WPA Federal Arts Projects Provide Employment to Black Artists and Writers

The New Deal's Works Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project, Federal Art Project, and Federal Theatre Project provided employment and creative infrastructure for hundreds of Black artists, writers, and performers, despite operating segregated units in the South. The Negro Unit of the Federal Theatre Project, directed by John Houseman and Orson Welles, produced 'Voodoo Macbeth' and other acclaimed productions. Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jacob Lawrence all worked for WPA projects. The Slave Narrative Collection, produced 1936–1938, preserved first-hand testimony of over 2,300 formerly enslaved people — invaluable historical documentation.