Minnesota Works Progress Administration

The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was established in July, 1935, as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal agency responsible for operating a wide variety of "socially useful" work-relief programs. The WPA was renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939 and was transferred, along with several other relief agencies, to the newly created Federal Works Agency. After the United States entered World War II, the FWP was renamed the Writers' Unit of the WPA's War Services Division. Its projects were liquidated, along with the other remaining WPA programs, in July, 1943.

Writers' projects were organized in states throughout the country, including Minnesota, as work-relief programs for unemployed white-collar professional workers such as authors, lawyers, ministers, journalists, librarians, and teachers. These workers presumably possessed one skill in common, their writing ability, and could, therefore, be classified as "unemployed writers." These state projects originally were directed from the national level by WPA-appointed state directors; the projects came under state control in 1939 when the directors began to be appointed by the governors.

The Federal Writers' Project best known work, the American Guide Series, consisted of separate guides for each state, principal cities, counties and their towns, and major highways. In addition to the guides, the state projects issued articles, pamphlets, books, and monographs on many aspects of American life, including history, folklore, nature, geography, and ethnic groups.

The Minnesota Federal Writers' Project began in November, 1935. During its seven-year existence it issued a number of publications, including a state guide and several county and municipal histories. In addition to these endeavors, there were a number of works in progress, including the Annals of Minnesota, when the Minnesota FWP was discontinued late in 1942. For additional information on the accomplishments and activities of the Minnesota Federal Writers' Project see "Achievements of the Minnesota Writers' Project of the W.P.A. (The Final Report)," [1942], which precedes the Annals on rolls 1, 46, and 132.

From the guide to the Writers Project Research Notes, Minnesota Works Progress Administration collection., ca. 1935-1943., (Minnesota Historical Society)