Government Information: The New Deal in Oklahoma

The OSU Edmon Low Library provides access to federal agency materials published by the U.S. Government and distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program, 44 USC 190.The Library became a federal depository library in 1907 and regional depository library in 1979.

U.S. Government publications are primary sources materials and cover all subject areas. Materials are retained permanently as part of the agreement with the U.S. Government Publishing Office. The Library also collects Oklahoma and other state publications.

Access to materials: Government publications are located by agency on the 5th floor of the Library and are also in offsite storage facilities. Check the Library's online catalog for locations. Many are also available digitally in HathiTrust in the Library's database list. Contact the department by phone or email to check the availability of materials. Many recent publications are available online as a PDF on agency websites.

Email: suzanne.reinman@okstate.edu      Phone: 405-744-6546

The U.S. Government played a key role in the New Deal.

New Deal agencies were the U.S. Federal Government agencies created as part of the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The earliest agencies were created to combat the Great Depression in the United States and were established during Roosevelt's first 100 days in office in 1933. In total, at least 69 offices were created during Roosevelt's terms of office as part of the New Deal.

     New Deal Programs and Agencies, Living New Deal

     FDR and the New Deal, Library of Congress 
 

Works Progress Administration
The New Deal agency to carry out public work projects to employ millions, set up on May 6, 1935 by EO7034. WPA was the largest and most ambitious United States federal government New Deal agency. Superceded the work of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. Renamed the Works Projects Administration in 1939.

A significant aspect of the Works Progress Administration was the Federal Project Number One, which had five different parts: the Federal Art Project, the Federal Music Project, the Federal Theatre Project, the Federal Writers' Project, and the Historical Records Survey.

  For digitized publications see Works Progress Administration,  St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank - Digitized WPA publications.
 

Public Works Administration

The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933 in response to the Great Depression. It built large-scale public works such as dams, bridges, hospitals, and schools.
 

Civilian Conservation Corps

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal that supplied manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments.
 

Soil Erosion Service

The Soil Erosion Service (SES) was established in the Department of Interior in September 1933. SES established demonstration projects in critically eroded areas across the country to show landowners the benefits of conservation. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/history/brief-history-nrcs

With the event of the Dust Bowl,  President Roosevelt signed on April 27, 1935 the Soil Conservation Act (PL 74-46), creating the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) in the USDA.

After 1935, SCS expanded its soil conservation program nationwide with a several-fold increase in the number of demonstration projects. Labor provided by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) supported this work.

Soil Survey
On May 3, 1899, Congress authorized funds for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to investigate the soil resources of the United States in the field and laboratory.

Today, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), through the National Cooperative Soil Survey, fulfills a legislative mandate to inventory soil resources and keep the survey relevant to ever-changing needs.

See Soil Surveys by State

New Deal programs included the Works Progress Administration (Federal Writers Project, Federal Art Project), Civilian Conservation Corps, Farm Security Administration, and the National Recovery Administration.

Following are materials from these agencies in the OSU Edmon Low Library and storage facilities. Request offsite materials through Interlibrary Loan. They may also be available digitally in the HathiTrust database.

Please contact us for additional agency information.
 

Works Projects Administration (general publications and all states)  - Federal Writers Project, Federal Art Project, FF856 WO9 - 5th floor

     Subject Index of Research Bulletins and Monographs. 1937. FF856 WO9 B582 RB

     Index of Research Projects. FF8576 WO0 B582 RP. 1938-39

     Current Statistics of Relief in Rural and Town Areas. 1936-37. FF856 WO9 C976

     Digest of Public Welfare Provisions under the Laws of Various States. 1935. FF856 WO9 D5872

     Employment on Federal Work and Construction Projects. 1941. FF856 WO9 E554

     Farm-city Migration and Industry's Labor Reserve. 1939. FF856 WO9 F233

     The Federal Music Project. 1936. FF856 WO9 F288 MU75

     Federal Work Programs and Public Assistance. 1941. FF856 WO9 F293

     Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-1943. FF856 WO9 F489

     Five Years of Rural Relief. FF856 WO9 F565

     Handbook of Procedures for State and District Works Progress Administrations. FF856 WO9 H236

     Report on the Accomplishments of the Oklahoma Historical Records Survey,1936 to 1940. FF856 WO9H671 OK

     Inventory: an Appraisal of the Results of the WPA. 1939. FF856 WO9 I57

     Jobs, the WPA Way. 1936. FF856 WO9 J625

     Monthly Report of Unemployment, 1940- .  FF856 WO9 M789

     Our Federal Government and How It Functions. 1939. FF856 WO9 O934 FE35

     Our Job with the WPA. 1936. FF856 WO9 O935

     P.W.A. Rebuilds the Nation. 1939. FF856 WO9 P113 Map Room

     The Program for Economic Security. 1935. FF856 WO9 P964

     Recent Laws Enacted by State Legislators Relating to Works Progress and Social Welfare. 1938. FF856 WO9 R295

     Report on the Progress of the WPA Program, 1935-41. FF856 WO9R426

     The Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the U.S., from interviews with former slaves. 17 volumes. 1976. FF856 WO9 S631
       The WPA and the Slave Narrative Collection, Library of Congress

     Summary of Relief and Federal Work Program Statistics, 1933-1940. 1941. FF856 WO9 S955

     A Summary of Relief and Security Programs. 1938. FF856 WO9 S962

     U.S. One, Maine to Floria, 1938. FF856 WO9 U115 Index section

     Usual Occupations of Workers Eligible for Works Program Employment in the U.S.. 1937. FF856 WO9 U845

     Guide to the Public Vital Statistics Records of Oklahoma, 1941. FF856 WO9 FF856 WO9836 OK

     WPA Projects; Analysis of Projects Placed in Operation, 1936. FF856 WO9 W1123

     Workers on Relief in the U.S. 1935. FF856 WO9 W296

     Youth on Relief. 1936. FF856 WO9 Y835
 

     Oklahoma

     Calendar of Annual Events in Oklahoma. Federal Writer's Project of Oklahoma, 1938 FF856 WO9OK C149

     Labor History of Oklahoma. Federal Writer's Project. Work Projects Administration, 1939. FF856 WO9OK L123

     Oklahoma a Guide to the Sooner State. Compiled by Workers of the Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of     
       Oklahoma. American Guide Series. The University of Oklahoma, 1941. FF856 WO9OK O415

     Final Report of Activities and Accomplishments. Work Projects Administration, 1938. FF856 WO9OK U585

     United States Community Improvement Appraisal Report. Work Projects Administration, 1943. FF856 WO9OK R425 1943   

Civilian Conservation Corps FC177 - Annex remote storage

     CCC Bibliography, a List of References on the U.S. CCC. 1939. FC177 B582

     The CCC and Wildlife. 1938. FC177 C114

     Educational Activities in CCC Camps, 1936. 1939. FC177 E244

     Forest Improvements by the CCC. 1938. FC177 F716

     Forests Protected by the CCC. 1939. FC177 F718

     Hands to Save the Soil. 1939. FC177 H236

     Objectives and Results of the CCC Program. 1938. FC177O125

     Reforestation by the CCC. 1938. FC177 R332

     Annual Report of the Director of the CCC, FY 1938. FC177 R425

     Standards of Eligibility and Selection for Junior Enrollees. 1939. FC177 S785

     Woodsmanship for the CCC, 1939. FC177 W898
 

Farm Security Administration. EAG305 - 5th floor

     Rich Land-Poor People, 1938. EAG305 R498

     Security for Farm Tenants. 1940. EAG305 S446

     Toward Farm Security; the Problem of Rural Poverty and the Work of the Farm Security Administration. 1941. EAG305 T737
 

National Recovery Administration, FN475 - Annex remote storage

    What is the NRA? A guide for Study and Discussion. 1934. FN475 W555

Public Works Administration, FF856 PU35 - 5th floor

    American Builds, the record of PWA. FF856 PU35 A512

   The American Program of Low-Rent Public Housing. 1935 FF856 PU35 A514

   The Four-Year Record of PWA. 1937 FF856 PU35 F773

   Harlem River Houses. 1937. FF856 PU35 H284

   PWA Rebuilds the Nation. 1937. FF856 PU35 P113 Map Room

   PWA, a Four-Year Records of the Construction of Permanent and Useful Public Works. 1937. FF856 PU35 P114 FO75

   PWA, the First Three Years. 1936. FF856 PU35 P116 FI75

   PWA Aids to Education. 1937. FF856 PU35 P976

   Story of the PWA, Building for Recovery. 1939. FF856 PU35 S885

   The Story of the PWA in Pictures. 1936. FF856 PU35 S887

Soil Erosion Service, EIN321 - LAB remote storage

     The Land Today and Tomorrow. 1935. EIN321 L253

     Soil Erosion Bibliography. 1935. EIN321 S683

     Stillwater Creek Basin. 1934. EIN321 U585