WPA Project Cards (Dunn - Iron)

United States. Work Projects Administration. Office of the Wisconsin State Administrator. Project card file records, 1936-1942 (Series 1688).

The WPA was a federal government program intended to put the unemployed back to work and stimulate the economy during the Great Depression. Between 1935 and 1943, the WPA employed 43,000 people per year on Wisconsin construction projects. They created 22,889 miles of roads, erected 1,456 new buildings, laid 1,588 miles of water pipes and sewers, constructed 504 dams, built 17 airports, and planted 63 million trees.

Each project was tracked on a 5x8" file card. These contain a description of the job, location, supervising agency or sponsor, beginning dates, completion ending date, funds needed, expenses incurred, and much more. These cards are shown here, arranged alphabetically by county and thereunder by town, township, or city. No cards survived for about a third of Wisconsin counties: Brown, Calumet, Door, Florence, Fond du Lac, Forest, Kenosha, Kewanee, Langlade, Lincoln, Manitowoc, Polk, Portage, Price, Richland, Rock, Rusk, St. Croix, Sauk, Sawyer, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vernon, Walworth, Washburn, Waushara, and Wood all have no cards.

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