Works Progress Administration

Cultural  

1. A program of the New Deal in the 1930s. The WPA built sidewalks, government buildings, and similar public works throughout the United States. During the Great Depression, the WPA employed many people who could not find other work.

---

Example Sentences

To provide work for the unemployed, FDR formed the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration that mobilized nearly nine million people to build 8,000 parks, 75,000 bridges and 650,000 miles of roads.

From Salon • Jul. 30, 2025

Reyes is currently exploring these questions by studying aetosaur fossils in the Jackson School's collection, most of which were found during the 1940s as part of excavations done by the Works Progress Administration.

From Science Daily • Mar. 18, 2024

In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration also opened quarries across the state that yielded discoveries, many of which are stored in collections at the University of Texas at Austin but seldom displayed.

From New York Times • Jul. 17, 2023

What’s not as visible at the show is how the Works Progress Administration shaped TPG artists’ awareness of art’s capacity to enlighten audiences.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2023

After 1933, Lawrence even tapped federal New Deal programs such as the Works Progress Administration and the National Youth Authority, which supported as many as fifteen researchers a year.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik