Works Progress Administration
Long Beach’s sidewalks contain impressed “signatures” of many construction companies, contractors, and government agencies that plied their trade in the city. If your ancestor owned or worked for one of those cement contractors, our “Sidewalk Signatures” series will be of interest to you.
photo: QHGS
Wikipedia tells us that, “the Works Progress Administration (renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration; WPA) was the largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency, employing millions of unemployed people (mostly unskilled men) to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads.” WPA imprints on Long Beach sidewalks and curbs were common in the California Heights neighborhood before the current repaving project removed them.
RESEARCH TIP: It’s obvious that city directories help us find where our ancestors lived; but, once we’ve found the address, we should keep looking at subsequent years in the directories—especially during the Great Depression—not only to see if the family moved, but also to find out if the breadwinner of the family changed jobs! My grandfather is a good example: the 1935 Jacksonville, Florida, city directory gives his profession as “agt Gulf Life Ins Co,” the 1936 edition lists him as “salesman,” and by 1941 he is a “foreman WPA.”
RESEARCH TIP: It’s obvious that city directories help us find where our ancestors lived; but, once we’ve found the address, we should keep looking at subsequent years in the directories—especially during the Great Depression—not only to see if the family moved, but also to find out if the breadwinner of the family changed jobs! My grandfather is a good example: the 1935 Jacksonville, Florida, city directory gives his profession as “agt Gulf Life Ins Co,” the 1936 edition lists him as “salesman,” and by 1941 he is a “foreman WPA.”
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