Federal Project Number One

Federal Project Number One
Name	Federal Project Number One
Type	Cultural arts program
Established	1935
Dissolved	1943
Parent	Works Progress Administration
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.

Contents

Federal Project Number One was a New Deal cultural initiative launched during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of the Works Progress Administration to provide employment for artists, writers, actors, musicians, and cultural workers. It coordinated activities across multiple arts disciplines, linking local projects with national institutions such as the Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, and state arts agencies to produce public programs, publications, performances, and documentation. Drawing on federal relief legislation including the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 and collaborating with figures from the Harlem Renaissance to the Federal Theatre Project, it became a focal point of debates involving Congressional investigations, partisan critics like Senator Joseph McCarthy in later memory, and advocacy by cultural leaders such as John Steinbeck, Aaron Copland, and Langston Hughes.

Background and Establishment

Federal Project Number One emerged amid the Great Depression following policy experiments by the Civil Works Administration, Public Works Administration, and the initial New Deal relief programs under Roosevelt. Architects of the program included administrators from the Works Progress Administration and cultural advisers affiliated with the National Recovery Administration, National Youth Administration, and the Federal Art Project. The initiative responded to artistic unemployment documented by cultural institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Public Library, Library of Congress, and ethnographic collections at the Smithsonian Institution. Early planning drew on advocacy from literary figures associated with The New Yorker, theatrical professionals from the Group Theatre (New York), and composers active in the American Musicological Society.

The program encompassed separate subprograms modeled on specialized agencies: the Federal Art Project for visual arts, the Federal Theatre Project for drama, the Federal Music Project for orchestras and music education, and the Federal Writers' Project for regional guides and oral histories. These components partnered with municipal cultural bodies like the Chicago Cultural Center, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the New York Public Library system, while collaborating with institutions such as the University of Chicago, Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, and the Library of Congress. Projects produced works tied to movements involving figures from the Harlem Renaissance, the American Scene Painting movement, and institutions like the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Oversight was provided through the Works Progress Administration under directors appointed by Roosevelt and by national administrators with ties to the Treasury Department, Department of the Interior, and state relief agencies. Funding originated from appropriations passed by the United States Congress under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 and subsequent budgetary measures debated during sessions led by congressional leaders such as Speaker of the House John Nance Garner and contested by fiscal conservatives allied with the American Liberty League. Payroll systems were coordinated with municipal relief rolls in cities like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., with reporting obligations to committees including the House Committee on Appropriations and hearing appearances before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and other investigative panels.

Notable outputs included state guidebooks produced by the Federal Writers' Project in series similar to the American Guide Series, ethnographic interviews that documented voices associated with the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Migration, murals commissioned for public buildings linked to the Works Progress Administration, and plays staged by the Federal Theatre Project at venues such as the National Theatre (Washington, D.C.) and the Neighborhood Playhouse. Composers and conductors connected to the Federal Music Project performed with municipal orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and collaborated with conductors from the New York Philharmonic and conservatories such as the Juilliard School. Visual artists produced frescoes and easel paintings now held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and regional museums like the Worcester Art Museum. Writers associated with the program included authors connected to publishing houses such as Viking Press, Harper & Brothers, and critics from periodicals like The New Republic and The Nation.

The program influenced cultural production across urban centers—New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco—and engaged the workforces of states including New York (state), Illinois, California, and Pennsylvania. Supporters included intellectuals from Harvard University, Yale University, and community arts advocates tied to the National Urban League and NAACP. Critics ranged from congressional conservatives allied with the Republican Party to cultural commentators at Time (magazine) and The Wall Street Journal who accused projects of political bias, while investigative reporters from outlets like the New York Times and Chicago Tribune chronicled both successes and controversies. Congressional hearings spotlighted disputes over alleged ideological influence linked to individuals associated with the Communist Party USA and debates involving constitutional questions adjudicated in part by the Supreme Court of the United States.

The program declined during wartime budget realignments as federal priorities shifted toward defense spending and agencies like the War Production Board and Office of War Information absorbed cultural functions; formal termination occurred in the early 1940s amid debates in the United States Congress. Its legacy persisted through collections housed in institutions such as the Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, New York Public Library, and academic archives at Columbia University and the University of California. Alumni of the program went on to shape postwar institutions including the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Federation of Musicians, and cultural policy debates during the administrations of Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, and informed later scholarship published by presses like Oxford University Press and University of Chicago Press.