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What W.H. Auden called “one of the noblest and most absurd undertakings ever attempted by a state,” the Depression-era Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) employed more than 6,000 writers and editors who produced guides for all 48 states, most territories, and many regions and highways. The project collected narratives of formerly enslaved people, folklore from around the country, and nature studies. The list of writers, people such as Ralph Ellison, Conrad Aiken, Studs Terkel, Richard Wright, Saul Bellow, and Dorothy West, is impressive; their products are even more so. Let’s find out what they said about the America they found.
INSTRUCTOR: Karl Hakkarainen is a retired software engineer and IT professional. He has worked with copyrights, patents, and trademarks throughout his career. His legal studies include a course on copyright law through the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School. Karl is not a lawyer.
OPTIONAL BOOKS: Republic Of Detours – Scott Bochert, ISBN: 9780374298456. Federal Writers' Project, https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/newdeal/fwp.html
American Guide Series: The WPA Federal Writers' Project: The Guides https://libguides.rowan.edu/c.php?g=248106&p=1653082
Worcester Institute for Senior Education (WISE)Assumption University, 500 Salisbury Street, Worcester MA 01609 wise@assumption.edu 508-767-7513