Federal Project Number One
English 11
Because of the depression that wrecked the United States in the 1930s, patronage of the arts declined greatly. It had once been a leisure to attend art shows and plays but could no longer be supported in hard times with very little money. The president at the time, Roosevelt, believed the economy could only be improved once the quality of life had risen (From Crash to a New Identity: The formation of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project, line five) and began to aid artists of all types. This was called Federal Project Number One. This project lasted for only four years but greatly helped to improve the life of actors and theaters workers. Though failing only a short time after being created, this project helped the nation in its time or need and created a lasting effect. Artists were often the first to lose their jobs and livelihoods because their occupation depended upon other’s need for entertainment and during a depression, many do not have time or the money to find entertainment through art. Federal Project Number One (which became known as Federal One) aimed to validate the need for artist, just as factory workers were needed (Federal Theatre: Melodrama, Social Protest and Genius, line 31). Federal One “sponsored performance in hospitals, schools, CCC camps, parks and in the streets” which helped to create jobs for theater workers and actors. Roosevelt hoped this project would also keep an educational side to it as well. “Hopkins implemented Roosevelt’s earlier request for a national theatrical project or series of projects that would provide musical and dramatic entertainment for small and remote communities, a long time interest of both Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt. The affinity of this concept with the philosophy and social service was made clear by the president’s emphasis on the educational purpose in these projects” (Federal Theatre). The federal government was not often a patron of the arts, which often led
Because of the depression that wrecked the United States in the 1930s, patronage of the arts declined greatly. It had once been a leisure to attend art shows and plays but could no longer be supported in hard times with very little money. The president at the time, Roosevelt, believed the economy could only be improved once the quality of life had risen (From Crash to a New Identity: The formation of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project, line five) and began to aid artists of all types. This was called Federal Project Number One. This project lasted for only four years but greatly helped to improve the life of actors and theaters workers. Though failing only a short time after being created, this project helped the nation in its time or need and created a lasting effect. Artists were often the first to lose their jobs and livelihoods because their occupation depended upon other’s need for entertainment and during a depression, many do not have time or the money to find entertainment through art. Federal Project Number One (which became known as Federal One) aimed to validate the need for artist, just as factory workers were needed (Federal Theatre: Melodrama, Social Protest and Genius, line 31). Federal One “sponsored performance in hospitals, schools, CCC camps, parks and in the streets” which helped to create jobs for theater workers and actors. Roosevelt hoped this project would also keep an educational side to it as well. “Hopkins implemented Roosevelt’s earlier request for a national theatrical project or series of projects that would provide musical and dramatic entertainment for small and remote communities, a long time interest of both Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt. The affinity of this concept with the philosophy and social service was made clear by the president’s emphasis on the educational purpose in these projects” (Federal Theatre). The federal government was not often a patron of the arts, which often led