Cover of the Illinois state guide

The American Guide Series includes books and pamphlets published from 1937 to 1941 under the auspices of the Federal Writers' Project (FWP), a Depression-era program that was part of the larger Works Progress Administration in the United States. The American Guide Series books were compiled by the FWP, but printed by individual states, and contained detailed histories of each of the then 48 states of the Union with descriptions of every major city and town. The series not only detailed the histories of the 48 states, but provided insight to their cultures as well. In total, the project employed over 6,000 writers. The format was uniform, comprising essays on the state's history and culture, descriptions of its major cities, automobile tours of important attractions, and a portfolio of photographs.

Many books in the project have been updated by private companies or republished without updating. Although not then a state, a guide for Alaska was published, and also for Puerto Rico (but not for Hawaii).[1]

If there had been room in Rocinante I would have packed the W.P.A. Guides to the States, all forty-eight volumes of them...The complete set comprises the most comprehensive account of the United States ever got together, and nothing since has approached it."[2]

Origins

As part of the Federal Writers' Project established under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 and the Works Progress Administration, over 6,500 men and women were employed around the country as writers, collecting stories, interviews, and photographs on a variety of subjects. The project attracted many unemployed writers and artists, offering a wage of twenty dollars a week.[3][4] President Franklin D. Roosevelt enlisted Henry Alsberg, a journalist and playwright to head the project.

As part of this, the FWP developed and published a series of books that served as guides to the 48 existing states. Each book's primary purpose was to not only outline the history of the individual state, but its culture and geography as well. Their predecessor, Baedeker's Handbook for Travelers: United States,[5] lacked much of what was needed to give a picture of America during the 1930s. Alsberg insisted that the new series of books paint a picture of American culture as a whole and celebrate the nation's diversity.[6] From 1937 to 1941, thousands of writers set out around the country to capture America's culture, conducting fieldwork, interviewing citizens, and observing and recording folk traditions and local customs. Writers from all over the country sought to capture American culture during the Great Depression, a difficult task given the dire circumstances. Alsberg tasked Benjamin A. Botkin, a folklorist and scholar, with running the folklore division of the project.[7] Botkin was responsible for coordinating and managing the writers, a task that was too large for Alsberg to handle, as the volume of work coming in was plentiful for the project. In this role, Botkin not only influenced the writers' folklore division but also had a great influence on their coverage of culture.[8]

The project's beginnings did not come without challenges. During its infancy, various writers' organizations pressured the project because of the parameters that were set by the FWP.[9] With the project bringing many established writers back into the workforce, the Authors' Guild of America became aggressive in the pursuit of relaxing guidelines for the writers, and also developed a disdain for the project's employment of writers with a lack of experience. With the FWP's main focus on creating jobs for the unemployed, the Author's Guild and organizations similar to it continued to criticize the amateurism of many writers on the project. The solution to this critique was a simple one: find enough work for all of the writers. The roles of the writers enlisted to work on the project not only included their initial role as writers, but also as photographers, geographers, and cartographers, allowing the creation of additional white collar jobs.[9]

Creation

The books in the series were to contain accurate and thorough accounts of American history, according to a letter to State directors on the project. Each book's primary purpose was to not only outline the history of the individual states but the following as well:

  • Geography
  • Agriculture
  • Tourist attractions
  • Ethnic groups
  • Architecture
  • Arts
  • Industry

Three different types of guides were published: state, regional, and city guides. Each guide had its own distinct features, but followed the same uniform structure.

State guides

The Pennsylvania guide highlighted the shipping industry in Chester, Pa. Highlighting different industries was a common feature in each of the guides.

Each of the 48 existing contiguous states had its own guide. The state guides included stories about the state's heritage, maps of major cities, as well as photographs of historic sites and tourist attractions. Each state's division of the FWP was responsible for printing and distributing the books. The state guides provided great detail as to each state's history. In the case of some states that had joined the union more recently as the nation grew, the guide presented an origin story or folklore account to describe its beginnings.[10] In the California Guide, writers used the story of El Dorado, the mythical tribal thief, to tell readers why settlers yearned to move to the new state in the mid-19th century.[10]

One priority for each guide was to have detailed road maps of cities and major highways throughout each state. The American Baedeker lacked them because during the time it was published, the automobile was not a common asset in everyday life in the country.[11] The state guides also exhibited industries unique to each state. Guides highlighted blue-collar industries such as shipping, mining, and oil rigging, informing readers about what drove state economies.[12] For instance, the Pennsylvania State Guide highlighted the state's shipping industry that helped grow and industrialize the city of Chester, which eventually made a comeback after the depression during World War II.[13]

The guides' main goal of highlighting aspects of the states' cultures and histories was an interesting task for the writers in charge of doing so. Several writers documented these challenges in their memos while working on the project. As the Depression went on, trying to capture normalcy became difficult. The projection of wealth in a nation that was experiencing a drastic rise in poverty was on display in many of the guides.[14] The South Carolina guide presented polo clubs as a popular form of sport and leisure, which were on the rise throughout the country leading up to the Depression.[15] Despite being highlighted as a focal point in the guide, this was in contrast to much of what many of the writers had seen during their travels.[14][16] Several writers noted in their memos how their perception of a state was changed by the culture that the Depression had created.[16] Overall the guides aimed to draw potential travelers to experience each state's culture, and projecting each state in the utmost positive light was critical to accomplishing this.[17]

Regional guides

The cover of the Tulsa guide, one of 40 city guides published.

The regional and city guides, similar to their state counterparts, kept much of the same format but had their own specific focuses. The regional guides were designed with a tourist heavy audience in mind, as some of their titles suggest. One of the regional books, Ghost Towns of Colorado, explored some of the most popular deserted towns in the western state. While the state guides provided an overview of tourist attractions in certain regions of the states, the regional guides allowed for a greater magnification of this. The regional guides also showcased the country's diversity in regional attractions, highlighting regions such as New England and vacation destinations such as Cape Cod. Three United States territories, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, were also included in the series, educating Americans about these more recently acquired regions.

City guides

The city guides had the most narrow scope out of all three types, as the focus was on a single location. Because of this, their maps could be in the greatest detail, not only giving an overview of a city's layout, but individual neighborhoods as well.[18] City Guides highlighted points of special interest in greater detail. In the Philadelphia guide, sites such as Carpenters' Hall and Girard College, an-all boys boarding school in the city's northern section, each had several pages dedicated to them.[19] The maps that were included in each book added value to them as material objects and not just literature.[20] With the increasing mobility afforded by the number of Americans who owned automobiles, the guides served as reliable and durable resources for travelers moving throughout the country.[20]

Impact within New Deal

Over the course of the five-year span during which FWP workers created the guides, nearly seven thousand writers, editors, researchers and historians were put back to work through working on the American Guide Series.[21] By the project's end the government had spent over $11 billion on employing the personnel on the project. The guides also served as a representation on the New Deal's concern with regional interdependence and national planning, projecting a positive image of the nation during economically harsh times. Many writers were not only put back to work but other writers were able to use the project as a springboard as well, to launch their writing careers.

Legacy

The guidebooks are the most well-known publication to emerge from the FWP, having been reprinted several times, as scholars and researchers have sought them out for their cultural value.[22] When they were originally published, the guides restored a sense of pride in many of their respected regions, by promoting the history of each state or city, as well as popular tourist attractions and historical sites.[23] From a literary perspective, the guides expanded the definition of American literature. They showed how American writing could cover a wide range of analysis through biographical, folklore, and related geographic content.[20] During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, several writers and politicians called for a new Federal Writers' Project.[24] Congressman Ted Lieu and Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez introduced legislation to create a new project, garnering support from several writers and journalists.

Titles

States

StateTitleGoogle BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
AlabamaAlabama; a Guide to the Deep South, New York: Hastings House, 1941Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
ArizonaArizona, the Grand Canyon State (4th ed.). New York: Hastings House. 1956.1940 ed. via Google BooksHathiTrust1940 ed. Internet Archive
ArkansasArkansas: a Guide to the State, New York, 1941, OCLC 478887{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Google BooksHathiTrust
CaliforniaCalifornia: Guide to the Golden State, New York: Hastings House, 1939Internet Archive
ColoradoColorado: a Guide to the Highest State. New York: Hastings House. 1945.1941 ed. via Google BooksInternet Archive
+ 1970 ed. via Internet Archive
ConnecticutConnecticut: a Guide to its Roads, Lore, and People. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1938.Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
DelawareDelaware: A Guide to the First State. NY: Viking Press. 1938.Google BooksHathiTrust
FloridaFlorida: A Guide to the Southernmost State, 1939Google BooksInternet Archive
GeorgiaGeorgia: a Guide to Its Towns and Countryside. Athens: University of Georgia Press. 1940.Google Books Internet Archive
IdahoIdaho: A Guide in Word and Pictures. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers. 1937.Internet Archive
IllinoisIllinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co. 1939.Google BooksInternet Archive
IndianaIndiana: a Guide to the Hoosier State. New York: Oxford University Press. 1941.Google BooksHathiTrust
IowaIowa: a Guide to the Hawkeye State, New York: Viking, 1938Google BooksHathiTrust
KansasKansas: A Guide to the Sunflower State, 1939.Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
KentuckyKentucky: a Guide to the Bluegrass State. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. 1939.Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
LouisianaLouisiana: a Guide to the State. NY: Hastings House. 1941.Google BooksHathiTrust
MaineMaine: a Guide 'Down East'. Boston: Houghton Mifllin. 1937.Google BooksHathiTrust
MarylandMaryland: a Guide to the Old Line State. New York: Oxford University Press. 1940.Google BooksHathiTrust
MassachusettsMassachusetts: a Guide to its Places and People, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1937Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
MichiganMichigan: a Guide to the Wolverine State. New York: Oxford University Press. 1941.Google Books
MinnesotaA State Guide, 1938Google BooksInternet Archive
MississippiMississippi; a Guide to the Magnolia State, New York: Viking, 1949, OCLC 4788871938 ed. via Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
MissouriMissouri: A Guide to the 'Show Me' State, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1941Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
MontanaMontana: a State Guide Book. NY: Viking Press. 1939.HathiTrustInternet Archive
NebraskaNebraska: A Guide to the Cornhusker State, 1939Google BooksHathiTrust
NevadaNevada: a Guide to the Silver State, Portland, Oregon: Binfords & Mort, 19571940 ed. via Google BooksHathiTrust
New HampshireNew Hampshire: a Guide to the Granite State. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1938. ISBN 9780403021796.Google BooksHathiTrust
New JerseyNew Jersey: a Guide to its Present and Past. NY: Hastings House. 1946.1939 ed. via Google BooksHathiTrust
New MexicoNew Mexico: a Guide to the Colorful State. NY: Hastings House. 1940.Google BooksHathiTrust
New YorkNew York: a Guide to the Empire State. New York: Oxford University Press. 1940.HathiTrustInternet Archive
North CarolinaNorth Carolina: a Guide to the Old North State. 1939.Google BooksInternet Archive
North DakotaNorth Dakota: a Guide to the Northern Prairie State, State Historical Society of North Dakota, 1938Google Books
OhioThe Ohio Guide, Oxford University Press, 1940Google BooksInternet Archive
OklahomaOklahoma: a Guide to the Sooner State, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1941Google BooksInternet Archive
OregonOregon: End of the Trail. Portland: Binfords & Mort. 1951.1940 ed. via Google BooksHathiTrust
PennsylvaniaPennsylvania: a Guide to the Keystone State, New York: Oxford University Press, 1940Google Books
Rhode IslandRhode Island: A Guide to the Smallest State. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1937. OCLC 691847.Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
South CarolinaSouth Carolina: a Guide to the Palmetto State, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1941HathiTrustInternet Archive
South DakotaSouth Dakota Guide. 1938.Google BooksInternet Archive
TennesseeTennessee: a Guide to the State, New York: Viking, 1939Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
TexasTexas: A Guide to the Lone Star State, New York: Hastings House, 1940Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
UtahUtah: A Guide to the State, 1941Google BooksHathiTrust
VermontVermont: a Guide to the Green Mountain State. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Riverside Press. 1937.Internet Archive
VirginiaVirginia: a Guide to the Old Dominion, Oxford University Press, 1941Google BooksInternet Archive
WashingtonWashington: a Guide to the Evergreen State, Portland, Oregon: Binfords & Mort, 1941, OCLC 5847836Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
West VirginiaWest Virginia: A Guide to the Mountain State. New York: Oxford University Press. 1941.Google Books
Google Books
WisconsinWisconsin: A Guide to the Badger State, 1941Google BooksHathiTrust
WyomingWyoming: a Guide to Its History, Highways and People, 1941Google Books

Cities

StateCityTitleGoogle BooksHathiTrustInternet ArchiveOther
ArkansasNorth Little RockGuide to North Little Rock. 1936. OCLC 11575040.Hathi
CaliforniaLos AngelesLos Angeles: A Guide to the City and Its Environs. 1941.HathiTrustInternet Archive
CaliforniaSan DiegoSan Diego: A California City. 1937.HathiTrust
CaliforniaSan FranciscoSan Francisco: the Bay and its Cities. 1940.1947 ed. via HathiTrustInternet Archive
CaliforniaSanta BarbaraSanta Barbara: A Guide to the Channel City and its Environs. 1941.Internet Archive
DelawareNewcastleNew Castle on the Delaware. 1936.HathiTrust
District of ColumbiaWashingtonWashington, City and Capital. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1937.HathiTrust
FloridaKey WestA Guide to Key West. 1941.HathiTrust
FloridaMiamiPlanning Your Vacation in Florida; Miami and Dade County including Miami Beach and Coral Gables. 1941.Internet Archive
FloridaSt AugustineSeeing St. Augustine. 1937.HathiTrust
GeorgiaAtlantaAtlanta: A City of the Modern South. 1942. OCLC 1299312424.Internet Archive
GeorgiaAugustaAugusta. 1938. OCLC 1411325.HathiTrust
GeorgiaSavannahSavannah. 1937.HathiTrust
IllinoisCairoCairo Guide.HathiTrust
IllinoisGalenaHathiTrust
IllinoisPrincetonHathiTrust
IowaBentonsportBentonsport MemoriesHathiTrust
IowaDubuque[25]A Guide to DubuqueHathiTrust
IowaEsthervilleA Guide to Estherville, Iowa. 1939.HathiTrust
IowaMcGregorA Guide to McGregor. 1940.
KentuckyHendersonHenderson: A Guide to Audubon's Home Town in Kentucky. 1941.
KentuckyLexingtonLexington and the Bluegrass Country. 1938.HathiTrust
KentuckyLouisvilleLouisville: A Guide to Falls City. 1940.
LouisianaNew OrleansNew Orleans City Guide. 1938.Google BooksHathiTrustInternet Archive
MainePortlandPortland City Guide. 1940.Internet Archive
NebraskaLincolnLincoln City Guide. 1937.
New JerseyPrincetonPrinceton and its Neighbors.[25]
New YorkAlbanyHathiTrust
New YorkNew York CityThe New York City Guide: A Comprehensive Guide to the Five Boroughs of the Metropolis; Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Richmond. 1939.HathiTrustInternet Archive
New YorkRochester[25]Rochester and Monroe County. 1937.Internet Archive
North DakotaBismarck[25]
OhioCincinnatiCincinnati: A Guide to the Queen City and Its Neighbors. 1943.HathiTrust
OklahomaTulsaTulsa: A Guide to the Oil Capital. 1938.
PennsylvaniaErieErie: A Guide to the City and County. 1938.HathiTrustInternet Archive
PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPhiladelphia: A Guide to the Nation's Birthplace.Internet Archive
TexasBeaumontBeaumont: A Guide to the City and Its Environs. 1939. OCLC 1386509.
TexasDenison[25]
TexasCorpus ChristiCorpus Christi, a History and Guide. Corpus Christi Caller-Times. 1942. OCLC 2674098.
TexasHoustonHouston, a History and Guide. 1942.University of North Texas
TexasSan AntonioSan Antonio: A History and Guide.HathiTrust
WisconsinPortageHathiTrust

Counties

StateCountyTitleGoogle BooksHathiTrustInternet ArchiveOther
IllinoisDuPage Co.Du Page County: a descriptive and historical guide, 1831-1939HathiTrust
KentuckyUnion Co.Union County, past and presentHathiTrust
New YorkDutchess Co.Dutchess CountyHathiTrust
OhioMuskingum Co.Zanesville and Muskingum CountyHathiTrust
OhioTrumbull Co.Warren and Trumbull CountyHathiTrust
South CarolinaSpartanburg Co.A History of Spartanburg CountyHathiTrust
South DakotaMiner Co.Prairie tamers of Miner county HathiTrust
VirginiaAlbemarle Co.Jefferson's Albemarle, a guide to Albemarle County and the city of Charlottesville, VirginiaHathiTrust
VirginiaSussex Co.Sussex county, a tale of three centuriesHathiTrust


Regions and territories

Mount Hood: A Guide (1940)
RegionLocaleTitleGoogle BooksHathiTrustInternet ArchiveOther
NortheastBergen County Panorama. 1941.Internet Archive
NortheastBerkshire HillsThe Berkshire Hills. 1939.HathiTrust
NortheastCape CodCape Cod Pilot: A Loquacious Guide. 1937.
WestDeath ValleyDeath Valley: A Guide. 1939.
WestGhost Towns of Colorado. 1947.
WestGuide to Alaska: Last American Frontier. 1939.Google Books
MidwestGuide to Cedar Rapids and Northwest Iowa. 1937.
NortheastNew EnglandHere's New England! A Guide to Vacationland. 1939.
SouthIntracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Key West. 1937.HathiTrust
MidwestArrowhead CountryMinnesota Arrowhead Country. 1941.
SouthMississippi Gulf Coast: Yesterday and Today, 1699-1939. 1939.HathiTrust
WestMonterey PeninsulaMonterey Peninsula. 1941.HathiTrust
WestMount HoodMound Hood: A Guide. 1940.Google Books
NortheastNew York Panorama. 1938.Internet Archive
SouthOcean HighwayThe Ocean Highway: New Brunswick, New Jersey to Jacksonville, Florida. 1938.
Midwest; WestOregon Trail, US 30: The Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. 1939.Google Books
Insular areaPuerto RicoPuerto Rico: a Guide to the Island of Boriquén. New York: University Society. 1940. OCLC 245805.HathiTrustInternet Archive
Northeast; SouthU.S. Route 1U.S. One: Maine to Florida. 1938.HathiTrust

References

  1. Project, Federal Writers' (2013-10-31). The WPA Guide to Alaska: The Last Frontier State. Trinity University Press.
  2. Steinbeck, John (1962). Travels with Charley. Viking. p. 97.
  3. "Introduction | Articles and Essays | American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  4. "Introduction | Articles and Essays | American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  5. Karl Baedeker (1971). The United States, with an excursion into Mexico : a handbook for travellers, 1893. Henry Steele Commager. New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-71341-1. OCLC 211697.
  6. Wesling, Meg (2013). "American Modernism on Display: Tourism and Literary Form in the Works Progress Administration's Guide Series". Amerikastudien / American Studies. 58 (3): 427–450. ISSN 0340-2827. JSTOR 43485899.
  7. Taylor, David (2009). Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America. Wiley. pp. 76–78.
  8. Taylor, David (2009). Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America. Wiley. p. 77.
  9. 1 2 Griswold, Wendy (2016). American Guides: The Federal Writers' Project and the Casting of American Culture. University of Chicago Press. pp. 42–45.
  10. 1 2 Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration of Northern California (1939). California : a guide to the Golden state. Prelinger Library. New York : Hastings House.
  11. Griswold, Wendy (2016). American Guides: The Federal Writers' Project and the Casting of American Culture. University of Chicago Press. pp. 73–87.
  12. Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progres Administration (1940). Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State. US History Publishers.
  13. Federal Writers' Project of America (1940). Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State. Federal Writers' Project. p. 177.
  14. 1 2 Taylor, David (2009). Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America. Wiley. pp. 141–159.
  15. Writers' Program (1941). South Carolina: a guide to the Palmetto state. George A. Smathers Libraries University of Florida. New York: Oxford university press.
  16. 1 2 Taylor, David (2009). Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America. Wiley. pp. 161–177.
  17. Griswold, Wendy (2016). American Guides: The Federal Writers' Project and the Casting of American Culture. University of Chicago Press. p. 149.
  18. Federal Writers' Project (Pa.); Pennsylvania Historical Commission (1937). Philadelphia, a guide to the nation's birthplace. Prelinger Library. Harrisburg, Penn. : Telegraph Press. ISBN 978-0-403-02864-1.
  19. Federal Writers' Project of America (1937). Philadelphia: A Guide to the Nation's Birthplace. Telegraph Press. pp. 339–373.
  20. 1 2 3 Griswold, Wendy (2016). American Gudes: The Federal Writers' Project and the Casting of American Culture. The University of Chicago Press. pp. 230–232.
  21. Collins, Sheila. The Democratization of Culture. Oxford University Press. p. 212.
  22. Yagoda, Ben (2021-07-29). "'Republic of Detours' Review: The New Deal in Travel Guides". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  23. Writers' Program. Virginia (1941). Virginia: a guide to the Old Dominion. Internet Archive. New York : Oxford University Press.
  24. Lieu, Ted (2021-05-07). "H.R.3054 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): 21st Century Federal Writers' Project Act". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 Federal Writers' Project (1938). Catalog: American Guide Series. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. hdl:2027/mdp.39015033903686.

Further reading

See also

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