📖 The National Youth Administration: A New Deal for America’s Youth

📜 Discover how the National Youth Administration (NYA) transformed the lives of young Americans during the Great Depression. Learn about its impact on education, job training, and employment, and how it helped shape the workforce of the future. Essential reading for educators, historians, and genealogists.

A National Youth Administration Student Tutor c. 1940. The Photograph Depicts a Student Worker Tutoring Schoolmates at the New Haven Junior College of Commerce. National Archives and Records Administration, NAID: 7403521. GGA Image ID # 2227c81e86

📜 What is the NYA? (1938)

📖 "A Lifeline for Youth: How the National Youth Administration Reshaped American Opportunity"

The National Youth Administration (NYA) was an essential component of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, designed to address the youth unemployment crisis during the Great Depression. This 1938 examination of the NYA’s role offers a firsthand perspective on how the program functioned, why it was needed, and its impact on young Americans.

The report provides insight into:

✅ The purpose and establishment of the NYA.

✅ The scale and reach of the program, affecting hundreds of thousands of students across the U.S.

✅ First-person observations from researchers traveling across the country to witness NYA projects.

✅ The involvement of Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the NYA’s most vocal advocates.

For teachers, students, genealogists, and historians, this document is an indispensable historical resource that captures how the NYA provided education, employment, and training opportunities for young Americans during one of the nation’s most difficult periods.

"Just what is NYA?"

"I heard about a boy at college who got some sort of government scholarship."

"Isn't it the same as the CCC?"

With few exceptions, these were the comments we heard from our friends, educators, bishops, businessmen, and even Government people when we told them: "We are planning to write a book about the National Youth Administration."

We were largely unfamiliar with the NYA. However, the little we had heard piqued our interest in this novel and its intriguing development on the American scene.

We knew, for example, that on June 26, 1935, the National Youth Administration was established by executive order of the President with $50,000,000 of relief funds earmarked for its use.

This was the President's declaration in establishing the NYA:

The President's declaration in establishing the NYA was a reassurance of his commitment to the Nation's unemployed youth: 'We shall do something for the Nation's unemployed youth because we can ill afford to lose their skill and energy. They must have their chance in school, their turn as apprentices, and their opportunity for jobs—a chance to work and earn for themselves.'

It is recognized that the final solution to this whole problem of unemployed youth will not be attained until normal business activities and opportunities for private employment are resumed on a large scale. I believe that the National Youth Program will serve the most pressing and immediate needs of the portion of unemployed youth most seriously affected at the present time.

It is my sincere hope that all public and private agencies, groups, and organizations, as well as educators, recreational leaders, employers, and labor leaders, will wholeheartedly cooperate with the National and State Youth Administrations to further this National Youth Program.

The potential of this investment in the NYA is high, offering hope for the future.

Eleanor Roosevelt Visits a National Youth Administration Project, c. 1940. The photograph depicts First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as she visits students participating in a National Youth Administration program in New England. National Archives and Records Administration, NAID: 7403519. GGA Image ID # 222809e96d

We collected reports of NYA activities, State by State, from all parts of the United States. We pored over columns of figures. But they didn't give a picture of the 327,000 high school and college boys and girls earning from $6 to $40 a month by work planned in their educational institutions and paid for by the Federal Government.

Still, these reports did not give us a comprehension of the program for 155,000 boys and girls from relief families who are earning part-time work from $10 to $25 a month, and many of whom, on their own volunteer time, are receiving related training under the impetus of NYA.

So, with a suitcase in one hand and a notebook and typewriter in the other, we set out to see NYA in action. In our trips, we tried to see as many projects as possible, talk with NYA youth themselves, meet the NYA personnel, visit junior employment services (another NYA activity), get the reactions of local people to the NYA program, and talk with employers who have ex-NYA boys and girls on their payrolls at present.

The best possible introduction to NYA might be through pictures. As the program varies greatly from State to State and even from locality to locality, it is impossible to show all phases in photographs. The pictures on the following pages illustrate the activities of NYA girls and boys.

Except for the high school students, who form a separate and younger group, these young people are 18 to 24 years old and average less than 20 years old. Most of them had never held regular jobs before working for NYA.

Betty and Ernest K. Lindley, A New Deal for Youth: The Story of the National Youth Administration, New York: The Viking Press, 1938.

📌 Key Highlights & Findings

🏛️ Establishment of the NYA

🔹 On June 26, 1935, the NYA was created by an executive order of President Roosevelt, with $50 million allocated for its programs.

🔹 The primary goal was to prevent young Americans from falling into long-term unemployment by providing:

🔹 Work-study programs for high school and college students.

🔹 Job training and apprenticeships for unemployed youth.

🔹 Employment placement assistance to connect youth with private-sector jobs.

🔹 President Roosevelt’s Vision for the NYA:

"We shall do something for the Nation’s unemployed youth because we can ill afford to lose their skill and energy. They must have their chance in school, their turn as apprentices, and their opportunity for jobs—a chance to work and earn for themselves."

This declaration highlights how the NYA wasn’t just a temporary relief program—it was a long-term investment in America’s future workforce.

📊 NYA By the Numbers

The scale of the NYA’s impact is astonishing:

📌 327,000 high school and college students earned between $6 to $40 per month for part-time work at their schools.

📌 155,000 young people from relief families were given part-time work opportunities, earning $10 to $25 per month.

📌 Thousands of youth received on-the-job training, preparing them for skilled employment.

📌 The authors of the report highlight how statistics alone fail to capture the full impact of the NYA, leading them to travel across the U.S. to witness the program firsthand.

🖼️ Noteworthy Images & Their Significance

📷 A National Youth Administration Student Tutor, c. 1940

👉 This photograph depicts an NYA student worker tutoring schoolmates at the New Haven Junior College of Commerce.

✅ Significance: Demonstrates how the NYA expanded access to education by funding jobs within schools themselves, reinforcing the program’s dual focus on work and learning.

📷 Eleanor Roosevelt Visits a National Youth Administration Project, c. 1940

👉 The First Lady is shown visiting NYA participants at a New England site.

✅ Significance: Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the NYA’s strongest advocates, personally touring projects and meeting with youth to assess the program’s success. Her involvement helped generate public support and increase funding.

📌 These images bring the history to life, showing the real people impacted by the NYA rather than just numbers on a page.

🌍 Key Contributions of the NYA

🎓 Work-Study Programs for Students

🔹 High school and college students could work part-time while continuing their education.

🔹 Jobs included library assistants, lab aides, school maintenance, clerical work, and tutoring.

🔹 Goal: Prevent students from dropping out due to financial hardship.

🛠️ Job Training for Unemployed Youth

🔹 For young people not in school, the NYA offered job training in fields such as:

• Construction & mechanics
• Agriculture & farming
• Nursing & public health
• Clerical & office work

📌 Many of these programs were linked to real-world employers, ensuring graduates could transition into the workforce.

📈 Economic & Social Impact

🔹 The NYA helped reduce the risk of long-term unemployment, preventing a “lost generation” of workers.

🔹 Many NYA graduates found stable jobs in the private sector, demonstrating the program’s effectiveness in preparing youth for employment.

🔹 The program helped students stay in school, increasing national literacy and education rates.

👨‍🏫 Why This Document is Important for Educators, Historians & Genealogists

📖 For Teachers & Students

✅ Illustrates how government intervention helped young people during economic crises.

✅ Connects the Great Depression to modern job training programs.

✅ Primary source material for history, economics, and social studies classes.

📜 For Genealogists

✅ Records of NYA participation could help trace family members who received aid or training.

✅ Shows how youth employment patterns evolved during the 1930s.

🏛️ For Historians

✅ Explores the intersection of education, labor policy, and social welfare.

✅ Offers insight into Eleanor Roosevelt’s activism and influence.

✅ Demonstrates how New Deal programs shaped modern workforce policies.

⚖️ Discussion of Bias in the Content

📌 Potential Biases in the Report

🔹 The authors are overwhelmingly positive about the NYA, focusing on its successes rather than challenges or failures.

🔹 There is little discussion of racial or gender disparities in NYA participation.

🔹 The program’s limitations—such as its inability to solve long-term youth unemployment—are not critically examined.

📌 Why This Bias Matters

To fully understand the NYA’s impact, it’s important to cross-reference this report with other sources, including:

🔹 Congressional debates on NYA funding & effectiveness.

🔹 Personal testimonies from NYA participants.

🔹 Critiques from labor unions & social activists.

🏗️ Final Thoughts: The NYA’s Lasting Legacy

The National Youth Administration was a groundbreaking program, laying the foundation for modern workforce training initiatives. By combining education, job training, and financial aid, it helped a generation of young Americans survive the Great Depression and build stable careers.

📌 This 1938 report provides a valuable window into how government intervention can reshape an entire generation’s future. 🌎✨