Multinedia Links
Movies/video
For Sale:
Artists at Work: A Film on the New Deal Art Projects (1981) 35min. http://newdealfilms.com/documentaries/artists-at-work-a-film-on-the-new-deal-art-projects
The Cradle Will Rock – FTP (1999) 132 min. Feature film about the Federal Theatre production of the opera of the same name in 1937.
WPA Archaeology: The Legacy of an Era (2002) 27 minutes http://www.archaeologychannel.org/video-guide/kentucky-videos/952-wpa-archaeology-legacy-of-an-era
Free online, recent:
Breaking the Chains: The Story of the Woodlawn Mural (2009) 10 minutes Birmingham, AL http://vimeo.com/23868259
Moran [Texas] High School Community Video Project, WPA: Built in 1937 and Alive and Well in 2011 (30 minutes), at https://vimeo.com/26209701.
Soul of a People - about the WPA Federal Writers’ Project (2010) 92 min. Abbreviated version at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apInQYW9s1w.
WPA Posters (2010) 6 minutes http://vimeo.com/9220478. No commentary, just images and a swing music sound-track.
Free online, from the 1930s:
President Roosevelt first inaugural address, 1933 (20 minutes), at http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/youtubeclip.php?clipid=14473&admin=32.
President Roosevelt talk introducing WPA legislation, 1935 (2 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6KSOaaWqb4.
WPA: Three promotional films produced by the agency:
- Man Against the River (1937) 10 minutes. About the huge floods of 1937, and the WPA’s part in fighting them, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPdEcB4hpwc.
- We Work Again (1937) 15 minutes. About the variety of WPA jobs available to African Americans, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Dd-NmdUDo
- Works Pays America (1937) Part 1 (16 minutes); Part II (15 minutes), at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40sqSvwX_RM.
Audio recordings
“Brother Can You Spare a Dime?” performed by Rudy Vallee in 1932 (3:37 minutes) at http://www.authentichistory.com/1930-1939/3-music/19321027-Brother_Can_You_Spare_a_Dime-Rudy_Vallee.html
President Roosevelt, Historic Audio Clips, at http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/collections/avclips.html.
WPA Federal Theatre Living Newspaper, Triple-A Plowed Under (print commentary and audio re-enactment), at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA04/mccain/play/splash.htm