American Guide Series

American Guide Series
Title	American Guide Series
Country	United States
Language	English
Publisher	Federal Writers' Project
Publication date	1935–1941
Pages	various

American Guide Series The American Guide Series was a set of state and regional guidebooks produced in the 1930s under the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The guides combined travel information, local history, folklore, and cultural profiles to promote tourism, document regional identity, and employ writers during the Great Depression. They remain important sources for historians of New Deal, Dust Bowl, Harlem Renaissance, and regional studies.

Overview and Purpose

The guides aimed to provide comprehensive portraits of each state and region, offering practical route descriptions, historical narratives, and ethnographic material about cities, towns, landmarks, and notable figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mark Twain. Produced under the aegis of the Federal Writers' Project and influenced by policy priorities of Works Progress Administration leadership, the volumes sought to boost tourism along highways like U.S. Route 66 and waterways including the Mississippi River. The project also sought to preserve oral histories from veterans of events such as the Civil War and survivors of episodes including the Great Depression and migrations tied to the Okies movement.

History and Development

Initiated in 1935 following executive and congressional support for relief programs associated with New Deal legislation and agencies like the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the guides were organized amid debates over cultural policy between figures such as Harry Hopkins and regional administrators. Development involved collaboration with state governments, city planners, and institutions such as the Library of Congress and university presses. The series' production paralleled other WPA initiatives including projects led by Martha Graham in dance and mural programs involving Diego Rivera-related commissions. Controversies over content, censorship, and politics emerged as guides accumulated material on sensitive topics like labor conflicts in places such as Ludlow, Colorado and the influence of organizations including the American Legion.

Organization and Content

Each volume typically contained sections on history, geography, transportation, industry, notable citizens, architecture, and travel routes, with entries on urban centers like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Boston. Essays incorporated biographical sketches of figures including Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and regional artists tied to movements such as the Harlem Renaissance. The guides integrated folklore, songs, recipes, and oral histories collected from individuals including veterans of the Spanish–American War and descendants of settlers who participated in events like the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Cartography and photography—linked to institutions like the National Archives—supported the textual material, while bibliographies directed readers to collections in repositories such as the Smithsonian Institution.

Regional Guides and State Editions

State editions covered territories from Alabama to Wyoming and included regional composites like the New England guide and the Federal Territory-era coverage of places such as Puerto Rico. Notable volumes include the guides to California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, each with city and county-level entries on sites such as San Francisco, Austin, Miami, Philadelphia, and Richmond. Regional volumes documented transportation corridors such as Interstate 95 precursors and cultural corridors like the Mississippi Delta music landscape tied to figures including Robert Johnson and venues such as Beale Street. Editions also treated territories and insular areas, noting landmarks like Old San Juan and the portals of commerce at Galveston.

Contributors and WPA Involvement

The project employed hundreds of writers, editors, researchers, and photographers, ranging from emerging authors to established figures such as Zora Neale Hurston, John Steinbeck (who contributed in other WPA activities), Saul Steinberg (in illustration contexts), and folklorists who collaborated with institutions like the American Folklore Society. State directors coordinated with local historical societies, universities, and libraries; prominent administrators included regional leaders who reported to national offices in Washington, D.C. Fieldworkers collected oral histories from migrants, veterans, and workers involved in episodes like the Bonus Army demonstrations, while photographers documented public works comparable to projects by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The WPA framework provided wages and organizational structure but also imposed editorial oversight reflecting priorities within the Roosevelt administration.

Reception, Impact, and Legacy

Contemporaneous reception ranged from praise in local newspapers and civic booster circles to criticism from political opponents in bodies such as state legislatures and organizations like the Daughters of the American Revolution over perceived biases. The guides influenced mid‑20th century travel writing, tourism promotion, and preservation movements including the expansion of historic districts in cities like Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. Scholars of the New Deal era, oral history practitioners, and cultural historians continue to mine the series for primary-source material on migration, urban change, and folklore; the collections have been digitized and curated by repositories including the Library of Congress and state historical societies. The series' legacy also appears in later federal cultural programs and place-based interpretive efforts tied to sites such as Monticello and the National Mall.

Category:Works Progress Administration