Federal Writers' Project

Federal Writers' Project

Poster advertising state-by-state writers projects that "describe America to America"
Agency overview
Formed	July 27, 1935
Dissolved	1943
Headquarters	Washington D.C., U.S.
Agency executive	Henry Alsberg
Parent department	Works Progress Administration

The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers and to develop a history and overview of the United States, by state, cities and other jurisdictions. It was launched in 1935 during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program. It was one of a group of New Deal arts programs known collectively as Federal Project Number One or Federal One.

FWP employed thousands of people and produced hundreds of publications, including state guides, city guides, local histories, oral histories, ethnographies, and children's books. In addition to writers, the project provided jobs to unemployed librarians, clerks, researchers, editors, and historians.