“[We] were the first to lose our jobs when Old Man Depression came along and the last to get them back. […] One out of every four of us was on relief. […] Without jobs, we had no money. Without money, we could not purchase food for the hungry mouths at home. Our only hope lay in charity. Hunger drove our people to the breadlines. […] Then came the federal government’s work program. One by one it took us out of the breadline. It gave us a new chance to take a normal place in the life of our community. […] Now we work again!” 

The Works Progress Administration funded an array of programs for unemployed Americans, as well as cultural programs that employed thousands of struggling writers, artists, and performers. The agency provided 8.5 million total jobs before it was shut down in 1943.