The function of the Civil Works Administration was to provide work for unemployed persons to help them through the winter of 1933-1934. This series documents visually the various state and local projects that were administered in the state of Alabama. The series consists of photographic prints and negatives used to produce a pictorial report of CWA projects in Alabama. The prints used in the report are mounted in two large albums. A separate set of loose duplicate prints arranged to correspond with the albums is also available. The set of loose prints contains a few extra prints that are not included in the albums. The finding aid to the albums notes for which counties extra prints are available. If no negative existed for an extra print, two copies of the print, if available, were retained in the loose print file. The quality of the photography and developing process varies from county to county resulting in clear sharp images for some counties and badly faded ones for others. The photographs are divided into two categories. The first category, contained in Volume I only, consists of aerial views taken for the State Aviation Dept. These images are predominantly views of airport construction at various municipalities but aerial prints of the campus at Auburn University; the Shades Valley Disposal Plant (Birmingham, Ala.); the fish hatchery at Marion, Ala.; and the construction of the levee at Elba, Ala. are also included. The second category of prints found in the rest of Volume I and all of Volume II were taken for the Safety and Compensation Dept. and are arranged alphabetically by county. These photographs document the following projects: road construction and improvements; construction of airports; sanitation improvements; construction and/or maintenance of public buildings such as schools (including colleges and universities), courthouses, tuberculosis sanatoriums, poor or alms houses, and community centers; and "women's industries" such as mattress-making, sign shops, and, in the case of Pickens County, road work. Although the photographs were created to document the various CWA projects, this series as a whole provides an excellent social commentary on Alabama and its citizens in the early 1930s.
