American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA : When FDR Put the Nation to Work (64 page)

Description of cartoon: McJimsey,
Harry Hopkins,
103; pictured in Charles, opposite 123.

7. C
HANGES IN THE
W
IND

FTP response to Dies: Flanagan, 338.

FWP response and Hopkins quoted in Mangione, 307–8. Woodward to testify and Niles’s insistence: Flanagan, 339. Probable factors: Swain, 129.

Woodward appearance before committee: Swain, 129–30; Flanagan, 339–40.

Description of Flanagan testimony: Flanagan, 340–42.

Flanagan despair for 8,000 employees: ibid., 342.

Starnes “subsided”: ibid. Other examples of committee’s ignorance: Saunders, 237.

Thomas quoted: Flanagan, 345–46.

Alsberg called, testimony: Mangione, 315.

Alsberg testimony: ibid., 317.

Committee report on FTP: Flanagan, 347. Single paragraph: Brandt, 237.

Gallup poll: Mangione, 321. Increased budget: Brandt, 235.

8. C
AN
A
NYBODY
S
PARE A
H
OT
S
CHOOL
L
UNCH?

More than 5,000 children:
Washington Times,
Dec. 21, 1938, 20.

Eleanor Roosevelt support of school lunch program: Watkins,
Hungry Years,
265.

My reporting about the WPA’s hot school lunch program in Washington, D.C., and throughout the United States was gathered primarily from news clippings at NARA, RG 69, Records of the Division of Information, Box 186 (Women’s Hot Lunches). I failed, however, to record references to individual papers, dates, and pages except where these are mentioned in the text. I also used speeches written for delivery by WPA deputy administrator Ellen S. Woodward, “The Lasting Values of the WPA” and “Hot Lunches for a Million School Children,” both from NARA, RG 69, Series 737, Box 8. These can be viewed online at newdeal.feri.org/works/wpa01.htm and newdeal.feri.org/works/wpa02.htm.

Lunches in New York City schools:
NYT,
May 18, 1939, 27.

9. T
HE
D
EATH OF THE
T
HEATER

Woodrum position and quote: Mangione, 322.

Flanagan optimism, letter to Woodrum: Flanagan, 348.

Paid investigators, Burton: ibid., 348–49.

FTP income: ibid., 338.

Planting evidence about the FWP: Mangione, 323.

Cannon recounted re: FWP: ibid., 324; re: FTP: Flanagan, 350–51.

Relief appropriation bill, no fight for FTP: ibid., 352–53.

Flanagan fights on, Atkinson quote: ibid., 354–55.

Fight in Senate, Bankhead: ibid., 355–61.

House unyielding, FDR signs bill: ibid., 362–63.

Last FTP performances,
Pinocchio
: ibid., 364–65.

10. A D
IFFERENT
P
LAYING
F
IELD

Reorganization pursued: Burns, 344–46. Bill passed:
NYT,
Mar. 23, 1931, 1.

Plan described in FDR message to Congress on “Reorganization Plan No. 1,” Apr. 25, 1939:
NYT,
Apr. 26, 1939, 1. Replacement of PWA and Carmody over Ickes: Watkins,
Righteous Pilgrim,
587.

Ickes quoted in Watkins,
Righteous Pilgrim,
587. Harrington on reorganization: Harrington press conference, Apr. 20, 1939, NARA, RG 69, Series 737, Box 3, online at New Deal Network: newdeal.feri.org/texts/812.htm.

Harrington view of arts projects: Mangione, 329. State sponsors, Newsom appointment and aim: ibid., 330–33. Kellock quoted in ibid., 327.

Bellevue Hospital anecdote: O’Connor, 63–64.

Statue of Liberty:
NYT,
Aug. 29, 1937, rotogravure sect., 128; Sept. 4, 1938, sect. 11, 1; Dec. 14, 1938, 29. Aquatic Park from
San Francisco News,
Jan. 31, 1939. San Antonio River Walk: “Maury Maverick’s San Antonio,”
Survey Graphic
28, 7 (July 1939): 421 (newdeal.feri.org/texts/367.htm). Ernie Pyle:
Washington News,
Dec. 18, 1939, 27.

North Beach history: Kessner, 433. La Guardia insistence: ibid., 432. New York City projects:
The WPA Guide to New York City
: 560. Groundbreaking:
NYT,
Sept. 10, 1937, 25. See also La Guardia Airport online fact sheet: www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/airports/html/lg_facts.htm.

Airport construction, features: Kessner, 432–35.

Clifford Ferguson from author’s interview, Jan. 2002.

Materials, figures, and difference between blueprints and actual work: Kessner, 433.

Crowd at dedication:
NYT,
Oct. 16, 1939, 1.

Jobs for air hostesses:
NYT,
Oct. 17, 1939, 27. Training school:
NYT,
Nov. 7, 1939, 2.

First arrival:
NYT,
Dec. 2, 1939, 1. Named by Board of Estimate:
NYT,
Nov. 3, 1939, 18. Newark closed to commercial traffic:
NYT,
May 31, 1940, 17. Busiest in world:
NYT,
Dec. 1, 1940, Travel and Recreation sec. XX1.

La Guardia quoted: Kessner, 434.

New York World’s Fair: ibid., 435–39. Descriptions of WPA pavilion: photo files online at New Deal Network: Photo Library, Issues and Events, Exhibitions, New York World’s Fair, 1939.

The onset of WWII and the reign of isolationist sentiment are covered in period histories including Burns, 384–422; Kennedy, 381–464; Leuchtenberg,
FDR,
197–298.

Potential effect on WPA from Hunter news conference: Aug. 31, 1939, NARA, RG 69, Series 737, Box 6, online at newdeal.feri.org/texts/814.htm.

Part VIII
WPA
:
War Preparation Agency

1. N
O
M
ILITARY
W
ORK

No military spending: Schlesinger, vol. 3, 270.

Borah responsible: ibid. Vote on Treaty of Versailles: Black, 77. Vote on League of Nations: ibid., 343. Passage of Neutrality Act of 1935: Burns, 253–56. Nye hearings: www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/merchants_of_death.htm.

Ludlow amendment: Black, 430; Kennedy, 402–3; Leuchtenberg,
FDR,
229–30.

Quarantine speech: transcript in
NYT,
Oct. 6, 1937, 1.

“most momentous utterance”:
Washington Post,
Oct. 6, 1937, 1. FDR quoted: Kennedy, 406; Manchester, 175.

Hopkins mission: Sherwood, 100; Manchester, 178.

Arnold flight: www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Air_Power/Hap_Arnold/AP16.htm. 8,000 planes: Manchester, 178. Needs of military, Hopkins quote: Sherwood, 100.

Aviation research money, 440-mph Heinkel:
NYT,
Dec. 18, 1938, Resorts/Aviation/Travel sec., 129.

Hopkins San Francisco remarks:
San Francisco Examiner,
Sept. 21, 1938, 28. WPA funds to make machine tools: Sherwood, 101.

Johnson to FDR correspondence, FDR to Hopkins, basics of training plan: FDR Library.

2. T
HE
P
ICATINNY
A
RSENAL

The account of the WPA’s work on the Picatinny Arsenal and the installation’s history and background is taken largely from John W. Rae’s
Images of America
:
Picatinny Arsenal
(Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 1999).

Early WPA defense requests:
NYT,
July 11, 1935, 3; July 13, 1935, 4; July 17, 1935, 28; July 20, 1935, 3; Aug. 15, 1935, 6.

3. R
ACE AND
I
SOLATIONISM

Axis formed: Burns, 353.

Panay
incident: Kennedy, 402; Black, 427–28; Manchester, 173–74.

Fall of Nanking: Kennedy, 401.

Nuremberg Laws: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/nurlaws.htm. Kristallnacht: Manchester, 178. Heydrich instructions: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Heydrichkristal.htm. Figures: Louis L. Snyder,
Encyclopedia of the Third Reich
(New York: Paragon House, 1989), 201.

“insidious wiles of foreign influence”: Washington’s farewell address, posted online at the Government Printing Office Web site, www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/farewell/sd106-21.pdf.

Domestic anti-Semites: Leuchtenberg,
FDR,
275–77. Coughlin quoted in Manchester, 176. Eight hundred groups:
Survey Graphic
28, 2 (Feb. 1939): 113.

Slurs on FDR and ER: Manchester, 164–65.

Lindbergh background, life in Europe, and visit to Germany: PBS American Experience Web site, www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lindbergh/sfeature/index.htm.

German service cross to Lindbergh: Black, 467. To Ford:
NYT,
July 31, 1938, 1.

Lindbergh return to United States: PBS American Experience Web site, www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lindbergh/sfeature/fallen/html. Radio speech:
NYT,
Sept. 16, 1939, 1; Black, 533–34.

Second radio speech:
NYT,
Oct. 15, 1939, 45.

Fireside chat: FDR Library, online at www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/090339.htm.

Poll results: Kennedy, 427.
Reader’s Digest
: PBS American Experience Web site, www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lindbergh/sfeature/fallen.htm.

Neutrality Act repeal: Black, 537; Leuchtenberg,
FDR,
295; Gilbert, 25.

4. H
OLD THE
J
OKES
, P
LEASE

Aquatic Park nail joke:
San Francisco News,
Jan. 31, 1939.

Two years on WPA joke:
Time,
Mar. 20, 1939.

Joke ban:
NYT,
Mar. 8, 1939, 23.

Network play ban:
NYT,
July 22, 1940, 22.

Hydrants:
Brooklyn Eagle,
Nov. 4, 1938, 9.

WPA fingerprinting projects:
Indianapolis News,
Dec. 21, 1937, 6;
Indianapolis Star,
Feb. 1, 1938, sect. I, 1; New Orleans
Item,
Mar. 12, 1942,1.

Hopkins’s resistance to fingerprinting: Hopkins news conference, Apr. 28, 1938. Never voted: Harrington obituary,
Washington Post,
Oct. 1, 1940, 1.

Fingerprint objections: Teachers’ Union,
The Nation,
Jan. 21, 1939, 103.

Halloran refusal:
Philadelphia Record,
Mar. 12, 1939, sect. 2, 3.

Merendino:
New York Post,
Apr. 9, 1940, 14.

5. P
INK
S
LIPS AND
P
INKOS

Determination to “fix” WPA: Kennedy, 349;
NYT,
Jan. 15, 1939, 1.

Ban on political activities:
NYT,
Mar. 10, 1939, 2.

Harrington news conference: Mar. 9, 1939, transcript in NARA, RG 69, Series 373, Box 3, online at New Deal Network: newdeal.feri.org/texts/810.htm.

Hatch Act:
NYT,
Aug. 3, 1939, 1.

Security wage attributed to Harrington:
NYT,
July 12, 1939, 1.

Work stoppages:
NYT,
July 6, 1939, 1.

Effects of new wage scales:
NYT,
July 6, 1939, 1.

Harrington news conference July 6, 1939: transcript in NARA, RG 69, Series 373, Box 3, posted online at New Deal Network: newdeal.feri.org/texts/813.htm.

Somervell on strikes and strikes ending:
NYT,
July 8, 1939, 1; July 12, 1939, 1; July 21, 1940, 1.

Loyalty oath:
NYT,
June 29, 1939, 12. Harrington response: July 6, 1939, news conference.

Workers Alliance to take pledge, Morgan quote:
NYT,
June 29, 1939, 12. Lasser would resign:
NYT,
June 20, 1940, 16.

Sixty-six not signing loyalty pledge:
NYT,
Oct. 26, 1939, 14.

August Henkel:
NYT,
July 7, 1940, 4; www.damninteresting.com/?p=321; Robert Atkins, “Time Line,”
Art Journal
50, 3 (fall 1991): 34;
NYT,
Apr. 9, 2006, sec. 14, 1, 8.

6. B
EFORE THE
D
ELUGE
(V
INCENT
J
AMES
“J
IMMY”
B
ONANNO)

Jimmy Bonanno’s story comes primarily from interviews conducted with him by the author, Jan. 26, 2002, and July 14, 2004. His account of the fire at Hangar 4 at La Guardia Field is supplemented by
NYT,
Mar. 6, 1940, 1.

7. A “H
URRICANE OF
E
VENTS”

The events leading up to World War II, and the details of the war itself, are widely known and in little dispute. I have relied primarily on Martin Gilbert’s exhaustive
The Second World War
:
A Complete History
for the details of the conflict provided here and through the remainder of the book.

Non-aggression pact: Kennedy, 425. Leaflet bombing: Gilbert, 46. Borah quoted in Burns, 408.

Hopkins’s health: McJimsey,
Harry Hopkins,
126–28.

Garner, Hull, Farley, FDR’s third-term calculations, onset of war: Burns, 407–20.

Germany’s invasion of Belgium, Netherlands: Gilbert, 61. Churchill replaces Chamberlain:
NYT,
May 11, 1940, 1.

Churchill speech: online at www.winstonchurchill.org.

FDR to Churchill quoted in Black, 532. “Like matchwood” quoted in Burns, 419. British needs: Black, 551.

FDR speech:
NYT,
May 17, 1940, 10.

Fireside chat: transcript, http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/052640.htm.

Lindbergh quoted in Black, 552. Vandenberg:
NYT,
May 17, 1940, 15. Telegrams to White House: Levine and Levine, 301, 302.

Destroyers: Black, 551.

Evacuation: Gilbert, 83. Smallest craft: Association of Dunkirk Little Ships Web site, www.adls.org.uk.

Churchill speech, arms to England: Black, 554–55.

German advance across Somme, taking Paris, French surrender: Gilbert, 86–101.

FDR quoted in ibid., 90.

“Hurricane of events” in Burns, 419.

8. R
IGID
P
RIORITIES

Harrington to WPA administrators:
NYT,
June 7, 1940, 14.