The Living New Deal

The Living New Deal is a non-profit organization that exists to document all of the public works that were created by various New Deal programs from 1933-43. Several professors at the University of California-Berkeley began this project in 2005 by gathering information on New Deal public works projects in California. In 2010, they expanded and began documenting projects nationally. The New Deal refers to a wide range of economic programs that President Franklin Roosevelt's administration enacted in response to the Great Depression. 

The Living New Deal's website contains a wealth of information and resources. My favorite tool is the map. You can use navigation tools in the map to either zoom in or search for a specific location in the United States and see New Deal public works projects in the area. 

Map from the Living New Deal website.
Each red dot represents a public works project built by a New Deal program between 1933-43. 

Close up view of Stephenville and surrounding towns reveals several New Deal projects in the area.  

This map reveals that there are two buildings in Stephenville that were built by New Deal programs. One is the current Public Library and former post office building located at 174 N. Columbia Street. It was funded by the US Treasury Department and completed in 1935.

Current Stephenville Public Library and former post office.
The building was a New Deal public works project completed in 1935.
Michael Barera [CC BY-SA 4.0  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), from Wikimedia Commons.

The other is the Recreation Hall located at 378 W. Long Street. It was built the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and completed in 1938. Today it houses the offices of the Stephenville's Parks and Recreation Department.

Recreation Hall in Stephenville. Built by the WPA in 1938.
Joshua Wallace - Photographer & Copyright Holder, 2018. 

If you want to learn more about the New Deal, the Dick Smith library has a large collection of items on the subject. Such as these titles:

Digital Film:
A Chaos of Experimentation

Books & eBooks:
A Concise History of the New Deal by Jason Scott Smith
The Crash of '29 and the New Deal by Bruce Glassman
Designing a New America: The Origins of New Deal Planning, 1890-1943 by Patrick D. Reagan

The Great Depression & the New Deal: A Very Short Introduction by Eric Rauchway

Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement by Neil M. Maher 

The New Deal by David E. Hamilton
The New Deal: America's Response to the Great Depression by Ronald Edsforth
The New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs by Francis V. O'Connor
The New Deal: The Depression Years, 1933-40 by Anthony J. Badger

Contact us at 254-968-9249 or reference@tarleton.edu if you have any questions about library resources on the New Deal or any other topic.