If Mortonites think unemployment is high now, it was almost three times higher in 1932.
Though the nation’s economy is nowhere near the level it was during the Great Depression, the similarities and differences sparked the idea among area librarians as a topic for this year’s Local Legacies @ Your Library about the Works Progress Administration.
“I think it’s really relevant to what we’re going through with the recession, but it’s not to the extent of the Great Depression,” said Chillicothe Public Library’s young adult librarian Sarah Kent.
Close to a dozen libraries join together annually for a program with a common theme at their respective libraries, Kent said.
Last year, to promote Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday in Illinois, Local Legacies @ Your Library featured a Lincoln impersonator.
Dr. Justin Coffey, associate professor of history at Quincy University, will present a one-hour program about the WPA this year.
“I’m tying the New Deal to today and drawing some comparisons,” said Coffey, who teaches 20th century American history. He previously taught for Bradley University for two years.
After 7,000 banks closed in 1932, the government intervened with Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal.
Coffey said he plans to give those attending the program background information, and also let them ask him questions.
The WPA was created in 1935 and created 8 million jobs between 1935 and 1943.
“It was designed to not simply give people jobs but to be a permanent part of society,” said Coffey.
Through the WPA, libraries, federal buildings, schools, post offices and more were built, but it did not stop there.
The second component of the program was for artists to “liven” up buildings with statues, murals, paintings and more.
Each state received a block grant for the funds, of which Illinois spent more than $13 million, and Central Illinois was not left out.
Coffey will talk about Central Illinois WPA projects and show photos of them.
Highlighted for Morton is the work of artist Charles Umlauf, “Spirit of Communication,” at the Morton Post Office.
“I’ve learned a lot for it, so I’m really excited,” said Coffey.
Coffey will speak at seven locations, including at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Morton Public Library.
Morton, Ill. —
