A Clergyman Expresses Concerns about the New Deal (with text supports)
In September 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a letter to clergymen across the United States, asking them whether conditions in their communities had improved since the start of the New Deal. This was one of over 100,000 responses he [...]
A WPA Worker is Ready to Fight (with text supports)
This letter was written to Harry Hopkins, who was then head of the Works Progress Administration. Between 1935 and 1943, when it was terminated, the W.P.A. was the nation's largest employer; in March 1936, W.P.A. rolls included over 3,400,000 [...]
A Utah Observer Praises the CCC (with text supports)
In this letter to a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) recruitment center in Salt Lake City, Utah, a local official describes the positive impact of the program on enrolled youth. This version includes text supports such as definitions.
A Citizen Sees Socialism and Communism in the New Deal (with text supports)
This letter to Senator Robert F. Wagner describes the author's fears that New Deal policies will lead the nation on the path to socialism, communism, or fascism. This version includes text supports such as definitions.
An African American Describes Why New Deal Relief Is Not Reaching the Black Community (with text supports)
In this letter, an African American in Georgia anonymously writes to Franklin D. Roosevelt to tell how discrimination in his community means that black citizens are not receiving the relief they are entitled to under New Deal programs. This version [...]
Workers Ask for the Continuation of the W.P.A. (with text supports)
In this letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Works Progress Administration workers in Michigan ask him to continue the program, claiming that it makes them feel more American. This version includes tax supports.
President Roosevelt Seeks Feedback on New Deal Programs
In 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent this letter to clergymen around the country. He received over 100,000 responses from priests, rabbis, and ministers serving diverse congregations that varied by geography, size, religious views, and [...]
A White-Collar Worker Calls the New Deal "Downright Stealing"
Conservative critics of the New Deal disliked the new regulations on businesses and feared the long-term consequences of deficit spending, which they likened to socialism and the end of freedom. Some also expressed nativist or racist feelings that [...]
A Citizen Opposes Social Security
In this letter to first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, an American protests the Social Security program, created two years earlier. For Social Security, the federal government took money out of working people’s paychecks in order to create a fund that [...]
A Clergyman Encourages a Bolder New Deal (with text supports)
In September 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a letter to clergyman across the United States, asking them whether conditions in their communities had improved since the start of the New Deal. He was particularly interested in people's [...]