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The Federal Theatre Project: Analyzing Conflict Among Relief, Art, and Politics in 1930s America
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Author: Matthew Power, Patapsco High School, Baltimore County Public Schools
Grade Level: Middle/High
Duration: 1-2 periods
Overview:

The Federal Theatre Project (1935-1939), one of four arts projects created under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), embodied the possibilities and flaws of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's early response to the Great Depression. In addition to providing assistance to show people, the Federal Theatre Project sought to bring meaningful theater to the populace, while simultaneously altering and expanding the relationship between the government and the arts. Similar to other New Deal relief programs, attacks were waged on the Federal Theatre Project by opponents who questioned this growing role of government in the lives of individuals and the art it produced.

In this lesson, students will examine numerous primary sources to learn about the accomplishments of the Federal Theatre Project. Students will evaluate the behavior of key decision-makers to determine the project's ultimate effectiveness as a relief and arts program.

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