Civil Works Administration and State of Washington Emergency Relief Administration photograph collection

Civil Works Administration and State of Washington Emergency Relief Administration photograph collection, 1933-1934

Overview of the Collection

Title: Civil Works Administration and State of Washington Emergency Relief Administration photograph collection
Dates: 1933-1934 (inclusive)
19331934
Quantity: 211 photographic prints (2 boxes) ; various sizes
Collection Number: PH0267
Summary: Photographs of Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Washington Emergency Relief Administration (WERA) projects in Washington state in the 1930s
Repository: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions: Most of collection available on digital site. Collection is open to the public.
Languages: English

Historical BackgroundReturn to Top

The Washington Emergency Relief Administration (WERA) was created in 1933 as Washington State's response to the Great Depression. The relief program was administered by the Emergency Relief Commission under the direction of the Governor, Clarence Daniel Martin and the appointed director of WERA, Charles F. Ernst. WERA was replaced by the Department of Public Welfare in 1935.

On November 9, 1933, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) was created by executive order of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was intended as a temporary federal program which would help stave off severe deprivation for the following winter. Within weeks, Harry Hopkins, the energetic head of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), had employed a million and a half people in CWA projects. By January 1934, over 4 million workers were employed by the CWA and under the administration of WERA. Civil Works Administration employees worked specifically on short-term construction projects that could be completed fairly quickly and included the building and improvement of roads, schools, playgrounds, sewers, and hospitals around the country. The Civil Works Service (CWS) was also established and provided non-construction based jobs including sewing centers, nursing positions and education, mapping and surveying projects.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Collection contains eight albums and loose photographs documenting Civil Works Administration (CWA), Civil Works Service (CWS) and some Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) projects in Washington state during the 1930s. Albums include typed reports, photographs and some city plans. Areas in Washington involved include: Bremerton, Clark County, Klickitat County, Spokane County and cities in King County such as Renton, Sammamish, Kirkland, Enumclaw and Seattle. Projects in the state of Washington include: road construction and improvement, bridge construction and maintenance, waterway improvement, playfield and park improvement, water and sewage pipeline repairs, school projects, hospital and nursing activities and airport construction. Some projects are represented in multiple albums with duplicate photographs.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Albums 1-7 were a gift of Washington State Social Security Department, Ben Tidball Library, 1943.

Processing Note

Processed by Kristin Kinsey, 2009; Stefanie Terasaki, 2013.

Added 5 albums containing photographs found in subject files that have been gathered back together based on projects represented. Original order of albums is unknown.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Album 1Return to Top

Photographs have been removed from album. Original order has been retained.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Project 544 -Report on Improving State Lands North of City Limits of Seattle Written on photographs: State of Wash. E.R.A- K.C.D.
Box/Folder	item
1/1	1-1 to 1-2	Cover and typed report of project cost and description	February 17, 1934
1/1	1-3	Cleared land and work headquarters	January 17, 1934
1/1	1-4	Uncleared land	January 17, 1934
1/1	1-5 to 1-8	Workers clearing land	January 17, 1934
1/1	1-9	Stump burning	January 17, 1934
1/1	1-10 to 1-13	Workers clearing land	January 17, 1934
1/2	1-14 to 1-15	Views of cleared land	January 17, 1934
1/2	1-16 to 1-17	Views of cleared land and trails	January 17, 1934
box:oversize
XH2	1-18	View of cleared land	January 17, 1934

Album 2- Report of Work in City of BremertonReturn to Top

Photographs have been removed from album.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Project C.W.A. 18-58-Equipment Maintenance
Box/Folder	item
1/3	2-1 to 2-7	Typed report on project C.W.A. 18-58	February 21, 1934
		Project C.W.A. 18-19-Gorst Creek Trestle and Flood Control
Box/Folder	item
1/3	2-8 to 2-9	Typed report on project C.W.A. 18-19	February 21, 1934
1/4	2-10a-k	Photographs for project C.W.A. 18-19	January 24-February 3, 1934
		Project C.W.A. 18-2
Box/Folder	item
1/5	2-11 to 2-13a-b	Typed report and photographs on project C.W.A. 18-2	February 21, 1934
		Project C.W.A. 18-25
Box/Folder	item
1/6	2-14 to 2-16	Typed report on project C.W.A. 18-25	February 5, 1934
mapcase	item
M734	2-17	Map of City of Bremerton showing revision of street names and numerical system for numbering buildings R.M. Bicknell (Designer)	January, 25, 1932

Album 3 -School District #99, Clark County, Ridgefield, Wa.Return to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Projects 6-38, 6B4-32, C.6-5-E
Box/Folder	item
1/7	3-1a-b to 3-10	Typed text explaining location and C.W.A.'s role for the school including accompanying photographs	circa 1943
1/7	3-11 to 3-14	Photographs of completed C.W.A. projects at the school	circa 1943
		Washington Emergency Relief Administration Projects
Box/Folder	item
1/7	3-15 to 3-24	Photographs of completed W.E.R.A. projects at the school and typed explanations of W.E.R.A.'s role in the school	circa 1943
1/7	3-25 to 3-32	Photographs of continuing W.E.R.A. projects	circa 1943
1/7	3-33 to 3-36	Photographs of school/community programs and sports	circa 1943
1/7	3-37, 3-38	Photograph of school and newspaper article	circa 1943

Album 4- Municipal Street Railway, Seattle, WAReturn to Top

Some projects are represented in multiple albums and are repeated multiple times in the same album.

Photographs have been removed form album. Original order has been retained. Some of the photographs were taken by Asahel Curtis.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Report on Municipal Street Railway, Seattle, Washington Duplicate photographs also found in album 8.Some of the same photographs can be found in PHColl 661 Federal Emergency Relief Administration Seattle Municipal Railway Photographs.
Box/Folder	item
1/8	4-1 to 4-12	Typed report for project CWA 17-199 and Project 552	February 15-19, 1934
1/9	4-13 to 4-17	Workers making and loading concrete slabs	January 23, 1934
1/10	4-18 to 4-19	Workers preparing streetcar tracks for concrete slabs 4-18 is the same photo found in PHColl 661.4.	March 23, 1931 and January 23, 1934
1/10	4-20 to 4-21	Finished streetcar tracks	March 23, 1931 and January 23, 1934
1/10	4-22	Concrete slabs partially installed	March 23, 1931 and January 23, 1934
1/11	4-23 to 4-29	Workers preparing streetcars- including constructing painting, repairing and upholstering 4-25 is the same as item 8-10.4-26 is the same as item 8-8.4-27 is the same as item 8-9.4-28 is the same as item 8-11.4-23 is same photo found in PHColl 661.16.4-24 is same photo found in PHColl 661.14.4-25 is same photo found in PHColl 661.13.4-26 is same photo found in PHColl 661.18.4-27 is same photo found in PHColl 661.19.4-29 is same photo found in PHColl 661.17.	January 19, 1934
mapcase
M734	4-30 to 4-32	Maps for paving car tracks Seattle, Washington Dodge and Graham (Designer)	November, 24, 1931 and 1934

Album 5Return to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Pier 41-Smith's Cove, Seattle
Box/Folder	item
1/12	5-1 to 5-2	Typed report on Pier 41, of Smith's Cove	February 21, 1934
mapcase
M734	5-3	Map by Port of Seattle Commission on Pier 41 regarding the seawall G.T. Treadwell (designer)	November 1933

Album 6- Railroad Avenue, Marginal Way, Rainer AvenueReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Report on Railroad Avenue, Marginal Way, Rainier Avenue, Seattle, Washington
Box/Folder	item
1/13	6-1 to 6-2	Typed report on Project C.W.A. 17-15 on the reconstruction of the brick along Railroad way, Marginal way and Rainer Avenue	February 18, 1934
1/13	6-3	Improvement of Railroad Avenue from Connecticut Street looking north	February 4, 1934
1/13	6-4	Improvement of Jackson Avenue from Jasckson Street looking north	February 4, 1934

Album 7- Seattle School District #1Progress ReportReturn to Top

Some projects are represented in multiple albums and are repeated multiple times in the same album.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Progress Reportfor Seattle School District #1 Duplicate photographs found in album 8.
Box/Folder	item
1/14	7-1 to 7-69	Typed report for Seattle School District #1 Typed report includes project CWA 17-244 and project KWCB 547 regarding specific schoolsThis report covers Ballard, Broadway, Cleveland, Franklin, Garfield, Queen Anne, Roosevelt, and West Seattle High Schools. A well as grade schools including, Beacon Hill, Brighton, Cascade, F.H. Coe, J.M Colman, Columbia, B.F. Day, Dunlap, Emerson, Fairview, Gatewood, Bailey Gatzert, Georgetown, Greenlake, Hawthorne, E.C. Hughes, Lowell, McGilvra, Horace B. Mann, T.T. Minor, Pacific, Salmon Bay, Seward, University Heights, Van Asselt, Warren Avenue, West Queen Anne,West Woodland, Martha Washington and various other sites.	November 24, 1933 -February 15, 1934
1/15	7-70 to 7-72	Photographs for project 547 of repairs done in schools including repairing school desks, fixing machinery and refinishing pianos 7-70 is the same as item 8-74.7-71 is the same as item 8-72.7-72 is the same as item 8-73.	January 17, 1934

Album 8- Miscellaneous ProjectsReturn to Top

Some projects are represented in multiple albums and are repeated multiple times in the same album but in different locations.

Photographs have been removed from album. Original order has been retained.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Project 505 and 2505-Fort Lawton Fort Lawton was built in 1897 and opened in 1900 in Seattle, WA. During WWII it was used as a prisoner of war camp. In 1972 a large part of Fort Lawton land was given back to the city of Seattle and the following year it became today's Discovery Park. The Fort officially closed September 14, 2011.
Box/Folder	item
2/1	8-1	Bluff Road at Fort Lawton	March 7, 1934
2/1	8-2 to 8-3	Photographs of the grounds of Fort Lawton cleared and landscaped	January 23, 1934
		Project 2749-North Bend Airport
Box/Folder	item
2/1	8-4	Photographs of workers on North Bend Airport site	March 19, 1934
		Project 501-Sand Point Naval Air Station
Box/Folder	item
2/1	8-5 to 8-6	Photographs of construction for the landing field, including landing field drainage installation	December 7, 1934
		Project 2715-Preston Airport
Box/Folder	item
2/1	8-7	Workers clearing land for Preston Airport	March 26, 1934
		Project 552A-Municipal Street Railway The photographs are the same as those found in Album 4.
Box/Folder	item
2/2	8-8 to 8-9	Workers in the electrical department working with armatures 8-8 is the same as item 4-26.8-9 is the same as item 4-27.	January 19, 1934
2/2	8-10 to 8-11	Workers preparing streetcars- including painting and repairing 8-10 is the same as item 4-25.8-11 is the same as item 4-28.	January 19, 1934
		Project 509-Lincoln Park
Box/Folder	item
2/2	8-12 to 8-15	Workers clearing Lincoln Park and State Highway 1 south section repair	December 26 and 31, 1933
		Project 658-Cedar River
Box/Folder	item
2/3	8-16 to 8-18	Views of Cedar River flood damage and sand bag levees	December 27, 1933
		Project 697-Renton Commercial Waterway
Box/Folder	item
2/3	8-19 to 8-21	Views of Cedar River and pile driving machinery	February 12, 1934
		Project 556-Sammamish River Improvement
Box/Folder	item
2/3	8-22	Dredging of Sammamish River	February 10, 1934
		Project 508-Seward Park
Box/Folder	item
2/3	8-23 to 8-27	Views of workers around Seward Park including construction of log shelter and swimming area	January 1934 and December 1933
2/3	8-28	Colman Park	December 28, 1933
		Project 561A ans 696-Firland Sanitorium The Firland Sanitorium was opened in 1911 and changed locations in 1943. It was Seattle's tuberculosis hospital until 1973.
Box/Folder	item
2/4	8-29 to 8-32	Creation of concrete driveway to Firland Sanitorium and architectual designers creating decorative designs for the building	January 30 and February 14, 1934
		Project 579-King County Hospital
Box/Folder	item
2/4	8-33	Children's occupational therapy at the King County Hospital	January 8, 1934
		Project 507 and 2507-Montlake Playfield
Box/Folder	item
2/5	8-34	Montlake Playfield construction	January 8, 1934
2/5	8-35	Montlake Playfield House construction at 80% complete	March 12, 1934
		Project 552-Municipal Street Railway, Seattle, WA
Box/Folder	item
2/5	8-36 to 8-39	Concrete paving slab plant 8-36 is the same as item 4-16.	February 3, 1934
2/5	8-40 to 8-44	Workers layering concrete slabs at Elliot Avenue from Harrison Street North, 2nd and Broad and 21st and Jackson, First Avenue South 8-41 is the same as item 4-18.	February 3, 1934
		Project 609-Railroad construction on Railroad Avenue
Box/Folder	item
2/5	8-45 to 8-47	Workers on Railroad Avenue south of Washington Street Seattle	February 1, 1934
		Water Pipeline Projects
Box/Folder	item
2/6	8-48 to 8-49	Laying water pipline for project 553L	February 14, 1934
2/6	8-50 to 8-51	Pipeline and dam construction in Redmond, WA for project 1521B showing pipe laying and jointing	February 14, 1934
2/6	8-52 to 8-57	Workers working on pipelines and drainage systems for various projects	February 1934
		Project 614-Smith's Cove, Seattle, WA
Box/Folder	item
2/7	8-58 to 8-60	Construction for Smith's Cove Seattle, WA	February 9, 1934
		Project 574-Seattle Bridge Construction
Box/Folder	item
2/7	8-61 to 8-62	Views of Spokane Street Bridge	February 15 and March 8, 1934
2/7	8-63	View of workers on Montlake Bridge	February 19, 1934
2/7	8-64	Painters on 8th Avenue South Bridge	February 15, 1934
		Project 553-Cedar River Bridge
Box/Folder	item
2/7	8-65 to 8-66	Bridge constructions over Cedar River in Barneston and Trude, Washington From accompanying material: State of Washington Stream, bridge and channel improvement projects. Photo No. 4 of series of four. (8-65).	February 19, 1934
		Project 546-Kirkland Road Construction
Box/Folder	item
2/7	8-67	Workers creating new street, Kirkland, WA	February 14, 1934
		Project 603-Resurfacing Auburn Roads
Box/Folder	item
2/8	8-68 to 8-69	Resurfacing Main Street Auburn and view of the asphalt plant	February 12, 1934
		Project 565-Seattle Public Schools
Box/Folder	item
2/8	8-70	Assisting in school board office, Seattle, WA	January 15, 1934
2/8	8-71	Mending books for Seattle Schools	January 16, 1934
		Project 547-Equipment overhaul Seattle, WA
Box/Folder	item
2/8	8-72 to 8-74	Overhauling and refinishing machinery, pianos and school desks 8-72 is the same as item 7-71.8-73 is the same as item 7-72.8-74 is the same as item 7-70.	January 17, 1934
		Project KCWB 639-Olympic View School
Box/Folder	item
2/8	8-75	Man tuning a piano	January 18, 1934
		Project 558-Sewing Center and Children's Bureau, Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA
Box/Folder	item
2/9	8-76 to 8-77	Women working in Sewing Center Sewing Center was located at 421 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA	January 20, 1934
2/9	8-78	Filling requisitions at the Children's Bureau	January 10, 1934
2/9	8-79	Recieving orders of blankets at the Children's Bureau	January 10, 1934
		Project 923-North King County Sewing Room
Box/Folder	item
2/9	8-80	Workers in the North King County Sewing Room, North Park, Seattle, WA	February 28, 1934
		Project 645, 606, 560-University of Washington
Box/Folder	item
2/9	8-81 to 8-82	Work on a road at the University of Washington Image includes an African American worker.	February 12, 1934
2/9	8-83	View of the Central Quadrangle (The Quad) on the University of Washington Campus	February 12, 1934
2/10	8-84	Baseball grounds for the University of Washington	March 28, 1934
		Project 2779-Naval Reserve
Box/Folder	item
2/10	8-85	Docked ship Written on photo: Repairs for U.S. Naval Reserve	April 7, 1934
		Project 665-National Guard Armory
Box/Folder	item
2/10	8-86	Main Drill Hall with cannons	March 27, 1934
		Project 547-Seattle Schools
Box/Folder	item
2/10	8-87	Workers painting exterior of T.T. Minor Public School	February 23, 1934
2/10	8-88	Workers painting exterior of University Heights	February 23, 1934
2/10	8-89	Workers painting interior of Ballard High School	February 23, 1934
2/10	8-90	Broadway High School library interior showing painters at work	February 23, 1934
		Project 2964-Survey of High School Graduates
Box/Folder	item
2/10	8-91	Seated workers Printed on photo: Survey of High School Graduates- 810 Dexter Ave. Seattle, Wash., Checking graduate lists into city directory divisions.	February 23, 1934
		Project C.W.S. S-23-Seattle Public School Nurses
Box/Folder	item
2/11	8-92	Group portrait of school nurses	February 27, 1934
		Project 508-Van Asselt Playfield
Box/Folder	item
2/11	8-93	Field being cleared for the Van Asselt School Playfield	December 25, 1933
		Project 534-Laurelhurst Fieldhouse
Box/Folder	item
2/11	8-94	View of the Northwest corner of Laurelhurst Field House Printed on photo: 80% complete.Construction of the Laurelhurst fieldhouse started in January of 1934. In late March construction was stopped due to lack of funding from the CWA. Washington's Emergency Relief Administration provided the remaining necessary funds and the field house was completed Spring of 1935. The fieldhouse was built in the Tudor-Revival Style and was larger than it was originally planned to be.	March 6, 1934
		Project 576-Magnolia Playfield
Box/Folder	item
2/11	8-95	Tennis courts at the Magnolia playfield	March 12, 1934
		Project 503-Green Lake
Box/Folder	item
2/11	8-96	Filled-in land south of Green Lake	March 6, 1934
		Project 573-Enumclaw, Washington
Box/Folder	item
2/11	8-97	Playfield and stadium in Enumclaw, WA	February 13, 1934
		Project 547-Seattle Schools
Box/Folder	item
2/11	8-98	Martha Washington School grounds under construction Printed on photo: 57th South and Holly Sts.	January 29, 1934
2/11	8-99	Clearing and grading of Alki Playfield Printed on photo: West Alaska and Beach Drive	January 17, 1934