University of Kentucky

Saving the Commonwealth by Educating its Women: The Works Progress Administration in Kentucky, 1935-1937

Institution

University of Kentucky

Abstract

The Works Progress Administration was implemented in 1935 after a Presidential Mandate by President Roosevelt. President Roosevelt expected the WPA to provide work for the millions of Americans on welfare, while also providing valuable improvements to the communities where these men and women lived. The WPA has been regarded as a failure by many historians because it did not truly modernize most of the country due to lack of funds and President Roosevelt’s fear of deficit spending. In Kentucky, from the program’s inception to 1937, the public and those who sponsored and worked on WPA projects felt quite differently. Based on the Goodman-Paxton Papers, the WPA provided jobs and improvements that would not have otherwise been available. For women, the WPA provided gender specific work. The Training Work Centers, housed in various communities throughout the state and funded by both state and federal money, provided women with the chance to support their families and learn valuable skills. Women learned to sew, make a complete family wardrobe, and learned basic hygiene and family health skills. Women also worked as teachers, educating adults and nursery school children. This service taught Kentuckians to read and write, and gave children an early start on education. In short, the WPA in Kentucky, while not creating social change, provided the mechanisms needed to modernize the state. Not only were women learning how to care for themselves and their families, they were providing services to the state.

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Saving the Commonwealth by Educating its Women: The Works Progress Administration in Kentucky, 1935-1937

The Works Progress Administration was implemented in 1935 after a Presidential Mandate by President Roosevelt. President Roosevelt expected the WPA to provide work for the millions of Americans on welfare, while also providing valuable improvements to the communities where these men and women lived. The WPA has been regarded as a failure by many historians because it did not truly modernize most of the country due to lack of funds and President Roosevelt’s fear of deficit spending. In Kentucky, from the program’s inception to 1937, the public and those who sponsored and worked on WPA projects felt quite differently. Based on the Goodman-Paxton Papers, the WPA provided jobs and improvements that would not have otherwise been available. For women, the WPA provided gender specific work. The Training Work Centers, housed in various communities throughout the state and funded by both state and federal money, provided women with the chance to support their families and learn valuable skills. Women learned to sew, make a complete family wardrobe, and learned basic hygiene and family health skills. Women also worked as teachers, educating adults and nursery school children. This service taught Kentuckians to read and write, and gave children an early start on education. In short, the WPA in Kentucky, while not creating social change, provided the mechanisms needed to modernize the state. Not only were women learning how to care for themselves and their families, they were providing services to the state.