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Guide to the Wyoming Works Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project Files, 1935-1942

Wyoming State Archives

Wyoming State Archives
2301 Central Avenue
Barrett Building
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002
USA
Email: wyarchive@wyo.gov

© 2016


Collection Summary
	Title	Wyoming Works Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project Files
	Dates (Inclusive)	1935-1942
	Creator	Writers’ Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Wyoming
	Abstract	Project files created by the Wyoming Works Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project and the Wyoming Historical Records Survey.
	Collection Number	WPA
	Size	60 cubic feet
	Repository	Wyoming State Archives
	Languages	English

Historical Note

In August 1935, Jacob Baker, head of the Works Division of the recently created Works Progress Administration (WPA), announced to the American public that a program of relief for white-collared, professional workers would be soon forthcoming. He called for state administrators to submit project proposals to the Washington office for approval. This action was the beginning of a six year program, comprised of many individual projects, to provide worthwhile employment for the jobless professionals, especially those in the fields of art, writing and music.

In response to Baker's call for state projects, Wyoming's state librarian, Alice Lyman, conceived of a program whereby researchers and writers could be utilized to collect and preserve the state's unique historical heritage. She suggested the creation of a State Wide Historical Project to be funded by the WPA and administered by the Federal Writers' Project, whose purpose would be to gather historical information concerning the state's pioneer period. This data would then be preserved in the state library. This project received federal approval early in 1936 and continued through 1937.

At the same time, the central office of the WPA Federal Writers' Project in Washington conceived of the publication of a guide to America's scenic, cultural, historical and physical attractions. The Writers' Project in Wyoming, therefore, received instructions from Washington to prepare materials for the proposed guide. Wyoming, like all the other states, eventually prepared and published a guide book for the state as well as contributed material which was included in The American Guide, edited by Henry G. Alsberg, the first national director of the Federal Writers' Project. Work on this project commenced late in 1935 and continued through the publication of Wyoming: A Guide to Its History, Highways and People in 1941.

A third project which was, for a time, under the direction of the WPA Writers' Project, was the Federal Records Survey. This project proposed to inventory the federal, state, county, city and church records existing in the United States. Wyoming joined this effort in 1935. The Federal Records Survey in Wyoming inventoried the public records in all Wyoming counties and eventually published inventories to the records of several Wyoming counties. The Records Survey sought merely to list the public record holdings in Wyoming's county courthouses--it did not collect these records in a central repository. Fortunately, since the expiration of the Federal Records Survey, many of the county records in Wyoming have been microfilmed and are centrally available through the Archives Division of the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department.

Following the termination of the Statewide Historical Project in late 1937, the primary objective of the Federal Writers' Project in Wyoming was to complete the guide book. As that publication approached completion, a number of smaller projects were undertaken. Among those were a history of grazing in the state, a history of the Wyoming National Guard, a book of Wyoming place names, and a small national study entitled "America Eats." The Wyoming Writers' Project contributed to all of these studies. The National Guard study was published in 1940 and a number of recipes were submitted to the national office for inclusion in "America Eats." The other projects were not completed by the outset of World War II. The need to direct all available Federal funds into the war effort led to the termination of the Federal Writers' Project and the Federal Records Survey. Work on these projects in Wyoming, for intents and purposes, ended late in 1941, but the administrative offices did not officially close until well into 1942.

Arrangement

Numerical by file number within four series. Item level inventory written by Gordon Olaf Hendrickson and published by Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department in 1977 available on-site.

Scope and Content

This collection contains the project files created by the Wyoming Works Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project and the Wyoming Historical Records Survey between 1935 and 1942. Files contain personal memoirs, information collected through interviews with longtime residents and pioneers, some photographs, transcriptions of newspaper articles, and records surveys for counties, municipalities and churches. Administrative files are also included.

The collection has been divided into four sections. The first section includes a listing of the Wyoming pioneers on whom the State Wide Historical Project collected biographical data. The second, and largest, section of the inventory is a listing of the subject headings under which are filed materials collected as a part of the State Wide Historical Project, the effort to publish the Wyoming Guide, and the other smaller projects of the Wyoming Writers' Project. Those folders bearing numbers 1151 through 1599 comprise the bulk of the material collected for the Wyoming guide book. The remaining folders contain the data collected for the other projects, like the history of grazing, history of the Wyoming National Guard, and Wyoming’s submission for “America Eats”. The third section lists the administrative records of the Federal Writers' Project in Wyoming. The fourth section is an inventory of the materials, both the working papers and the administrative files, of the Federal Records Survey in Wyoming.

Alternate Formats Available

Digital copies of the files are available in the WSA Digital Collections database as searchable PDF files.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Copy Restrictions

Limited duplication of print materials allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Preferred Citation

Item description, WPA file number, Works Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project Files, Wyoming State Archives.

Processing Information

Files maintained in their original order. Inventory prepared by Gordon Olaf Hendrickson and published by Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department in 1977 with funding from the Wyoming State Legislature and the Wyoming Bicentennial Commission. Files scanned by department in 2014 and maintained on-site.

Acquisition Information

In 1936, the Wyoming State Library became the federally mandated sponsor of the Federal Writers' Project in Wyoming. When the department was reorganized, the files were transferred to the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department, which became the Wyoming State Archives.

Description	Container

Series I: Biographical Files

Description	Container

Series II: Subject Files

Description	Container

Series III: Administrative Files

Description	Container

Series IV: State Records Survey Files

Guide to the Wyoming Works Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project Files, 1935-1942

Wyoming State Archives

Access Restrictions

Copy Restrictions

Container List