Image Tour
Recording America's Story
![Poster for the guide book series featuring a laudatory quote from Louis Bromfield's review in the New York Herald Tribune.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZC2-5780.jpg)
Pulitzer Prize winning author Louis Bromfield whole-heartedly endorses the American Guide Series in this 1941 advertisement.
![Zora Neale Hurston, half-length portrait, standing, facing front, looking at book, American Stuff, at New York Times Book Fair](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZ62-126945.jpg)
Before writing her acclaimed novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston worked for the Federal Writers' Project in Florida. Here, Hurston holds American Stuff, a compilation of works by various authors employed by the Federal Writers' Project.
![Nevada's guide book sits on display at the Nevada State Fair circa 1938](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-DIG-ppmsca-25377.jpg)
Nevada's guide book sits on display at the Nevada State Fair circa 1938.
![Paul Comly French, State Director of the Pennsylvania Unit, W.P.A. Federal Writers' Project, half-length portrait, seated at desk, writing, facing left, smoke pipe in his mouth](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZ62-128329.jpg)
Paul Comly French, shown here at his desk, served as the director of the Federal Writers' Project in Pennsylvania.
![Photograph shows Henry Alsberg, director of the Federal Writers' Project from 1935 to 1939, standing on a city sidewalk.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-DIG-ds-07663.jpg)
Experienced in publishing, Henry Alsberg served as the director of the Federal Writers' Project from 1935 to 1939.
![The Federal Writers' Project had units stationed all around the country but was headquartered in Washington, D.C. Here, Director Henry Alsberg sits with writer Dorothea Hettwer at project headquarters.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-DIG-ds-07665.jpg)
The Federal Writers' Project had units stationed all around the country but was headquartered in Washington, D.C. Here, Director Henry Alsberg sits with writer Dorothea Hettwer at project headquarters.
![Poster showing stylized eagle and quotation from President Franklin Roosevelt about the Writers' Project.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZC2-3733.jpg)
This poster for the American Guide Series encourages Americans to "Take Pride in Your Country."
![This poster promotes the state guide for Illinois. Although the federal government funded the payroll for the writers, each state was responsible for publishing its guide book.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZC2-5191.jpg)
This poster promotes the state guide for Illinois. Although the federal government funded the payroll for the writers, each state was responsible for publishing its guide book.
![Poster for Federal Writers' Project of California advertising](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZC2-964.jpg)
This poster advertises "A Guide to the Golden State."
![Poster for WPA Federal Writers' Project, 110 King Street, New York City,](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZC2-1012.jpg)
The state guides were supplemented by additional publications focused on specific topics and themes. This poster advertises the guide to winter sports in the Northeast.
![As the director of the Works Progress Administration, Harry Hopkins helped create jobs for millions of unemployed Americans, including those employed through the Federal Writers' Project.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-DIG-hec-24402.jpg)
As the director of the Works Progress Administration, Harry Hopkins helped create jobs for millions of unemployed Americans, including those employed through the Federal Writers' Project.
![As Secretary of Commerce, Harry Hopkins continued to advocate for the creation of jobs.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-DIG-hlb-00346.jpg)
As Secretary of Commerce, Harry Hopkins continued to advocate for the creation of jobs.
![Poster advertising WPA Federal Writers' Project illustrated guide to natural history.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZC2-958.jpg)
The workers of the Federal Writers' Project extended their research to cover natural history in the guide this poster advertises.
![Poster advertising WPA Federal Writers' Project illustrated guide to natural history of birds of the world.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZC2-965.jpg)
This poster promotes a guide presenting the natural history of "Birds of the World."
![Portrait of Richard Wright](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZ62-42502.jpg)
Mississippi novelist Richard Wright found employment through the Federal Writers' Project during the Great Depression.
He later become known for his renowned 1940 novel Native Son.
![Claude McKay, half-length portrait, facing right](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZ62-105919.jpg)
A prominent poet of the Harlem Renaissance era, Claude McKay was a writer for the Federal Writers' Project. His poem, "A Song of the Moon," is featured in American Stuff: An Anthology of Prose & Verse by Members of the Federal Writers' Project.
![Colonel F.C. Harrington](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-DIG-hec-25617.jpg)
When President Roosevelt appointed Harry Hopkins Secretary of Commerce in 1938, Colonel F.C. Harrington became the new director of the WPA.
![Poster showing a child drawing.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-USZC2-887.jpg)
In addition to designing promotional posters, the Federal Arts Project in Illinois instructed art classes for children in the community.
![WPA mural, Cohen Building, Washington, D.C.](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/105532/images/LC-DIG-highsm-03795.jpg)
Adorning public buildings, WPA murals showcased the pride and identity of the community. This painting brightens the walls of the Cohen Building in Washington, D.C.