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4-2110
FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY
WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
For Rel eas e to Newspape rs
Su.nd2.y , ibrch 24 , 1940 .
VITA COiiPLETES ACCOMPLISHi:rENT REPORT fiITH HEALTH AND EDUCATION
SERVICES REACHHiG MILLIONS t CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES REVIEVIED
Conpleting a r ep ort on four and one- half year s ~f WFA
operati ons , Colonel F . C. Harrington , Commi ss ioner of Work Pr ojects ,
today ma~e publi c an i nvento ry of accom~li shments by workers on
prof ess ional and service projects and in the fields of flood and
erosion control , irrigation and conse rvation .
Several milli ons of :per sons ar e r eached each we ek , the
Commi ss i oner s tat ed. , by WPA heal th , educe.,tion , recrea ti on , art ,
music , liorary and r elated p ro grams .
In the heal th :p r ogr am , it vras f cund. in a ty:pi cal two- neek
:pe rio cl. t:1at nearly a qua rt er milli on examinatio::.1s and treatments
were gi ven in '\'iPA- cperat ed ')r - s taffed medical and dental clinics
and in school s and home s t o children and adults who were unabl e to
pay for such serv ic es .
Nearly 82 , 500 tests for spec ific diseases
and nore thon 17 , 000 irrmmnization treatments nere r eported.
Cl ose ly r elated in the effe ct on the nation 1 s physi cal
we lf c.1.re ne;.·e more than 1 , 000 , 000 l u.nches served by VTPA wo rkers on a
single day to needy and unde rnourished children in mor e than 11 , 000
schnol s , the housekeeping assistance given 57 , 000 needy families in
a sinGle month and manuf a cture of 218 , 000 , 000 garment s for the
dest itute during four and a half years .
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Educ ational services provide d b;r FPA are reaching aclul ts
in clQsses Hi th an aggregate enrollment of more tha..r1 1 , 000 , 000 , the
n C1.t i on- ,,-1j_d.e report shows , 2,nd more t:1a.11 300 , 000 are enrolled in
li terG.cy and natur a lizati on c l asses alone .
On the basis of a sneciol :curv8y last ~re,<.tr , when the rolls
were lar:7;er , the publ ic r ecreat i on activities su pervi sed by trained
WPA \torkers were found , in a ty:i;iical week , to be equival ent t o
part icipaticn for one hour each by 15 , 000 , 000 persons .
Nearly half
of t:1i s -,ms ::-,h2rs iC'.al recren,tion , both incloors e,nd out , and the 1·est
was o.ivi c:_ed :p ri ncipally betrrnen social a nd cul tccral recre .J,tion .
Tho
benefits of such supervised leisure-time activi ty are readily
apparent , Colonel Harrington pointed out , p2..rticul.:1rly in communities
with mr'.ch unempl oyment , short working 11ours and lorr inc0me .
11
the
rlbile the fTFA con st r act i on program has been building un
ph~ si c e,l ,Jl ant of the nat ion , 11 Col onel Harrington said_ ,
0
p rof ess io~io.l o.,nd servic e p r ojects have
oe,m
11
the
contributing t o its
hoaL;h o,nd culture .
11
Most of the millions of pe rsons w~o thi s r eport indice, t es
are c:1-o ri,-L'c; bc-nef i ts fro :r: the t wh i te coll,.r 1 p roj ec ts
lowe st income orackets a.nd could not ,,,.,fford the
in the
,J.,TO
i □~c o r tnnt
services
and QSsist;:;,nce our :proj0ct norkers have been o.cle to p rovide .
There
e.re conE.ami ti cs tod_.:w in ,'rh i ch the only public hen.1th facilities o..re
those ,1·ovided by WPA or w~1e re the cml;;· licr,1.ry is stc.ffod by the1:1
or the onl~· on:ortunity fo1· nd11lts to s tucl:r is afforded "b~r WFA
teachei· s • 11
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Typical periods were chosen for the inventory of profcssio:1.s.l 0nc1_ s .:, rvice accom::_:ilishmcnts bcc2.use of the impossibility of
mo c-1.. s u_rins currmL,.tive results with tho yardsticks ,1,pplied tn
c on s t:ruction r:o rk in the two previous r eports of this seri e s .
The se showed thn.t , along with other work , r!PA constru._ct od
o r im:::i1·ovucl morG th[1-n 450 , 000 mi l es of highnnys , r o2.cls nnd stree ts
,'.',ncl built more thc,n 23 , 000 :r iuol ic building s from the b e ginning of
WPA, Jl1ly 1 , 1935 , through lnst Decom-be r .
Heo..l th r::nd education wore
a dv a nced_ noto.1:,ly by these prcgro,~s , n.lso , through tho add ition a:11d
imp rovonont of cducati on , r ocroo.tion , tr,msp or -cr".tion Md san i tntion·
fn.cili tics .
AdC:i tional construction cove red in tho fino,l report issued
tod.;:,.,y includes 4 , 650 miles of · firobr oG.-"k:s a nd 3 , 000 mil e s of fire nnd
for e st t1·.::'.il s .
V!PA worke rs ,2,lso rebuilt or improved an addi tionr1l
2 , 000 mil es of firebr 0aks and trails .
Accomp lishments in tho fields of flood and eros i on control
incluclc d 6 , 000 miles of stre2.m bed Lnprovemcnts , more than 3 , 000
mil es of ri vor b1:i.nk .:i.nd shore i rn:i;:;rovemont;:; and construction er
improvc:nont 0f 2 , 700 mil e s of suc:1 works c.s leve e s and retaining
walls .
lloro thnn 760 miles of ir rigatior.. ditches c.nd CMal s TTer o
1:.uil t o.nc~_ 3 , 700 r eriai r od or imi::rcvod ,.
On the professional nnd so~vico side of the rrPA rrogra~ ,
tho l"'.J :i;oi·t shc',7S adult odx,cation to oc an outst3.Ilding ::tcti·dty .
In e/Llli ti on to 309 , 000 enroll e es studying for ci tizcnshir or
l e arni::\ <:; to reo.d or wri to , voco.ti on,:..l tr[l_ining classes claimed
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195,000 students and co:r;respondence work 48 , 000 in a two-week
period studied ,
Forums and lectures conduc ~ed oy WFA proj e ct
e:i1rJ.oyees had an aggregate attendance of 162,000 .
WPA also ope r ated 1,550 nurse~r schools, providing
scientific care and pre- school training during tho t\ro weeks for
43 , 700 children of unemployed lllid destitute families , the report
shows ,
s~-,ecial instruction was given 4,200 institutionalized and
hand icapped children .
'¼'PA conducted art classes with an en r ollment of 45,500
and music classes with 179 , 000 , the inventory disclosed_,
th ,'Jll 2,500 pe rformc1.nces oy units of the
1
More
!PA Music Progrmn drew an
aggregate attendance of more than 1,000 , 000 during the :rBriod .
Medical clinics OJ)erated oy W?A or staffed with 1·1PA
assistants provided 11 9 , 000 exruninations and treatments and riental
clinics 35 , 000 ci_uring the first t,,,o weeks in Janu2,ry, the repo rt
shows .
Homo visits by WPA nur se s and__ doctors provided 17,000
examinations e.nd treatments .
In the schools , 35,000 examinations
a.nd treatrr,ents of various kinds were gi v en .
Public and school li oraries op e rat ed wholly or pD.rt1y
by 1."JPA. workers duri11;s Decei;iber total ed nearly 10, 000 , of which 115
wore
11
o ookmobiles ,
11
or light trucks stocked with books for the
peopl e of remote -s e ctions.
During the four and one-half years ,
WP.A workors repaired 68 , 00 ') , 00n volurnes of school and general
library books .
During that period ne arly ~,000 , 000 pages of :Braille
were transcribori for the blind .
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Sewing projects, ur to JanuPry 1, ha1 completed
48,000,000 me:r:'s garments , 59 , 0C0 ,000 women's 6 arments and
110,000,000 garme nts for ch i.1.dren ancl infants.
Other items, such
as towels, sheets and sur gi cal dressings , , aggregated 66,500,000 .
The articles procl•1ced t:;::r sewing :rirojects, wLich comprise the
largest single aspect of t he WPA non-construction program, were
distributed by puolic r elief agencies to needy pe rso ns.
The accomplishments cited in this and the preceding
reports do not include the wo rk done with transferren. WPA funds
by other Fed.eral agencies, which have o:r)('rated pro ,j ects manned by
needy unemployed on the same basis as WPA.
(A tabular sum.'Tiary is attached .
Details of accomplish-
ment by states may be obtained from State WPA head<1uarters.)
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FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY
WORK PROJECTS .ADMINISTrt.ATION
REPORT OF ACTIVITY i'.'\N PROJECTS OF THE DIVISION OF PROFESSIONAL AND SERVICE PROJECTS
United Sta tes Summary
(Preliminary - Subject to Jiev i sion)
rt Ins true ti.on Education and Mus ic Instruction wrini::; a Two ':!eek Period in Jg111.1ar;r 1940
Activitv
Unit of l'l.oas,.1rement
iucatio n
Adult Education
Literacy and Watu re.l i zation
Vocati onal Training
Corro'Spondenc e Work
Other M.nl t Education
►Lectures
and ForJJDs
:!'fo . of Enrollees
308,860
195,460
47, 81:~
543,306
Total Attendance
161,710
No. of Enrollees
!-To • of Enrollees
Fo . of Enrollees
no . of Enroll8es
1 , 554
43 ,731
No . of Enrollees
4 , 168
}To . of Enrollees
45 , 627
!TO: of Schools
!Tursery Schools
Special I ns true tion for Ins titu tione.li zei. and
Randi capped Children
I.rt Instructi on
fu. sic
~o . of En r ollees
178 , 854
No. of Performances
2 ,5 76
Totnl Attendanc 0
1,101 , 293
Instruction
Performances
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REPORT OF ACC01iPLIS:FfoIBNT ON PROJECT S OF TI-IE DIVISIO N OF OPERATIONS
Cumul at i ve thr ough D'e cember 31 , 1939
Unit ed States Summary
(Par t III)
(Pre limi nary - Subj ec t to Revi s i o n)
Ir ri ,~~ti~o=n=--.cc..=...=-"-~~
- Conserva tion
1rurnber or Amount
Unit
}Tow Conof
Re cons true ti on
Measuremen t ?truction. or I_mn r ov em~.r- t
~½di tions
F.1 r;d and. :Gro_s ion.. Control -
I tem
Fish Ha t cLeries
lfomb c r
Firebreaks
Mil es
Fir e and Fore st Trails
Re for e stati on
Ac r es
Planting Oys t ers
Thousa...'ld.s of
3u. T'ln.n t ed
147
1 29
74
4 , 648
826
xx
3 , 007
1 , 171
xx
XXY
A
411, 394
xx
5 t820
XIX
xx
•
Levees a nd Embankments
Mil es
404
836
xx
Jetties and Br e akwat e rs
r,'. il e s
57
2
xx
Bulkheads
Mil es
11 2
36
X"A
Re taining Wa lls and
Revetments
iviile s
1 , 232
105
X,'{
11 , 706
1 , 703
xx
Rip r ap
Thousands of
Sq • Ycl s . of
Surface
River :Bank 11nd Sho r e
Im},rovemen ts
Milos
XXX
3 , 153
x•r
St r ea mbed I m:;:i rov emen t
r,t iiles
x-~-
'- '.
6 , 007
xx
Irri ga ti on Sys t e~s
Thousands of
Acres
Mil es of ditch ,
canal pipe ,
o r fl ume
235
2 , 904
x.x
768
3,718
X.,'{
,I.
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Library and Book Repair Activity
Unit of !s': eas,1remen t
Item
Number of
Units
:-:To . of Li b raries
9 , 918
General Public Library Units
~To . of 'Libraries
3 ,441
Public School Library Units
No . of Libraries
5 ,016
Other Library Unit s
1To . of Librarie~
1,037
J3ookmobil es
No . of Bookmobil es
Libraries Operated o r Assisted (December 1 939) Total
Book Renovation (Cumulative through
December 31 , 1939) Total
115
Fo . of Volumes
68 , 389,000
General Public Library Volumes
Ho. of Volumes
33 , 432,000
Public School Library Volumes
No . of Volume s
27 ,38 6 ,000
Other Library Volumes
!-To . of Volumes
7 , 541 , 000
Braille (cumulative through December 31 , 1939)
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No . of pages
transc rib ed.
}To . of mars
transcribed
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3 , 909,000
13 ,760
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tblic Hco.lth o....r1cl Eosnitol Activiti es
Activity
Unit of Measurement
Persons Receiving
Service
Chil dren
Aclul ts
Total
.i nic o,nd Other Heo,l th Ser v ice During
a Two 1.7cek Pcriocl.. in J nnuo,ry 1940
Dent a l CU ni cs
No . of Examinations
a nd Tr eatments
35 , 107
27 , 301
7 , 806
of EX/J,.'Tli no.tions
o.nd Tre c,tmon ts
No . of Tests
Ho . of I mm.mi zo.. ti ons
119 , 341
20 , 964
10 , 694
21 , 725
4 , 354
7 , 434
97 , 616
16;610
3 , 260
Ho .
nr1a.
No .
No .
of Exo..min;_-,,tions
Tr eo.tmcnts
of Tests
of Immuniz .'.\ti ons
1 6 , 994
1, 299
1 , 676
11,130
1,048
626
5 ?864
251
1 , 050
No .
2.nd
No .
Ho .
of Examinations
Treatment s
of Tests
of Immuniz n tion s
36 , 567
33 , 061
3 ,129
36 , 567
33 , 061
3 , 129
XXX
XXX
XXX
No .
ond
Ho .
No .
of Ex,-:,.mino,t i ons
Tr eatments
of Tests
of Imrnu.niznt i ons
34, 749
27 , 197
1 , 714
25 , 584
10 ; 868
1, 590
9 , 165
16 , 329
12~7
:fo .
Modico.l ClL1ics
Homo Visits
Schoo l Se~·vices
Other Services
Ins tituti ons , Other than Clinics ,
Opernted
Humber
33
xx.x
XXX
Hosp it al s Assist ed
Numbe r
659
:x:..u
XXX
Other Institutions Assisted
Number
1, 175
x.x:x:
XXX
No . of F.?smilies }\.ssistcd '57,116
x.,u
XXX
No . of Visits tb,de 17 ,1 69 , 000
XXX
Fe . of Schools
Ho . of Lunches
11 ~190
1 , 129 , 420
XXX
XXX
Cumulr1.t i vo t hroue:;l1 December 31 , 1939 No . of Lunches
386 ,1 97 , 000
XXX
~sckcepi~g Aide Services
During Mcmt::J. of December 1939
Cumulative Through
December 31 1939
'
:hool Lunches Sc::vod
On Jnnuary 17 , 1940
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Sewing, Matt ress Eak in,::: and Food Preservinr.· - Qµr:mlative from Eeginning of Prog ram
i\rticle
JJ1JJ!lbe r
Unit of Measu r enen t
Garments - Total
Units com:r.ile te d
218,204 , 000
Men 1 s Garments
Uni ts com r)le ted
47 , 810, 000
Women's Gar ments
Units complete1
59 ,1 77 , 000
Boy 's Garments
Units completed
41 ,1 60 , 000
Girl's C:-arments
Units comp l e t ed
47 , 806 , 000
Un i ts compl eter'!.
22 , 231 , 000
Articles Other Than Garnients
Uni t s comp l eted.
66 , 525 , 000
Food Canned a nd Dried
Quarts Canned
Founds Dried
43 , 333 , 000
1,680 , 000
Infants ' Garments
!:/
A/
Excluding Layett es
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Comsunity P1.crtici:9ation in Recree..tional ActivitiP s , Week EnC:.ing February 18 , 1939
Unit of
Measurement
Activity
All Recreationo,l Activities
Numoer
No . of Participant hours
15 , 680 , 000
lfo . of Participant hours
7 , 01 6 , 000
Snow ana_ ice sport s
no . cf Participant hours
1,439 , 000
:Basketball
Uc . of P:,_rticipant hours
1 , 893 , 000
Gymnastics
No . of Particip~t hours
658 , 000
Other :p:1ysico.l recreation
}To . of Po,rtici:pn.nt hours
3,026 , 000
Social Reci·e ,'3.tion (indoor
games , folk dt,;_1 c i ng , etc . )
No . of Participant hours
4 , 798 , 000
Cultural Recre:ction (arts ,
crafts , di."D...:""Yl[\ , J:Ti_1..S i C , etc . ) lfo . of Participant hours
3 , 337 , 000
Children t s Play Centers
No . of Po.rticipant hours
334,000
Therapeutic Recreo,tion
No . of Pnrticip[mt hours
23 , 000
Other Recrc.:,,tion
No . of Po,rtici pant hours
172, 000
Physical Rec:ceo,tion
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