The WPA also created a program to hire unemployed writers. Individuals working for the Federal Writing Project (FWP) created the Index of American Design, which documented the regional history of American folk arts from colonial times to the end of the 19th century. Writers working for the Historical Records Survey (HRS) cataloged historically significant records of state, county, and local archives. Part of the FWP writers’ work was to write travel guides, which were published for the existing 48 states. The writers for the FWP sought folklore and traditional ballads, and they recorded oral histories, including those documenting former African American slaves working in the 1800s.
Some of the writers to work on these projects later became well-known authors such as Richard Wright, Eudora Welty, Ralph Ellison, and Saul Bellow.
Courtesy of Library of Congress
Courtesy of Library of Congress
Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration
