America's Great Depression and Roosevelt's New Deal

National Parks

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Electricians from Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation, Shallotte, NC

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9. HOGBACK OVERLOOK. VIEW OF ROAD APPROACH FROM THE SOUTH, MILE 21. - Skyline Drive, From Front Royal, VA to Rockfish Gap, VA , Luray, Page County, VA

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, DC 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. (http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html)

Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey

FDR’s 3 Rs -- Relief, Reform, and Recovery -- aimed not only to alleviate the hardships of the Depression at the time he implemented them, but also to safeguard against any recurring financial disasters at the scale of the Great Depression: to make America a better, safer place for its citizens. The programs FDR implemented, therefore, had long-lasting effects on America’s social, cultural, infrastructural, and economic landscapes. The legacy of the New Deal comprised both an escape from the harsh economic realities of Great Depression and a gradual shift in the structure of government agencies and national projects, the legacy of which still endures today.
Among the changes prompted by the New Deal, those with the most notable lingering effects are those for which we can still see physical evidence: utilities, transportation, and national parks. Projects overseen by the Works Progress Administration, the Rural Electrification Administration, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Civilian Conservation Corps contributed to the large-scale reemployment efforts of the New Deal, yet the work their employees performed remains integral to the American landscape as we know it today.

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Part of a cast-iron gate at the Cascade Dining Room of Timberline Lodge, built and furnished by Works Progress Administration laborers and artists during the Great Depression on the slopes of Mount Hood, Oregon

Highsmith, Carol M., 1946- (photographer)

Highsmith, Carol M., 1946- Carol M. Highsmith Archive.

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Poster for a father and son banquet, sponsored by the Chicago Urban League, at the Savoy Ballroom.

The New Deal's Legacy

What happened?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Depression-Era President

Relief Programs

Recovery Programs

Relief and Recovery Workers

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View of development on Cherokee Indian Reservation from the Blue Ridge Parkway Bridge, 1964.

Clemson University Libraries; Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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Perhaps some of the most significant and long-lasting projects undertaken by New Deal agencies are those that facilitated transportation by creating and improving America’s infrastructural systems. Among the work done by the PWA and WPA, several projects aimed at increasing the ease of transportation within the US stand out for the extent to which their legacies outlasted the New Deal itself.
The PWA worked on over 11,000 road projects during its 10 years of operation. These projects include New York’s Triborough Bridge and Lincoln Tunnel. The Agency’s reach was not limited to road; the PWA is also responsible for electrifying the Pennsylvania Railroad along parts of the East Coast. The WPA also produced a number of projects that not only employed workers in dire need of employment, but also continue to this day to facilitate transportation in the US. From parkways to airports, these projects spurred economic development both during and after their construction, and have come to define American infrastructure in the time since the New Deal.

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APPROACH, ENTRANCE AND VENTILATION TOWERS OF THE LINCOLN TUNNEL, NEW JERSEY LOOKING SOUTHWEST - Lincoln Tunnel, Under Hudson River from New Jersey to West Thirty-ninth Street, New York City, New York, New York County, NY

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PERSPECTIVE VIEW FROM NORTHWEST - Siuslaw River Bridge, Spanning Siuslaw River at Oregon Coast Highway, Florence, Lane County, OR

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3/4 VIEW FROM N. - Possum Kingdom Stone Arch Bridge, Spanning Brazos River at State Route 16, Graford, Palo Pinto County, TX

America's Great Depression and Roosevelt's New Deal

Transportation

Transportation