MS 314 WPA Collection
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- San Diego History Center Document Collection
- Creator
- United States. Works Progress Administration.
- Title
- WPA Collection
- ID
- MS 314
- Date [bulk]
- Bulk, 1937-1942
- Date [inclusive]
- 1835-1942
- Extent
- 5.5 Linear feet (11 boxes)
- Language
- English
- Abstract
- This is an artificial collection of bound works created under several projects funded by the Works Progress Administration in San Diego during the late 1930s.
Preferred Citation
WPA Collection, MS 314, San Diego History Center Document Archives, San Diego, CA.
Biographical / Historical Notes
The Works Progress Administration was a New Deal agency formed in 1935 to alleviate unemployment. 8.5 million people were employed by the WPA over eight years, primarily unskilled labor carrying out public works projects such as the construction of buildings and roads. Some of the smaller projects such as Federal Project Number One employed musicians, writers, and other artists for large media and literacy projects.
Most of the items in this collection were created for the City Library Extension Project, the City Schools Curriculum Project, or the Federal Writers’ Project. The City Library Extension Project had workers rebind pre-existing publications for use in local libraries. The San Diego City Schools Curriculum Project employed dozens of local workers to produce educational materials for numerous subjects and then test them in classrooms. Approximately 500 copies were produced of each approved work. The Federal Writers’ Project, run under the auspice of Federal Project Number One, funded the creation of local histories, oral histories, ethnographies, children’s books, and other civic-minded works.
Scope and Content
This is an artificial collection of bound works created under several projects funded by the Works Progress Administration in San Diego during the late 1930s. These include pre-existing publications rebound for library use, educational materials developed for classroom use, and local history materials on place names and historic landmarks.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in four series:
Series I: City Library Extension Project;
Series II: City Schools Curriculum Project;
Series III: Federal Writers’ Project;
Series IV: Miscellanea.
Within each series, publications are arranged alphabetically by title.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
San Diego History Center Document Collection December 29, 2016
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA, 92101
619-232-6203
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Brent Stout in May 2016.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- City Library Extension Project.
- City Schools Curriculum Project.
- Federal Writers Project.
Collection Inventory
Series I: City Library Extension Project |
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| Box-folder | ||||
| Across The Plains in 1859: The Journal of an Emigrant (J.A. Wilkinson), 1859 | 1:1 | |||
| Cabrillo 1542, by Charles Lummis, 1913 | 9:1 | |||
| The Culture of the Luiseno Indians, by Philip Stedman Sparkman, 1908 August 7 | 1:2 | |||
| Diary of Miguel Costano, 1911 August | 1:3 | |||
| Diary of Nelson Kingsley, 1914 December | 1:4 | |||
| Diary of Pedro Fages, 1911 July | 1:5 | |||
| Doniphan’s Expedition: Account of the Conquest of New Mexico, by Alexander William Doniphan, 1914 | 1:6 | |||
| Hammond’s Modern Atlas of the World, undated | 9:2 | |||
| Landmarks of California, 1932-1937 | 2:1 | |||
| On Land and Sea: California in Years 1843-44-45, by William H. Thomes, 1892 | 2:2 | |||
| The Narrative of the Portola Expedition of 1769-1770, 1910 March | 2:3 | |||
| San Diego County Place Names: A-F, by Lena B. Hunsicker, undated | 2:4 | |||
| San Diego County Place Names: G-O, by Lena B. Hunsicker, undated | 3:1 | |||
| San Diego County Place Names: P-Z, by Lena B. Hunsicker, undated | 3:2 | |||
| Santa Fe Trail, Patch to Empire, by Frederick Simpich, 1929 | 3:3 | |||
| Selections from Picturesque San Diego by Douglas Gunn, undated | 9:3 | |||
| Short Diary of Pedro Font, 1913 March | 3:4 | |||
| Southern California I-IV, 1900 | 9:4 | |||
| Southern California V-VIII, 1900 | 9:5 | |||
| Southern California IX-XII, 1900 | 9:6 | |||
| Southwestern Adventure an Exploration, 1938 | 3:5 | |||
| The Story of San Diego, by Walter Gifford Smith, 1892 | 3:6 | |||
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Series II: City Schools Curriculum Project |
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| Box-folder | ||||
| A Guide to San Diego Libraries, 1940 | 4:1 | |||
| Arts and Crafts of the Pueblo Indians for Teacher Reference, 1941 | 4:2 | |||
| Customs and Culture of the Pueblo Indians for Teacher Reference, 1940 | 4:3 | |||
| Gauges used by U.S. Bureau of Standards 1, 1939 | 10:1 | |||
| Gauges used by U.S. Bureau of Standards 2, 1939 | 10:2 | |||
| Horton Builds a City, by John Baker, 1940 | 4:4 | |||
| How the Family Gets Its Food, 1938-1939 | 4:5 | |||
| How the Family Lives at Home, 1938-1939 | 4:6 | |||
| How the Family Travels, 1938-1939 | 4:7 | |||
| Let’s Go to the Zoo, by Janette Pratt, 1936 | 4:8 | |||
| Markets and Marketing, 1938-1939 | 5:1 | |||
| Markets 2, 1939 | 10:3 | |||
| Medical Discoveries 1, 1939 | 10:4 | |||
| Medical Discoveries 2, 1939 | 10:5 | |||
| Mexico, 1939 | 10:6 | |||
| Mount Palomar Window to the Stars, by Hardigan Clower, 1940 | 5:2 | |||
| Operating the City Government of San Diego, by Amy Hart Campbell, 1938 | 5:3 | |||
| Our Use of Water, 1938-1939 | 5:4 | |||
| Out West 1, 1939 | 11:1 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Communication and Records, 1938 | 5:5 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Heat and Light, 1938 | 5:6 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: How the Family gets its Food, 1938 | 5:7 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: How the Family Lives at Home, 1938 | 5:8 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: How the Family Travels, 1938 | 5:9 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Living in a Chinese or a Japanese Home, 1938 | 5:10 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Living in a Pueblo Indian Home, 1938 | 5:11 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Living in California, 1938 | 6:1 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Living in our City, 1938 | 6:2 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Our Animal Friends, 1938 | 6:3 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Our use of the Forest, 1938 | 6:4 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Our use of Water, 1938 | 6:5 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Time, 1938 | 6:6 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Tools and Utensils, 1938 | 6:7 | |||
| Poetry Supplement: Transportation, 1938 | 6:8 | |||
| Rulers and Statesmen, 1939 | 11:2 | |||
| San Diego has Five Beaches, by James Clarke, 1941 | 6:9 | |||
| San Diego County Government, by Rose Roberts, 1942 | 6:10 | |||
| Time, 1938-1939 | 6:11 | |||
| Vocations: Painting and Decorating, by Edward Sievers, 1941 | 6:12 | |||
| Water Front, by Murray Knowlton, 1937 | 6:13 | |||
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Series III: Federal Writers’ Project |
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| Box-folder | ||||
| Court of the Port of San Diego: Record Book A, 1835-1839 | 7:1 | |||
| Place Names of San Diego County: A to L (Bawden) c.1938 | 7:2 | |||
| Place Names of San Diego County: M to Z (Bawden), c.1938 | 7:3 | |||
| Place Names of San Diego County # 2 (Bawden), c.1938 | 7:4 | |||
| Place Names of San Diego County # 3 (Bawden), c.1938 | 7:5 | |||
| Place Names of San Diego County # 4 (Bawden), c.1938 | 7:6 | |||
| Place Names of San Diego County # 5 (Bawden), c.1938 | 7:7 | |||
| Place Names of San Diego County # 6 (Bawden), c.1938 | 8:1 | |||
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Series IV: Miscellanea |
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| Box-folder | ||||
| The Adobe Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, by George Tays, 1937 | 8:2 | |||
| California Historical Landmark Series: Tip of Ballast Point, by Victor R. Jewett, 1937 | 8:3 | |||
| History of California State Parks: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, by Kathleen Camilla Wade, 1937 | 8:4 | |||
| La Punta de los Muertos San Diego County, by James Nebergall, 1939 | 8:5 | |||
| San Diego County: San Diego County Planning Commission 1937, 1937 | 8:6 | |||
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