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Road tripping tip: American Guide Series
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Works Progress Administration graphic, 1936
In our continuing quest to celebrate National Book Month, and with a further tip of the hat to John Steinbeck, with whom we recently traveled, I make mention here of the WPA's American Guide Series.
In the 1930s, President Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression was the complex package of economic programs known as the New Deal. Part of this experiment involved a method to create jobs for unemployed 'white-collar' workers (writers, editors, researchers, geologists and cartographers, among others) in the production of a series of American guidebooks. The Federal Writers' Project, under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration, produced these volumes between 1935 and 1943. This enormous literary project is comprised of 48 state guide books, territorial guides of Alaska and Puerto Rico, and city guides of Washington DC and New York.
Over 6,600 individuals, including such luminaries as John Cheever, Ralph Ellison and Studs Terkel, were put on the government payroll and spread out across the county to interview and document, research and compile distinct portraits of the states. Each book highlights its state's history, culture, people, arts, economy, geography and major cities. Loaded with photographs, maps and drawings, perhaps the most exciting element for road trippers is the 'Tours' section. Designed for automobile trips in the 1930s, these are short, well-documented routes that you can still attempt to follow today. Treat them as scavenger hunts to find the roads, towns and landmarks meticulously listed in the Guides. Some will be long gone, while others will be just as they were 70 years ago.
First Edition, 1939
Steinbeck first brought these Guides to my attention when he made mention of them in his book, "Travels With Charley,"
"If there had been room in Rocinante I would have packed the W.P.A. Guides to the States. I have all of them and some are very rare...The complete set comprises the most comprehensive account of the United States ever got together, and nothing since has even approached it. It was compiled during the depression by the best writers in America, who were, if that is possible, more depressed than any other group while maintaining their inalienable instinct for eating. But these books were detested by Mr. Roosevelt's opposition. If W.P.A. workers leaned on their shovels, the writers leaned on their pens. The result was that in some states the plates were broken up after a few copies were printed and that is a shame because they were reservoirs of organized, documented and well-written information, geological, historical and economic."
How fortunate he was to have a complete set, as it's been estimated that an entire set of first editions with original dust jackets could be worth up to $10,000. However, fear not! If you're willing to get creative, hunt around and accept some later editions that are less than perfect, you too can be a proud owner. My first purchase happened just after I'd read about the Guides, searched for them online and found the prices to be a bit steep. No matter, I thought, still determined to start my own collection. Later that very day, I came upon a yard sale and, I kid you not, on top of a pile of old books sat "Colorado: A Guide to the Highest State." Did I mention it was a First Edition? With the original dust jacket? In fairly good condition? Did I mention that I'm originally from Colorado, so the symbolism wasn't lost on me? And did I mention that it was only $1.00?
A nice find indeed, and I'm sure there are more out there...
First Edition (1941), found at a yard sale for $1.00
As a way of paying tribute to this remarkable example of government partnering with the arts to create an essential, cultural touchstone, the American Library Association has partnered with the new TV documentary on the Federal Writer's Project, "Soul of a People: Writing America's Story." The film and library outreach project offers 30 selected libraries across the United States the opportunity to acquaint audiences with the all-but-forgotten story of this successful experiment, present public humanities programs that explore the works of the Writers' Project, and showcase works of important authors of the twentieth century who got their start in the Writers' Project.
Here in the Bay Area, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in San Jose will be holding two special events commemorating the Federal Writers' Project on Tuesday, Oct. 6th, beginning at 6pm.
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