During the 1930s, Bellingham, Washington conducted a series of publicly funded civic improvement projects that were sponsored by various state and federal agencies including the Washington Emergency Relief Administration (WERA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), Public Works Administration (PWA), Civil Works Administration CWA, and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The monetary value of the projects totaled nearly four million dollars. The main improvements were made to the Whatcom County Airport, the Eureka Sewer, and the Port Commission. Funds also went to the construction of a new high school and a 1,600 foot seawall. These projects greatly reduced the percentage of unemployment in Bellingham.
This collection contains a single item: a scrapbook recording the projects completed in Bellingham, Washington under the WPA, PWA, and CWA, from 1933 to 1938. The scrapbook contains photographs of the projects, typescript reports describing the projects and funds, and letters from various correspondents including Bellingham Mayor Burleigh E. Hanning. All of the pages are detailed with decorative borders and the first page features a hand painted illustration of Uncle Sam presenting money to Bellingham's mayor with graphics indicating how much money went to each section of development. The art work was done by Whipple Yale Chester, National Advertising Manager of the Bellingham Herald, and the photographs were supplied by the Bellingham school district and the Bellingham Herald.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
City Progress Contest (Bellingham, WA) Scrapbook, 1933-1938
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections Washington State University Libraries Pullman, WA
This collection was donated to the Washington State University Libraries in 1942 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).