The Works Progress Administration put some 8.5 million people to work over 11 million were unemployed in 1934 at a cost to the federal government of approximately $11 billion. The agency’s construction projects produced more than 650,000 miles of roads; 125,000 public buildings; 75,000 bridges; 8,000 parks; and 800 airports. The Federal Arts Project, Federal Writers’ Project, and Federal Theater Project all under WPA ages employed thousands of artists, writers, and actors in such cultural programs as the creation of art work for public buildings, the documentation of local life, and the organization of community theaters; thousands of artists, architects, construction workers, and educators found work in American museums, which flourished during the Great Depression. The WPA also sponsored the National Youth Administration, which sought part-time jobs for young people.
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