1942: Work Projects Administration

The activities of the Work Projects Administration during 1942 were largely directed toward the war effort. Special provisions incorporated by Congress in the Act appropriating funds for WPA operations in the fiscal year 1942, as in 1941, facilitated the cooperation of the WPA in the Nation's war program. Projects certified by the Secretary of War or the Secretary of the Navy as important for military or naval purposes were exempted from many restrictions that usually apply to WPA projects, thus speeding their completion.

More than two-fifths of the total WPA employment on June 30, 1942 was devoted to war projects. The general scope of WPA activities did not materially change, however, and valuable contributions were made to the physical facilities and public services of communities throughout the country. The construction and improvement of highways, roads, and streets continued to be a major activity. New airports were built and many enlarged or improved.

WPA workers continued to construct and improve public buildings, including armories, mess halls, warehouses, and other buildings at military and naval establishments. Among the public buildings were schools, hospitals, libraries, gymnasiums, and other structures for community use.

WPA activities provided a wide variety of community services important to the public welfare. These services included adult education classes; nursery schools; school lunches; medical and health services; and clerical, research, and professional assistance to many local and Federal governmental agencies.

A major activity of the WPA since July 1940 has been the vocational training project set up under the national defense program. Through this project workers are trained in those manual occupations essential to war industries. At the end of June 1942 about 36,000 WPA workers were employed on training projects, bringing the total number enrolled in vocational training courses during the two-year period to about 265,000.

Under the nation-wide scrap collection project sponsored by the War Production Board the WPA expanded its work of removing steel rails. Between Oct. 1, 1941, and Sept. 30, 1942, nearly 96,000 tons of steel rails were collected. The WPA also participated in the collection of scrap from agricultural and urban sources in cooperation with the WPB. WPA workers collected 194,000 tons of scrap metal from the latter part of April through Oct. 20, 1942.

The WPA nursery school program, in operation in every state, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands since July 1935, has almost doubled its activities in response to war needs. Special provision for this program was made in the 1943 Appropriation Act which stipulated that not less than $6,000,000 of appropriated funds be used for day nurseries and nursery schools for children of employed mothers.

The WPA program operated on a smaller scale during the fiscal year 1942 than in any previous year. During this period an average of about 970,000 workers were employed on WPA projects.

Under orders of President Roosevelt issued on Dec. 4, 1942, however, the Work Projects Administration will be liquidated as promptly as possible during the first half of 1943. Because of increasing job opportunities for project workers, work relief project operations will be closed out in many states by February 1943 and in others thereafter as soon as feasible.