The Infinite Dividend: The WPA · Episode 12 of 13 · 34 min
An Honorable Discharge: How the WPA Ended in 1943
By late 1942 war industry and the draft had absorbed the jobless the WPA existed to employ. Franklin Roosevelt granted it an honorable discharge by letter on December 4, 1942, and liquidation took effect in June 1943. The episode scores it: relief a partial success, recovery a failure, infrastructure and culture a lasting one.
Who's who
- Franklin D. Roosevelt+28 more episodesPresident who created the WPA in 1935 and ended it by letter in 1942
- Harry Hopkins+10 more episodesFounding WPA administrator and architect of work relief
Timeline
- May 6, 1935Executive Order 7034 creates the WPA
- Late 1938Employment peaks near 3.3 million
- 1939Renamed the Work Projects Administration and folded into the Federal Works Agency
- December 4, 1942Roosevelt's letter discontinues the WPA with an honorable discharge
- June 30, 1943Formal liquidation takes effect
- June 30, 1944The Division for Liquidation finishes closing the books
Still debated
That the war, not the WPA, ended the Depression is the scholarly consensus but still a causal interpretation. Critics could also read the honorable discharge as the program's enemies winning, dressed up as a graceful exit.
← PreviousLeaning on Shovels: The War on the WPANext →The Infinite Dividend: The WPA's Legacy and the 2025 Funding Fight
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