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.

Tarleton Thursdays - Stephenville Historic Resources Survey

In the spring semester of 2015, Dr. T. Lindsay Baker, W.K. Gordon endowed chair in history, and his students in HIST 5309 (Historic Preservation) and HIST 4350 (Special Topics) partnered with the City of Stephenville to identify and document historic, mostly commercial structures within a 25 block area surrounding the Erath County Courthouse and the square, as well as additional sites outside of this area selected by the city.  The students used recording forms approved by the Texas Historical Commission, adding photographs and other research documents.

The result was called the Stephenville Historic Resources Survey.  Dr. Baker recently donated a copy of this survey, as well as the accompanying research files for the 147 sites and other supporting material, to the Dick Smith Library, along with digital copies of the photographs from the project.

A nearly-21-block area downtown was initially identified, with over half of the buildings surveyed in it considered to be contributing to a historic district designation on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).  Further work by the expert consultant hired by the city, Mary Saltarelli, has expanded the district to include a total of 120 buildings, with 77 of those (63%) contributing.  The minimum requirement is 51 percent to be considered for placement on the registry.  Being listed on the registry can bring tax incentives and other benefits to the downtown area and property owners.

While the original research files will be preserved, the library hopes to make copies of the files available in the Local History Room in the Special Collections Suite on the lower level of the Dick Smith Library, where users can access them to learn the history of their homes or buildings.

Here are just a few examples of buildings that are part of the proposed district.  The first building pictured, the First National Bank building on the square, built in 1889, has been a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark since 1994.  On July 21, 2015, it was added to the NRHP as an individual building, and in February 2017, it received a Preservation Texas Honor Award for its restoration and rehabilitation.

Above:  198 S Belknap Ave., First National Bank Building.  Photo by T. Lindsay Baker, 4 May 2015.

Below:  160 E Washington St., W.W. Rutherford Building.   Photo by T. Lindsay Baker, 3 May 2015.

Below:  154 E Washington St., Tatum and Sons Building.  Photo by T. Lindsay Baker, 3 May 2015.

Research by the library's Special Services and Archives staff using old Sanborn insurance maps shows that the first floor of the Tatum building was actually constructed between September 1902 and November 1907, which corresponds with a large increase in the property's value in 1905, the estimated construction year for the first floor (a grocery warehouse on that 1907 Sanborn map).  
The second floor was added in 1920.

On this building, the first floor is made of stone while the second floor is made of brick.  The cast iron columns by the entry were furnished by Fort Worth Iron Works, and were added before 1920.  

Digital Public Library of America

We told you a couple of months ago that the Tarleton Grassburrs are now online, through the Portal to Texas History. Did you know, though, that because they are in the Portal to Texas History, they are also included in the Digital Public Library of America? You can find them in the DPLA using this search link.*

Screenshot of DPLA Homepage 4/17/2014

The DPLA is a nationwide digital library that partners with regional digital libraries, such as the Portal to Texas History, and institutions like the New York Public Library and the Smithsonian to bring you content from all over the country in one place. You can search by date, keyword or by place. As you can see below, there are many items from the Stephenville area in the DPLA!

So, get out there and explore the DPLA!  You might find the perfect picture, newspaper article, book or other primary source for your research, or discover something completely new about your home town.

*Updated 4/18/2014 to add direct link to Grassburrs.