Aerial view of Federal Plaza West in Youngstown, Ohio   Save
Ohio Guide Photographs
Description: This aerial photograph shows Federal Plaza West, looking northwest in Youngstown, Ohio. Some of the visible buildings include the Home Savings and Loan Building with its colonial revival clock tower, McKelvey's Department Store, and Warner's. Barely visible in the background are smokestacks from some of Youngstown's mills. Cars from the 1930s can be seen on the road throughout the photograph. This photograph is one of the many visual resources collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B14F11_004_001
Subjects: Aerial photography; Youngstown (Ohio)--Aerial views; Youngstown (Ohio)--History--Pictorial works; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning (Ohio)