Works Progress Administration

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

They lived in the tiger grotto and were fed at the Art Deco-style Lion House, built for the original Fleishhacker Zoo by the Works Progress Administration.

From Los Angeles Times

She and her younger sister attended free acting and dance classes taught by out-of-work artists through the federal Works Progress Administration.

From Los Angeles Times

Albro had studied under a student of Diego Rivera’s and would go on to become one of the country’s foremost female muralists, working with the Works Progress Administration on projects including murals at San Francisco’s Coit Tower.

From Los Angeles Times

The Prometheus statue by artist Nina Saemundsson was erected in 1935 by the federal Works Progress Administration and is one of several art pieces in the park.

From Los Angeles Times