United States. Federal Emergency Relief Administration

In order to counteract the effects of the Depression, the Federal Government founded numerous agencies geared at lowering unemployment and boosting the economy. Among these were the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), created on May 12, 1933; the Civil Works Administration (CWA), established on November 9, 1933; and the Works Progress Administration (WPA-1), established on May 6, 1935. The Civil Works Administration was abolished in March, 1934, with its functions and records transferred to the emergency Work Relief Program of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. The following year (1935), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration transferred its records and some of its personnel to the Works Progress Administration, which inherited responsibility for the work relief program. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration continued to function until its expiration in December, 1935. The Works Progress Administration operated without change until 1939, at which time the President's Reorganization Plan No.I made it a part of the Federal Works Agency, changing its name to Work Projects Administration (WPA). The Work Projects Administration was abolished on June 30, 1943.