KATHERINE MILHOUS (1894-1977) VISIT PENNSYLVANIA / WHERE PRE - REVOLUTION COSTUMES STILL SURVIVE. Circa 1936. 24x19 inches, 61x48 1/2 cm. Federal Art Project, Pennsylvania. Condition A: minor restoration in margins. The centerpiece of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal program to help America cope with the ravages of the Depression in the 1930s, was the Works Progress Administration, or WPA. The organization, which took the name Works Projects Administration in 1939, put millions of Americans to work at a time when employment was unlikely to be found anywhere else. Primarily involved in the construction of roads and public buildings, the WPA also had an exceptionally active arts branch. The Federal Art Project, as it was known, was established in 1935 and soon existed in all 48 states. The FAP employed over 5,000 artists who were involved with all different aspects of the arts, including murals, sculpture, paintings, prints and posters. WPA 302, Posters for the People p. 74.
