The Federal Writers’ Project was created on 27 July, 1935 by President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt and ran through 1943. The Project was part of the United States
Work Progress Administration (WPA) and was designed to provide employment
opportunities for writers, teachers, librarians, historians and other white-collar
workers during the Great Depression. The projects undertaken through the Federal
Writers’ Project include local histories, oral histories, ethnographies, and
children’s books.
The American Guide Series – books providing essays on
the history, culture, major cities, automobile tours, important attractions and
photographs of each locale – proved to be one of the most popular efforts undertaken
by the Federal Writers’ Project. The American Guide
Series contains 48 state guides (including Wisconsin), 27 city guides,
and 15 regional or territory guides (including Alaska – which was then a territory –
and Puerto Rico). Additional publications include pamphlets, folklore collections,
oral histories and song recordings.
The Milwaukee Guide was intended to add to the American Guide Series, while providing employment for
Milwaukee writers and editors. Victor S. Craun, noted cave explorer, directed the
project in the city, which had a budget of $56,000 in 1935 (roughly $970,000 in
2014). The project was headquartered on the mezzanine floor of the county court
house. In all, the project provided employment for roughly 30 people.
Although the Milwaukee Guide was complete by the
spring of 1941, the project was disbanded by the Milwaukee county board which
oversaw WPA projects in Milwaukee. While the Guide
was federally funded, in order to maintain federal funding the approval of Milwaukee
County was required. County board members never approved it for publication.
