The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 95, July 1991 - April, 1992 Page: 11
598 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
New Deal zn Dallas
the relief rate. Recognizing that "make work" often had little intrinsic
value, he nonetheless favored it to the dole. (At the same time the fed-
eral government created WPA, it turned unemployment relief back
over to state and local governments.) Unlike the PWA, the WPA focused
its resources on smaller scale jobs with little cost for materials so that
most of the funds could be spent paying wages.'
By 1938 when Congress mandated draconian cuts in relief appropri-
ations, WPA had spent thousands of dollars in Dallas, a substantial con-
tribution but somewhat less than might have been possible. Several rea-
sons accounted for WPA's limited success. Small payments to reliefers
underscored community values. The federal government divided the
nation into four regions to establish variable pay rates, and laborers in
the Southwest division (which included Dallas) received the second
lowest wages. Certainly relief stipends fell short of desirable levels na-
tionwide, but workers in southern cities suffered most, receiving from
33 to 65 percent of the national average emergency standard of living
expense identified by federal authorities. In 1939 in Dallas 8,939 per-
sons received certification for relief employment, but only 4,973 actu-
ally obtained assignments. A local social worker observed that, as a re-
sult, "a large though undetermined number of individuals in varying
degrees of need were thus left unprovided for by any existing agency,
public or private." Without federal funds after 1935, relief virtually
vanished altogether; in 1935 Dallas spent approximately $350,000 to
augment federal money but in 1936 appropriated nothing. Like other
southern cities Dallas increasingly relied upon external sources for care
of its dependents.o (See tables 2 and 3.)
Indeed, substandard pay rates, paltry contributions to public relief,
and the virtually total reliance on federal funds indicate a minimal
commitment to social welfare by the community. The Dallas Morning
News called WPA "evil but necessary," a succinct statement of how the
agency fared in the public's esteem. The acceptance of New Deal funds
provided a way to preserve traditional customs related to relief while
temporarily expanding coverage to meet an emergency. Far from being
infused with any new spirit of social welfare, Dallas seems not to have
altered its policies on indigent care at all during the Great Depression.2'
'9Graham and Wander (eds.), Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hls Life and Times, 461-464.
20Donald S Howard, The WPA and Federal Relief Policy (New York: Russell Sage Foundation,
1943), 84, 95, 178; Work Projects Administration Writers' Project, Dallas Guide and History, 494,
495 (quotation), Final Statistical Report of the Federal Emergency Relief Adminstration, 343. The city
did employ 8,00o men in construction and landscaping work on the Texas Centennial Exposi-
tion. Work Projects Administration Writers' Project, Dallas Guide and lustory, 199.
21Dallas Morning News, Mar 30, 1935.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 95, July 1991 - April, 1992, periodical, 1992; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117153/m1/39/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.