🔬 Advancing Science During the Great Depression: How WPA Research Projects Shaped Public Knowledge

📌 The WPA’s 1938 science and research projects covered public health, traffic safety, taxation, and archaeology. Discover how this federal initiative provided jobs while advancing scientific understanding.

Collage of WPA Science and Research Projects That Includes Tuberculosis Research (Colorado), Archaelogical Research (New Jersey), Laboratory Tests (California), Silicosis Research (Massachusetts), Cataloging (New Jersey), Museum Work (Texas), Relief Maps (California), Milk Tests (Rhode Island). Inventory: An Appraisal of Results of the Works Progress Administration, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1938. GGA Image ID # 1524e15a13

🔬 WPA Science & Research Projects - 1938

Harnessing Knowledge for Progress: How WPA Science & Research Projects Expanded Public Understanding

📖 The 1938 WPA report on Science and Research Projects highlights the far-reaching contributions of government-funded scientific studies. Unlike infrastructure and relief programs, this initiative provided employment for researchers, technicians, and scientists while expanding the nation’s understanding of critical issues—from public health and traffic safety to economic policy and natural resource management.

For teachers, students, historians, and genealogists, this document provides:

✔️ A rare glimpse into how federal funding supported scientific inquiry and data collection.

✔️ Examples of how scientific research directly impacted communities.

✔️ Insights into WPA projects that influenced modern scientific, economic, and policy research.

✔️ Evidence of how these studies shaped public health, taxation, environmental science, and urban planning.

📌 This report highlights the WPA’s unparalleled role in advancing scientific research and providing a foundation for future studies.

The key to widespread achievements in research, granting proper supervision, is manpower. Under the WPA science and research program, 1,566 surveys or studies have been completed to expand the Nation's public knowledge.

Subject Matter Title Page for WPA Science and Research Projects —3 Percent of Total Program. Inventory: An Appraisal of Results of the Works Progress Administration, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1938. GGA Image ID # 152545ec90

Factual surveys form the basis for most constructive planning, whether by Federal agencies, State and local planning boards, educational institutions, or by scientists in the various fields of research.

Many such surveys and studies had been held up by lack of funds to hire the necessary technical and clerical help to assemble and compile essential data. At the same time, the WPA had available a small army of needy workers with many types of technical skill and experience.

So libraries, museums, universities, colleges, hospitals, and all sorts of governmental units sponsored thousands of projects to develop a better understanding of a wide variety of current public problems. Such projects were guided and directed by the sponsors' own experts, with the WPA supplying personnel.

Up to October 1, 1937, a total of 1,566 surveys or studies had been completed. More than 539 of these were planning surveys for designated planning agencies. The bulk of them were local in scope, although about one-fifth were Statewide and several Nationwide.

The remaining 1,027 research and statistical studies, while mainly local in character, likewise included a substantial number of Statewide and several Nationwide analyses.

The range of these surveys is as broad as the variety of local experts who conducted them. The Colorado Society for Crippled Children, for example, wanted to find out the number and the needs of crippled children in that State, while the University of Florida wished to study the location of tropical storms by their static.

A committee of the Connecticut Legislature wanted a survey of the State's jail facilities, while the New York State Department of Education wanted to look up several hundred young men and women who were classified as subnormal school children in 1924 and find out how they were faring as adults.

The Alabama Tax Commission needed a survey of State-owned properties, while the University of Chicago wanted a study of local sweatshops. The California Board of Education sought a check of the adequacy of school buildings, by counties, while Montana State College wanted a study of farm mortgage foreclosures.

Thus the studies ranged . . . syphilis in Chicago, tuberculosis in San Francisco, immunization for whooping cough in Michigan . . . the effect of public improvements on land values, the causes of tax delinquency, the effect on children of broken homes . . . studies of automobile brakes and driving skill . . . termites in California, port cargoes in Boston, slums in Detroit . . . industrial diseases, forestry, city transportation, and habitual criminals . . . carbon-monoxide gas, erosion, wildlife resources, and seasonal labor . . . standards of living, job-opportunities for Negroes . . . weeds, soils, and agricultural planning.

There have been more than 150 traffic studies to reduce accidents and determine improvement needs . . . surveys of land use, natural resources, housing, income, and health.

To make certain that all these studies will be used rather than merely filed away to gather dust, the WPA in Washington has compiled an index of research projects through which any of them may be located by administrators or students interested in further application of the facts they contain.

In addition, broader studies have been made with WPA workers by the U. S. Employment Service (Labor), Bureau of Agricultural Economics (Agriculture), Bureau of Labor Statistics (Labor), Public Health Service (Treasury), Bureau of Standards (Commerce), Bureau of Internal Revenue (Treasury), Office of Education (Interior), and many other Federal agencies.

A considerable number of administrative studies have netted immediate returns. Examples: New York City's survey of water-system outlets boosted the department's revenues $225,000 per year.

A Texas land survey located properties worth $120,000,000 that had not been assessed. And an analysis of Federal income-tax returns recovered revenues aggregating about seven times the cost of the project.

On engineering surveys, WPA workers have mapped over 200,000 square miles of area, made 72,000 miles of line survey, and set over 91,000 permanent markers.

The projects listed above are additional to the hundreds of special studies carried out under the direction of the WPA administrative staff on relief and rehabilitation in its many and complex phases.

It is on these studies that the Federal relief programs have been based. Guidance for the future will be supplied by a national research project which has made elaborate examinations of many industries and workers to gauge the effects of technology upon employment and indicate where the jobs of the future are likely to be found.

Another technical field which has employed thousands of WPA men and women is museum work. Meticulous skill is required for such tasks as modeling cross sections of animal organisms, building educational dioramas, or repairing and mounting taxidermic specimens.

An art in itself is the making of artificial foliage used in the natural settings of habitat groups. Yet WPA workers have been able to do such work in many museums, as well as to reorganize files and perform other clerical tasks.

As a result, curators have been able to carry out many long-deferred plans. On such WPA projects, a total of more than 3,300,000 museum articles have been constructed or renovated, and more than 5,200,000 articles cataloged.

Collage of Additional WPA Scientific and Research Projects Include Laboratory Research (Colorado), Traffic Survey (Michigan), Tuberculosis Research (Colorado), Model Making (New York), Bacteria Cultures (New York), Serum Storage (Michigan), Air Pollution Study (New York), Traffic Count (Pennsylvania), Museum Exhibit (California). Inventory: An Appraisal of Results of the Works Progress Administration, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1938. GGA Image ID # 152534592c

"Science and Research," in Inventory: An Appraisal of Results of the Works Progress Administration, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1938, pp. 63-66.

Why This Document is Important

📜 Relevance for Different Audiences

✔ For Scientists & Researchers

🔹 Demonstrates how large-scale federal research programs can benefit scientific progress.

🔹 Showcases projects that contributed to advances in public health, medicine, and technology.

🔹 Offers insight into how WPA workers conducted data collection, analysis, and experimental research.

✔ For Genealogists & Historians

🔹 Highlights key studies on population, demographics, and land use.

🔹 Documents early government efforts to study and preserve historical artifacts.

🔹 Provides a historical record of scientific advancements made under federal relief programs.

✔ For Teachers & Students

🔹 Offers real-world examples of how government-backed research influenced public policy.

🔹 Shows how scientific inquiry was used to improve public infrastructure and services.

🔹 Illustrates the intersection of science, economics, and social policy during the Great Depression.

📌 This document provides essential historical context for understanding the role of government in scientific research.

🦠 Public Health & Disease Research

✔ Why This is Fascinating:

🔹 WPA workers conducted studies on tuberculosis, syphilis, immunization, and industrial diseases.

🔹 Researchers explored the link between public health and environmental conditions.

🔹 Silicosis (lung disease from inhaling silica dust) was studied to improve worker safety regulations.

✔ Key Takeaway:

These studies helped shape public health policies and workplace safety regulations.

📌 This section is essential for public health professionals, medical historians, and epidemiologists.

🚗 Traffic & Transportation Studies

✔ Why This is Fascinating:

🔹 More than 150 traffic studies were conducted to improve road safety and reduce accidents.

🔹 Researchers examined the effects of automobile brakes, driving skills, and city transportation patterns.

🔹 Studies on urban planning and transit efficiency influenced later transportation policies.

✔ Key Takeaway:

These projects laid the groundwork for modern traffic management and highway planning.

📌 This section is crucial for urban planners, engineers, and transportation historians.

🏛 Economic & Taxation Studies

✔ Why This is Fascinating:

🔹 A Texas land survey uncovered $120 million worth of unassessed properties.

🔹 A New York water system audit resulted in an additional $225,000 in annual revenues.

🔹 Analysis of federal income-tax returns helped recover revenues worth seven times the project’s cost.

✔ Key Takeaway:

These studies show how research can drive economic policy and government efficiency.

📌 This section is relevant for economists, policy analysts, and tax historians.

🗺 Land Use, Agriculture & Environmental Research

✔ Why This is Fascinating:

🔹 Surveys on soil erosion and conservation helped shape sustainable farming policies.

🔹 Studies on land values examined the impact of public improvements.

🔹 Wildlife resources and natural habitat surveys contributed to early conservation efforts.

✔ Key Takeaway:

These projects influenced federal land management policies and conservation programs.

📌 This section is valuable for environmental scientists, conservationists, and agricultural historians.

🏺 Museum & Archaeological Research

✔ Why This is Fascinating:

🔹 Over 3.3 million museum artifacts were cataloged or restored.

🔹 Taxidermy and habitat dioramas were created for public education.

🔹 Archaeological research in New Jersey and Alabama provided insights into early civilizations.

✔ Key Takeaway:

This work preserved cultural heritage and enhanced public access to scientific knowledge.

📌 This section is key for archaeologists, museum professionals, and historians.

🖼 Noteworthy Images & Their Significance

🖼 🔬 "Collage of WPA Science and Research Projects"

🔹 Depicts laboratory research on tuberculosis, milk testing, and archaeological work.

🔹 Showcases the variety of scientific disciplines covered by WPA projects.

🖼 🗺 "Collage of Additional WPA Scientific and Research Projects"

🔹 Features traffic surveys, disease studies, and museum work.

🔹 Illustrates how WPA science projects impacted both everyday life and academic research.

📌 These images visually capture the diversity and impact of WPA science initiatives.

Bias & Perspective Considerations

✔ Government-Focused Narrative:

🔹 The report emphasizes successes but does not discuss:

🔹 Challenges in data accuracy and methodology.

🔹 Potential political motivations behind specific studies.

🔹 Any resistance from private industry to government-backed research.

✔ Absence of Long-Term Assessment

🔹 Did these studies have lasting influence?

🔹 Were all WPA research findings implemented or used effectively?

🔹 How many WPA-funded researchers transitioned to permanent jobs?

📌 While this report highlights scientific achievements, further analysis is needed to assess its long-term impact on policy and research.

Final Thoughts: Why This Report Matters

"WPA Science & Research Projects - 1938" reveals how a federal relief program transformed scientific research during the Great Depression. The report documents how thousands of researchers, engineers, and medical professionals contributed to critical studies in public health, transportation, taxation, environmental science, and archaeology.

📌 Many of these projects directly influenced policies that still impact us today, proving that government-funded research can yield lasting societal benefits.

💡 The WPA’s investment in science reminds us that scientific progress often depends on public funding and workforce support. 🔬📊🚦