The 21st Century Federal Writers Project
Be An #ArtsHero stands in full solidarity with the 21st Century Federal Writers Project, which was introduced to the U.S. House by Rep. Leger Fernandez (D-NM) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) .
The 21st-Century Federal Writers’ Project Act (H.R.3054), has been introduced by Rep. Leger Fernandez and Rep. Ted Lieu (CA) , employing thousands of writers to chronicle this pandemic moment and craft a cohesive national narrative to educate, unify, and inspire the nation.
The historical Federal Writers Project
The Federal Writers' Project was created in 1935 as part of the United States Work Progress Administration to provide employment for historians, teachers, writers, librarians, and other white-collar workers. Originally, the purpose of the project was to produce a series of sectional guide books under the name American Guide, focusing on the scenic, historical, cultural, and economic resources of the United States.
Eventually new programs were developed, integrating rural and urban folklore, including individual narratives and life histories; studies of customs of social and ethnic groups, and testimony of the formerly enslaved —creating the “Slave Narratives” which preserved the first person accounts and photos of 2,300 people who were formerly enslaved.
Other narratives chronicle vivid life stories of Americans who lived at the turn of the century and include tales of meeting Billy the Kid, surviving the 1871 Chicago fire, pioneer journeys out West, grueling factory work, and the immigrant experience. Writers hired by this Depression-era work project included Ralph Ellison, Nelson Algren, May Swenson, and many others.