Watching the stock market this year, hearing from countless newscasters regarding the trillions of dollars that have been lost in the markets, and observing the growing numbers of job layoffs might lead one to believe that more than just an economic slow-down is around the corner. And while words like recession and depression concern us, those words should also remind genealogists of the nearly countless tomes of information compiled by a government program during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The Work Projects Administration (WPA) was a federal agency created in 1935 to provide work for Americans who lost their jobs as a result of the depression. Originally called the Works Progress Administration, this agency employed more than eight million Americans during its more than eight years of operation. While many WPA workers helped build bridges, roads, county fairgrounds, and airports, many other workers participated in projects that inventoried the official records of thousands of communities, documented the lives of thousands of Americans, and created indexes to important records that researchers use today. These records and indexes have proven so useful that many researchers lament that this government program is not in existence today.

Genealogists should be aware of the WPA publications in the areas in which they are conducting research. In many states, historical records survey programs were established as a branch or division of the federal WPA. Other states had a state WPA, such as the Indiana Works Project Administration. While the organization of the compiling entities may have varied from state to state, any indexes, collections of interviews and photographs, surveys, guides, and histories associated with the WPA are worth exploring.

A detailed listing for both the state records and county records follows the important legal requirements sections for each of the four record groups. The state records sections include specific information about what data was recorded on the record during the various time periods. It also indicates the size of the records collection. The county records sections list the counties for each record group and describe the records kept by time period. One could not hope for a more detailed historic description of vital records in Iowa. A researcher should seek such a book for every state in which he or she is doing research.

Using the Inventory of the County Archives of New Jersey as an example, a researcher would find Bergen County listed as No. 2 in the series. It contains nearly three hundred pages of inventories, citations, and descriptions for the county. The volume begins with a detailed table of contents, similar to the type of calendaring done with manuscript collections. A history of the county and the county’s governmental structure is provided, as well as a historical accounting of its record-keeping system. As with numerous WPA compilations, the general history sections are heavily footnoted. It even includes a flowchart of the county government to help researchers understand the reporting and recording structures. Many researchers neglect this important step of context building; however, it is critical to most successful research endeavors.

Following the four historical sections in this particular work are forty-five sections that detail specific county offices and their respective records. Literally every office that compiled records is listed with a history of the office, a description of the records maintained by the office, and an inventory of each record group. Researchers will find sections ranging from the county clerk, court of chancery, and board of taxation to the mosquito extermination commission, jail keeper, and sinking fund commission.

Having access to an inventory of county archives publications can be a researcher’s dream. These publications provide detail about the records that were kept and where they were housed in the early part of the twentieth century. Knowing the office to which a record group was historically associated can be of assistance when locating the records today.

Other surveys included more detail and divided the denominations into various volumes. Volume 1 of the Preliminary List of Churches and Religious Organizations in Oklahoma covers four denominations: the Southern Baptist Convention, Disciples of Christ, Methodists, and the Roman Catholic Church. In this volume, though, the names and locations of more than two thousand churches are given, along with the association, district, conference, or diocese to which the church belonged and the name of the pastor, priest, or preacher. It also notes if the church is defunct or no longer active.

Some states, such as New York, found that their churches were so numerous that a separate inventory for nearly each denomination was required. As the geographic area covered by these inventories of religious bodies shrunk, the amount of data provided for each church increased dramatically.

Another outstanding program initiated by Indiana’s WPA was a series of county books called "indexes of names of persons and of firms." This project worked to identify all the significant published histories for a county and to compile a single-alphabet index to all the people, organizations, and institutions listed in each county’s works. Only about half of Indiana counties were completed when WPA was cancelled to support the war effort. But the project was considered so worthwhile that the Indiana State Library and the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne finished indexing the remaining counties.

Interviewing former slaves was one of the more widely recognized WPA projects. Numerous volumes have been produced that contain transcriptions of these valuable oral histories. Researchers can glean details about an individual’s life, where he or she may have lived, and the families with which he or she may have associated. Many of these WPA slave narratives were reprinted by Greenwood Press.

The Works Project Administration compiled so many useful sources for genealogists in chronicling the lives and times of their ancestors that it is no wonder many researchers long for another similar project. Imagine using federal tax dollars to index records, compile guides, conduct inventories, and interview ancestors! And the compilations mentioned above are not even close to a complete list of WPA publications and projects. Recall that we have the WPA to thank for the soundex indexes to the later census records.

Researchers should be aware of a couple cautionary notes when using WPA compilations. First, WPA publications for some areas of the country have been criticized for their lack of comprehensiveness and accuracy–a concern for any secondary or compiled information. How informed the informant or compiler was will definitely impact the publication’s usefulness. Regardless, the quantity and consistency of the data make these WPA publications a must for genealogists.

Second, the WPA might not have compiled a particular type of work for every county in a given state. Counties were sometimes missed in the compilation of inventories for reasons that are not especially clear. Remember, too, that World War II brought the WPA and its projects to an end. Many projects were far from complete when WPA activities were halted.

To search for the WPA’s compilations, check the state library in the state you are conducting research. Since all extant state libraries have a Web site, checking an online catalog for WPA publications should be relatively easy. There are a number of Web pages that have direct links to all of the state libraries. These WPA publications can shed some wonderful light on the research challenges one might be facing.

Researchers should never underestimate the value of state library collections. In the few states that don’t have a state library, check the resources of the state historical society. Or, check the local libraries in the towns and counties where research is being conducted, as well as major genealogical research facilities such as the Family History Library, the Allen County Public Library, the Historical Society of Wisconsin, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the DAR Library.

Return to the May/June 2001 Table of Contents.