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.

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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

His goal: uncover the forgotten history of national park poster art created by designers and printers working for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 23, 2023

Born in Pittsburgh in 1909, Brown moved to Cleveland at 20 and worked as a social-realist muralist for the Works Progress Administration, and later as a designer at American Greetings, a greeting card company.

From New York Times • May 25, 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