American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA : When FDR Put the Nation to Work (60 page)

Senate passage of works bill:
NYT,
Apr. 6, 1935, 1. FDR signed on train:
NYT,
Apr. 9, 1935, 1.

Hopkins’s diary entry: Schlesinger, vol. 3, 344.

Percentage of labor in CWA, FERA budgets vs. PWA: Charles, 123, 137–38, 139.

FDR quoted: Schlesinger, vol. 3, 344.

Ickes’s illusion of control: Watkins,
Righteous Pilgrim,
397. Structure of work relief apparatus: Sherwood, 69. “Quite a large round table”: Sherwood, 69.

The third unit: Sherwood, 69.

Having decided on this structure: Schlesinger, vol. 3, 344.

Fireside chat: transcript online at New Deal Network: http://newdeal.feri.org/texts/385.htm.

Executive order:
NYT,
May 7, 1935, 13.

“Only a brief paragraph”:
NYT,
May 7, 1935, 13.

Ickes’s dislike of name: Watkins,
Righteous Pilgrim,
397n.

The first meeting: Proceedings of the Advisory Committee on Allotments, vol. 1, FDR Library, FDR Official File OF466f, Box 24; see also McJimsey,
Harry Hopkins,
79–80; Watkins,
Righteous Pilgrim,
398.

Hopkins’s domination of allotment process: Watkins,
Righteous Pilgrim,
399; also Sherwood, 69. Hopkins news conference, July 3, 1935: transcript on New Deal Network.

Sponsorship requirement: Charles, 117.

Ickes memo: FDR Library, FDR official files, Ickes to Roosevelt, June 26, 1936.

First billion-dollar allocation:
NYT,
May 17, 1935, 1.

7. F
ULL
S
PEED
A
HEAD

Schlesinger, vol. 3, 263–90, “The Death of NRA,” covers the events leading up to and including the Supreme Court’s ruling against the NRA. This is the primary source for the summary included here.

Second New Deal: Kennedy, 248n.

Hopkins, Ickes continued feud: Schlesinger, vol. 3, 345–47; Watkins,
Righteous Pilgrim,
399–401. Hopkins diary entry, May 13, 1935: Hopkins papers, Box 51.

WPA administrators: Charles, 129–30. Hopkins quoted: Charles, 129. Staff occupying nine buildings: Charles, 128.

Pace of work: Charles, 128–29. Woodward quoted: Swain, 48.

Puppy episode: Hopkins papers, Box 54.

No way to buy elections: Charles, 175–78.

Instructions to administrators: Charles, 132–33.

Davey and Langer: Frank P. Vazzano, “Harry Hopkins and Martin Davey: Federal Relief and Ohio Politics During the Great Depression,”
Ohio History: The Scholarly Journal of the Ohio Historical Society
96 (1997): 124–39.

National Youth Administration: Charles, 152–53.

25 percent of working women professionals: Cook, 87. Woodward’s frustration, takes over professional projects: Swain, 47–48.

Baker remains over arts: Swain, 104.

Westbrook as advisor: 130; Schlesinger, vol. 3, 352. Harrington recruited as chief engineer: Sherwood, 75.

8. “C
AN
Y
OU
S
PEND
M
ONEY?”

Harry Hopkins’s and Hallie Flanagan’s train trip to Iowa City, Hopkins’s conversation, and Hopkins’s speech are recounted in Flanagan, 8–28.

9. T
HE
D
IRT
F
LIES
: P
RELIMINARIES

WPA projects approved (and PWA projects blocked): Watkins,
Righteous Pilgrim,
399–400. Hopkins quoted: ibid., 400.

McCarl blocking WPA spending:
Jacksonville Journal,
Sept. 3, 1935, 1;
NYT,
Oct. 6, 1935, 3. McCarl profile from
Time,
Apr. 10, 1939. Florida jobs from
Jacksonville Journal,
Sept. 3, 1935, 1.

Hassler trip and quote, Oakland projects approved:
San Francisco Chronicle,
Sept. 15, 1935, 1.

In New York City: Caro, 451–54. Roosevelt quoted on La Guardia: Kessner, 336–37.

New York City receiving one-seventh of WPA funds: Caro, 453. Treated as forty-ninth state: Kessner, 339. Johnson reluctant appointee:
NYT,
June 26, 1935, 1.

Dallas and Dealey Plaza from Web site of the 6th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, jfk.org.

Texas highway plans: Mark Ansley, “Alphabet Agencies: FDR’s Brainstorm,”
Borderlands,
Spring 1994, vol. 12:5, online at www.epcc.edu/nwlibrary/borderlands/12_alphabet_agencies.htm.

Mt. Hood ski lodge: Griffith and Munro. Ft. Myers yacht marina:
Ft. Myers
(Fla.)
News-Press,
Nov. 29, 1936, 1. Hutchinson, Kans., golf course: www.pasturegolf.com/archive/wpa_courses.htm. Idaho Falls airport: Falls Airport Historic District Web site: www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/aviation/ida.htm.

William Webb and the University of Kentucky plans and ultimate use of WPA labor described in Lyons, “WPA Archaeology,” 63–122.

Black children: author’s telephone interview with Love Ingram, Sept. 4, 2001. New Straitsville: “World Famous Mine Fire of New Straitsville,”
Journey Through the Years: New Straitsville Centennial, 1870–1970,
24–38. Hassler:
San Francisco Chronicle,
Sept. 15, 1935, 1; author’s interview with Tom Fleming, Jan. 28, 2001. Lack of airport in New York: Kessner, 432; in Washington, D.C.: Jackson, 47.

Part IV
Folly and Triumph

1. D
EATH OF A
P
OPULIST

The account of Huey Long’s assassination is drawn from Brinkley, 249–50; Schlesinger, vol. 3, 339; Manchester, 116.

FDR lunching with Coughlin, Coughlin quote, Roosevelt’s likely reaction to Long’s death: Schlesinger, vol. 3, 341; Manchester, 117;
NYT,
Sept. 12, 1935, 13.

FDR on Social Security: Schlesinger, vol. 2, 307–9.

Opposition of National Association of Manufacturers, American Medical Association: Schlesinger vol. 2, 311–12; Social Security online at www.ssa.gov/history/1930.htm.

Growing popularity of Townsend Clubs: Kennedy, 225. Signing of Social Security Act and FDR quote:
NYT,
Aug. 15, 1935, 1. Long filibuster: Perkins, 299.

Social Security collection, payment schedule: Kennedy, 271-73.

2. H
OPKINS
A
SCENDANT

Skilled pay:
NYT,
Aug. 8, 1935, 1. White-collar cuts from
NYT,
Aug. 4, 1935, N4.

Meany strike call:
NYT,
Aug. 8, 1935, 1. Projects shut down:
NYT,
Aug. 11, 1935, E1. Young professionals to clean sewers:
NYT,
Sept. 26, 1935, 5.

No home relief:
NYT,
Aug. 10, 1935, 1. Hopkins quote:
NYT,
Aug. 11, 1935, E1.

Meany prediction, results:
NYT,
Aug. 13, 1935, 1.

Striker, non-striker incidents:
NYT,
Sept. 14, 1935, 1; Oct. 5, 1935, 1.

WPA wage tiers:
NYT,
July 30, 1935, 13. Iowa shift from
NYT,
Aug. 11, 1935, p. 14.

Compromise to end strike:
NYT,
Sept. 21, 1935, 14; Sept. 25, 1935, 1; Sept. 26, 1935, 15.

Mick Frank from author interview with daughter Ethel Weiss. Moses, Johnson, La Guardia name-calling over WPA workers:
NYT,
Sept. 11, 1935,1.

Resolution:
NYT,
Sept. 13, 1935, 6.

Hopkins-Ickes feud continues:
NYT,
Sept. 11, 1935, 1; Schlesinger, vol. 3, 347–49. Cartoon appeared Aug. 6, 1936, viewed online: http://library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/cex08.htm.

Hopkins dominance: Schlesinger, vol. 3, 349.

Hopkins’s ulcer: Hopkins diary; cruise plan from Watkins,
Righteous Pilgrim,
408-9.

Cruise recounted: Watkins,
Righteous Pilgrim,
417–18.

Funding logjam broken:
NYT,
Oct. 23, 1935, 1.

3. H
URRICANES AND
P
IPE
D
REAMS

The account of Labor Day hurricane is drawn from sources including
WPA Guide to Florida,
330; Jerry Wilkinson, www.keyshistory.org; Dickson and Allen, 236.

$200,000 for cleanup, Sholtz, Hopkins quoted:
Jacksonville Journal,
Sept. 6, 1935, 1. Reports accurate; Florida Highway Dept. equipment moved: Dickson and Allen, 239, 248. Williams to Florida, “act of God”: Dickson and Allen, 243. Hemingway reaction: ibid., 245.

The rise and fall of the Florida Ship Canal is compiled from newspaper reports including the
NYT, Jacksonville Journal,
and
Ocala Evening Star
. Corps of Engineers interviews posted online at the Army Corps of Engineers Web site, www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/index.htm. First payday from
Ocala Evening Star,
Sept. 18, 1935, 1. Vandenberg pipe-dreaming quote from
Ocala Evening Star,
May 30, 1936, 1. Dragline as plaything from author’s interview with Ray Cunningham, Ocala.

4. A L
ODGE AT THE
T
IMBERLINE

The background and history of Timberline Lodge (as well as its later restoration and its collection of art and furnishings) are covered with loving attention in Rachael Griffin and Sarah Munro’s compilation of information for the Friends of Timberline, entitled simply
Timberline Lodge
. Their material is a major contributor to my accounts of the various stages of the lodge’s development.

Lodge origins: Griffin and Munro, 2–3.

E. J. Griffith background:
Oregon Voter,
July 20, 1935, 10–13.

Sponsorship and sale of bonds: Griffin and Munro, 3.

Approval and funding breakdown: Portland
Sunday Oregonian,
Dec. 15, 1935, 1.

The remainder of the chapter describing the beginning of work on Timberline Lodge is drawn from
Griffin and Munro,
2–6, and from interviews with Linn Forrest and Albert Altorfer in the archives of Friends of Timberline.

5. A N
ATION AT
W
ORK

$7 million on system of dams: statement of Sen. Margaret Chase Smith on the Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project, July 21, 1953, appendix to
Congressional Record,
A4510.

WPA signs: San Diego
Evening Tribune,
Mar. 6, 1936, 1. Moses-Ridder flap:
NYT,
Mar. 13, 1936, 1. Moses allows smaller signs:
New York Herald Tribune,
Mar. 15, 1936, sec. 1, 50.

Hopkins quotes: Sherwood, 52. Ernie Pyle column quoted: Sherwood, 61–62.

Colonel McCormick and
Chicago Tribune
: Kennedy, 404–5.

Tribune
editorial: Sherwood, 81. Pictured: Sherwood, 82.

Hastings-McKellar exchange:
NYT,
Mar. 11, 1936, 10.

New York
Sun
’s “Today’s Boon-Doggle” from National Archives clip files.

Randall’s Island stadium cost:
New York Herald Tribune,
Aug. 21, 1935, sec. I, 13. Bridge cost: Caro, 392. Moses controls Triborough Bridge Authority in 1934: Caro, 62. Ceremony: Caro, 441–43;
New York Sun,
Aug. 20, 1936, 1.

Shoe repair criticism, Robinson’s response:
NYT,
Mar. 11, 1936, 10.

FDR quoted:
NYT,
Jan. 19, 1936, 1.

Mt. Airy, N.C., lake: Syracuse N.Y.
Post Standard,
Sept. 13, 1936, 1. Butte ice rink:
Montana Standard,
May 15, 1938, 14.

Self-policing: Charles, 136. W-men and Dort quoted:
NYT,
Oct. 23, 1935, 6. 4 percent of total spending:
Oregon Journal,
Apr. 7, 1936, 21.

FDR State of the Union transcript: New Deal Network, newdeal.feri.org/speeches/1936a.htm.

Background of AAA court case, Supreme Court ruling: Schlesinger, vol. 3, 471–72.

WPA rolls, Hopkins quote: Hopkins news conference, Jan. 9, 1936, New Deal Network, newdeal.feri.org/workrelief/hop16.htm.

“You can pity six men…”: H. Hopkins, 111.

6. K
ENTUCKY’S
P
ACKHORSE
L
IBRARY

Women 22 percent of workforce: Swain, 54–55.

Kentucky library spending: Florence H. Ridgway,
Developments in Library Service in Kentucky, A Review
(Berea, Ky.: Kentucky Library Association, Berea College Press, 1940), 8.

Bookmobile
origin dates to 1926 in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.

Role of John C. C. Mayo: Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer,
Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
95, 1 (winter 1997): 62.

Role of Fullerton, Nofcier: ibid., 65.

The account of Grace Caudill Overbee’s (later Grace Caudill Lucas) life with Taylor Overbee and as a packhorse librarian: author’s telephone interviews with her and her son Richard Overbee, Jan. 3 and 7, 2002.

Packhorse librarians, Eastern Kentucky library distribution figures: NARA, RG 69, Series 743, Box 1, WPA Div. of Information, “WPA Traveling Libraries.”

Extent of WPA traveling library services: Edward A. Chapman, “WPA and Rural Libraries,”
Bulletin of the American Library Association
32, 10 (Oct. 1, 1938): 703, online at New Deal Network: http://newdeal.feri.org/texts/216.htm.

7. T
HE
1936 C
AMPAIGN

Veto overturned, $1.1 billion to vets, contrast with Hoover: Dickson and Allen, 253–55.

Hoover call for “holy crusade”: Schlesinger, vol. 3, 545. Landon “the everyday American”: ibid., 601.

Democratic convention, FDR acceptance, crowd reaction: ibid., 585.

WPA stood for: author interview with Juliet Segal, July 14, 2006. “Comfort shovel” from
The Morning Herald,
Uniontown, Penn., May 21, 1936, 1.

Johnny Mills: author’s interview, Nov. 30, 2002. Republicans running WPA: Schlesinger, vol. 3, 591.

Hopkins quote:
NYT,
Aug. 21, 1936, 6. Reduced role in campaign: Schlesinger, vol. 3, 587. “Not one person is to be laid off…”: ibid., 590.

Landon move further to right: ibid., 623–24. Social Security “cruel hoax”: ibid., 614. Conservative papers’ treatment of FDR,
Chicago Tribune
banning FDR news from front page, Hearst front-page editorial: ibid., 633.