in retirement security, Ghilarducci is the Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz Professor of Economics at the New School for… read more
Aymar Embury II, prolific Architect of the New Deal in New York City, created some of the City’s best known features, and nobody knows. To find out more about Embury’s built legacy read this essay by Living New Deal associate, Frank… read more
Join our campaign to save the historic WPA murals at the George Washington High School in San Francisco. The members of the SF School Board have voted on June 27 to destroy the murals. The Guardian, the New York Times, and… read more
Women and the Spirit of the New Deal highlights the extensive role of women in the programs and operations of the New Deal under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was prepared for a two-day conference, “Women and the Spirit of… read more
Tell Us About Your Favorite New Deal Site Does a Shelf of Books Qualify as Public Works? My favorite WPA project isn’t a road or a bridge or even a school. It’s not a library, but you’re getting warmer. The… read more
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was accomplished in many pursuits, but, according to the New Yorker, other than scrambled eggs she couldn’t cook worth beans. To show solidarity with those suffering during the Great Depression, upon moving in to the White… read more
WPA artist Victor Arnautoff’s controversial mural, “Life of Washington,” has been a lightning rod for controversy ever since it was completed in 1936. The 1600-foot fresco covering the walls and ceiling of the main entryway at San Francisco’s George Washington… read more
Oregon national associate Judith Kenny and videographers Logan Duello and Alex Hilton recently produced a short video on the five Public Works Administration (PWA) bridges that completed the Oregon Coast Highway (Hwy 101). The five bridges serve the southwest coast… read more
The Legacy of the New Deal in The Inglewood, CA Post Office The Daily Breeze has published a piece on the New Deal-funded bas-reliefs that have enlivened the Inglewood post office since the New Deal era. Read the whole piece… read more
Tuesday, November 15, 2022 5pm-6pm PST (8pm EST)with Barbara Bernstein The New Deal didn’t just decorate post offices. It celebrated them. Murals, bas reliefs and sculptures depict letters being written, mailed, sorted, transported, delivered, read and shared. These artworks are… read more
Ruth Gottstein, 1922-2022 A lifelong activist and champion of New Deal art, Ruth Gottstein, daughter of New Deal artist Bernard Zakheim, died on August 30 at age 100. Ruth vividly recalled accompanying her father, a founder of the San Francisco… read more
Over fifty years before the Americans with Disabilities Act, the New Deal undertook the first major federal effort to aid citizens with physical and mental challenges. Between 1933 and 1943, mainly through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), thousands of New… read more
The federal government began taxing marijuana in 1937 after Harry Anslinger, commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, testified to a Congressional committee that smoking marijuana “produces in it users insanity, criminality and death.” H.R. 6385, The Marihuana Tax Act,… read more
Tell Us About Your Favorite New Deal Site Send us a first-person story of 100 (or so) words describing the site and why you chose it. Submissions will appear in future issues of The Fireside! Be sure to include a photo… read more