American Guide Series
{{Short description|Local tourism guides by WPA employees}}
File:Illinois- A descriptive and historical guide LCCN98507272.tifThe American Guide Series includes books and pamphlets published from 1937 to 1941 under the auspices of the Federal Writers' Project (FWP), a Depression-era program that was part of the larger Works Progress Administration in the United States. The American Guide Series books were compiled by the FWP, but printed by individual states, and contained detailed histories of each of the then 48 states of the Union with descriptions of every major city and town. The series not only detailed the histories of the 48 states, but provided insight to their cultures as well. In total, the project employed over 6,000 writers. The format was uniform, comprising essays on the state's history and culture, descriptions of its major cities, automobile tours of important attractions, and a portfolio of photographs.
Many books in the project have been updated by private companies or republished without updating. Although not then a state, a guide for Alaska was published, and also for Puerto Rico (but not for Hawaii).{{Cite book |last=Project |first=Federal Writers' |url=https://www.amazon.com/WPA-Guide-Alaska-Frontier-Digital-ebook/dp/B00G1SRBNE |title=The WPA Guide to Alaska: The Last Frontier State |date=2013-10-31 |publisher=Trinity University Press |language=English}}
{{cquote|If there had been room in Rocinante I would have packed the W.P.A. Guides to the States, all forty-eight volumes of them...The complete set comprises the most comprehensive account of the United States ever got together, and nothing since has approached it."{{Cite book |last=Steinbeck |first=John |title=Travels with Charley |publisher=Viking |year=1962 | page=97}}|author=John Steinbeck|source=Travels with Charley (1962)}}
Origins
{{main|Federal Writers' Project}}
As part of the Federal Writers' Project established under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 and the Works Progress Administration, over 6,500 men and women were employed around the country as writers, collecting stories, interviews, and photographs on a variety of subjects. The project attracted many unemployed writers and artists, offering a wage of twenty dollars a week.{{Cite web |title=Introduction {{!}} Articles and Essays {{!}} American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 {{!}} Digital Collections {{!}} Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/federal-writers-project/articles-and-essays/introduction/ |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}{{Cite web |title=Introduction {{!}} Articles and Essays {{!}} American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 {{!}} Digital Collections {{!}} Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/federal-writers-project/articles-and-essays/introduction/#:~:text=At%20its%20peak,%20the%20Writers,New%20York%20City%20and%20Florida. |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}} President Franklin D. Roosevelt enlisted Henry Alsberg, a journalist and playwright to head the project.
As part of this, the FWP developed and published a series of books that served as guides to the 48 existing states. Each book's primary purpose was to not only outline the history of the individual state, but its culture and geography as well. Their predecessor, Baedeker's Handbook for Travelers: United States,{{Cite book |last=Karl Baedeker |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/211697 |title=The United States, with an excursion into Mexico : a handbook for travellers, 1893 |date=1971 |publisher=Da Capo Press |others=Henry Steele Commager |isbn=0-306-71341-1 |location=New York, N.Y. |oclc=211697}} lacked much of what was needed to give a picture of America during the 1930s. Alsberg insisted that the new series of books paint a picture of American culture as a whole and celebrate the nation's diversity.{{Cite journal |last=Wesling |first=Meg |date=2013 |title=American Modernism on Display: Tourism and Literary Form in the Works Progress Administration's Guide Series |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43485899 |journal=Amerikastudien / American Studies |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=427–450 |jstor=43485899 |issn=0340-2827}} From 1937 to 1941, thousands of writers set out around the country to capture America's culture, conducting fieldwork, interviewing citizens, and observing and recording folk traditions and local customs. Writers from all over the country sought to capture American culture during the Great Depression, a difficult task given the dire circumstances. Alsberg tasked Benjamin A. Botkin, a folklorist and scholar, with running the folklore division of the project.{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=David |title=Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America |publisher=Wiley |year=2009 |pages=76–78}} Botkin was responsible for coordinating and managing the writers, a task that was too large for Alsberg to handle, as the volume of work coming in was plentiful for the project. In this role, Botkin not only influenced the writers' folklore division but also had a great influence on their coverage of culture.{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=David |title=Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America |publisher=Wiley |year=2009 |pages=77}}
The project's beginnings did not come without challenges. During its infancy, various writers' organizations pressured the project because of the parameters that were set by the FWP.{{Cite book |last=Griswold |first=Wendy |title=American Guides: The Federal Writers' Project and the Casting of American Culture |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2016 |pages=42–45}} With the project bringing many established writers back into the workforce, the Authors' Guild of America became aggressive in the pursuit of relaxing guidelines for the writers, and also developed a disdain for the project's employment of writers with a lack of experience. With the FWP's main focus on creating jobs for the unemployed, the Author's Guild and organizations similar to it continued to criticize the amateurism of many writers on the project. The solution to this critique was a simple one: find enough work for all of the writers. The roles of the writers enlisted to work on the project not only included their initial role as writers, but also as photographers, geographers, and cartographers, allowing the creation of additional white collar jobs.
Creation
The books in the series were to contain accurate and thorough accounts of American history, according to a letter to State directors on the project. Each book's primary purpose was to not only outline the history of the individual states but the following as well:
- Geography
- Agriculture
- Tourist attractions
- Ethnic groups
- Architecture
- Arts
- Industry
Three different types of guides were published: state, regional, and city guides. Each guide had its own distinct features, but followed the same uniform structure.
= State guides =
File:A_page_about_the_shipping_industry_from_the_Pennsylvania_Guide.jpg
Each of the 48 existing contiguous states had its own guide. The state guides included stories about the state's heritage, maps of major cities, as well as photographs of historic sites and tourist attractions. Each state's division of the FWP was responsible for printing and distributing the books. The state guides provided great detail as to each state's history. In the case of some states that had joined the union more recently as the nation grew, the guide presented an origin story or folklore account to describe its beginnings.{{Cite book |last=Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration of Northern California |url=http://archive.org/details/californiaguidet00federich |title=California : a guide to the Golden state |date=1939 |publisher=New York : Hastings House |others=Prelinger Library}} In the California Guide, writers used the story of El Dorado, the mythical tribal thief, to tell readers why settlers yearned to move to the new state in the mid-19th century.
One priority for each guide was to have detailed road maps of cities and major highways throughout each state. The American Baedeker lacked them because during the time it was published, the automobile was not a common asset in everyday life in the country.{{Cite book |last=Griswold |first=Wendy |title=American Guides: The Federal Writers' Project and the Casting of American Culture. |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2016 |pages=73–87}} The state guides also exhibited industries unique to each state. Guides highlighted blue-collar industries such as shipping, mining, and oil rigging, informing readers about what drove state economies.{{Cite book |last=Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progres Administration |title=Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State |publisher=US History Publishers |year=1940}} For instance, the Pennsylvania State Guide highlighted the state's shipping industry that helped grow and industrialize the city of Chester, which eventually made a comeback after the depression during World War II.{{Cite book |last=Federal Writers' Project of America |title=Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State |publisher=Federal Writers' Project |year=1940 |pages=177}}
The guides' main goal of highlighting aspects of the states' cultures and histories was an interesting task for the writers in charge of doing so. Several writers documented these challenges in their memos while working on the project. As the Depression went on, trying to capture normalcy became difficult. The projection of wealth in a nation that was experiencing a drastic rise in poverty was on display in many of the guides.{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=David |title=Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America |publisher=Wiley |year=2009 |pages=141–159}} The South Carolina guide presented polo clubs as a popular form of sport and leisure, which were on the rise throughout the country leading up to the Depression.{{Cite book |last=Writers' Program |url=http://archive.org/details/southcarolinagui00inwrit |title=South Carolina: a guide to the Palmetto state |date=1941 |publisher=New York: Oxford university press |others=George A. Smathers Libraries University of Florida}} Despite being highlighted as a focal point in the guide, this was in contrast to much of what many of the writers had seen during their travels.{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=David |title=Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America |publisher=Wiley |year=2009 |pages=161–177}} Several writers noted in their memos how their perception of a state was changed by the culture that the Depression had created. Overall the guides aimed to draw potential travelers to experience each state's culture, and projecting each state in the utmost positive light was critical to accomplishing this.{{Cite book |last=Griswold |first=Wendy |title=American Guides: The Federal Writers' Project and the Casting of American Culture |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2016 |pages=149}}
= Regional guides =
File:Cover_of_the_Tulsa_Guide.jpg
The regional and city guides, similar to their state counterparts, kept much of the same format but had their own specific focuses. The regional guides were designed with a tourist heavy audience in mind, as some of their titles suggest. One of the regional books, Ghost Towns of Colorado, explored some of the most popular deserted towns in the western state. While the state guides provided an overview of tourist attractions in certain regions of the states, the regional guides allowed for a greater magnification of this. The regional guides also showcased the country's diversity in regional attractions, highlighting regions such as New England and vacation destinations such as Cape Cod. Three United States territories, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, were also included in the series, educating Americans about these more recently acquired regions.
= City guides =
The city guides had the most narrow scope out of all three types, as the focus was on a single location. Because of this, their maps could be in the greatest detail, not only giving an overview of a city's layout, but individual neighborhoods as well.{{Cite book |last1=Federal Writers' Project (Pa.) |url=http://archive.org/details/philadelphiaguid00federich |title=Philadelphia, a guide to the nation's birthplace |last2=Pennsylvania Historical Commission |date=1937 |publisher=Harrisburg, Penn. : Telegraph Press |others=Prelinger Library |isbn=978-0-403-02864-1}} City Guides highlighted points of special interest in greater detail. In the Philadelphia guide, sites such as Carpenters' Hall and Girard College, an-all boys boarding school in the city's northern section, each had several pages dedicated to them.{{Cite book |last=Federal Writers' Project of America |title=Philadelphia: A Guide to the Nation's Birthplace |publisher=Telegraph Press |year=1937 |pages=339–373}} The maps that were included in each book added value to them as material objects and not just literature.{{Cite book |last=Griswold |first=Wendy |title=American Gudes: The Federal Writers' Project and the Casting of American Culture |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=2016 |pages=230–232}} With the increasing mobility afforded by the number of Americans who owned automobiles, the guides served as reliable and durable resources for travelers moving throughout the country.
Impact within New Deal
Over the course of the five-year span during which FWP workers created the guides, nearly seven thousand writers, editors, researchers and historians were put back to work through working on the American Guide Series.{{Cite book |last=Collins |first=Sheila |title=The Democratization of Culture |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=212}} By the project's end the government had spent over $11 billion on employing the personnel on the project.[https://www.britannica.com/topic/WPA-Federal-Writers-Project] The guides also served as a representation on the New Deal's concern with regional interdependence and national planning, projecting a positive image of the nation during economically harsh times. Many writers were not only put back to work but other writers were able to use the project as a springboard as well, to launch their writing careers.
Legacy
The guidebooks are the most well-known publication to emerge from the FWP, having been reprinted several times, as scholars and researchers have sought them out for their cultural value.{{Cite news |last=Yagoda |first=Ben |date=2021-07-29 |title='Republic of Detours' Review: The New Deal in Travel Guides |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/republic-of-detours-review-the-new-deal-in-travel-guides-11627579541 |access-date=2022-05-02 |issn=0099-9660}} When they were originally published, the guides restored a sense of pride in many of their respected regions, by promoting the history of each state or city, as well as popular tourist attractions and historical sites.{{Cite book |last=Writers' Program. Virginia |url=http://archive.org/details/virginiaguidetoo00writ |title=Virginia: a guide to the Old Dominion |date=1941 |publisher=New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive}} From a literary perspective, the guides expanded the definition of American literature. They showed how American writing could cover a wide range of analysis through biographical, folklore, and related geographic content. During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, several writers and politicians called for a new Federal Writers' Project.{{Cite web |last=Lieu |first=Ted |date=2021-05-07 |title=H.R.3054 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): 21st Century Federal Writers' Project Act |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3054 |access-date=2022-05-04 |website=www.congress.gov}} Congressman Ted Lieu and Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez introduced legislation to create a new project, garnering support from several writers and journalists.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}
Gallery
File:Ohio Guide chapter heading - Columbus.png|A chapter heading from the Ohio guide
File:California a guide to the Golden state page 262.png|A map of San Diego from the California guide published in 1939.
File:American guide week, Nov. 10-16 LCCN92500637.jpg|Poster advertising state by state WPA Writers Projects that "describe America to Americans"
File:California a guide to the Golden state page 277.png|Map of downtown San Francisco in the California guide.
File:El Dorado- The California origin story.jpg|The story of El Dorado from the California guide.
File:Pennsylvania,A Guide to the Keystone State.png|The cover of the Pennsylvania guide, highlighting the state's once-prosperous steel industry.
File:California a guide to the Golden state page 8.png|Artwork from the California guide
File:California a guide to the Golden state -Yosemite Falls.jpg|A picture of Yosemite Falls in the California guide
File:Illustration of the Magnolia, the state flower of Mississippi.png|Illustration of a Magnolia, the state flower of Mississippi in its state guide.
File:Cover of the Philadelphia Guide in the American Guide Series.png|The cover of the Philadelphia guide, with Independence Hall as its face.
File:The cover of the Nevada guide in the American Guide Series.png|The cover of the Nevada guide which featured the Hoover Dam
File:LaBrea Tar Pits strata chart, 1938 CHS-44440 USC Digital Federal Writers Project.jpg|LaBrea Tar Pits strata chart, 1938
Titles
=States=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
!State | Title | Google Books | HathiTrust | Internet Archive |
| Alabama | {{Citation |location = New York |publisher=Hastings House |title = Alabama; a Guide to the Deep South |date = 1941}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=9lR0DPE_kgQC Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006245077 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/stream/alabamaguidetode0000walk Internet Archive] |
| Arizona | {{cite book |title=Arizona, the Grand Canyon State |location=New York |publisher= Hastings House |year= 1956 |edition=4th}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=mB9Sm6JCnAQC 1940 ed. via Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001269063 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/arizona0000unse_u8g1 1940 ed. Internet Archive] |
| Arkansas | {{Citation |location = New York |title = Arkansas: a Guide to the State |date = 1941 |oclc = 478887}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=CTWMqJNNy5AC Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264550 HathiTrust] | |
| California | {{Citation |publisher=Hastings House |location=New York |title=California: Guide to the Golden State |year= 1939 }} | [https://archive.org/stream/californiaguidet00federich Internet Archive] | ||
| Colorado | {{cite book |title= Colorado: a Guide to the Highest State |url= https://archive.org/details/coloradoguidetoh00writ |url-access= registration |location=New York |publisher= Hastings House |year= 1945}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=GHXKAwPzb64C 1941 ed. via Google Books] | [https://archive.org/stream/coloradoguidetoh00writ Internet Archive] + [https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16060320W/Colorado_a_guide_to_the_highest_state 1970 ed. via Internet Archive] | |
| Connecticut | {{cite book |title=Connecticut: a Guide to its Roads, Lore, and People|url=https://archive.org/details/connecticutguide00unse|location= Boston |publisher= Houghton Mifflin |year= 1938}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=CPYfSsQ-WE4C Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001262394 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/connecticut00federich Internet Archive] |
| Delaware | {{cite book |title=Delaware: A Guide to the First State |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.152223 |year=1938 |location=NY |publisher=Viking Press }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=vJ5OeFvqWRAC Google Books] | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015027763047 HathiTrust] | |
| Florida | {{Citation |title = Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State |date = 1939}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=uOnhezTJonkC Google Books] | [https://archive.org/details/floridaguidetoso00fede Internet Archive] | |
| Georgia | {{cite book |title=Georgia: a Guide to Its Towns and Countryside |year= 1940 |publisher = University of Georgia Press |location = Athens }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=pn8268VQCJMC Google Books] | [https://archive.org/details/georgiaaguidetoi008333mbp Internet Archive] | |
| Idaho | {{cite book |title= Idaho: A Guide in Word and Pictures |location=Caldwell, ID |publisher= Caxton Printers |year= 1937 }} | [https://archive.org/details/idahoguideinword00federich Internet Archive] | ||
| Illinois | {{cite book |title=Illinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.151166 |location=Chicago |publisher= A.C. McClurg & Co. |year= 1939 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=soYJZ1cXqr8C Google Books] | [https://archive.org/stream/illinoisdescript00writrich Internet Archive] | |
| Indiana | {{cite book |title=Indiana: a Guide to the Hoosier State |location=New York |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 1941}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=8iFZ90Uw3jEC Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264895 HathiTrust] | |
| Iowa | {{Citation |location = New York |publisher=Viking |title = Iowa: a Guide to the Hawkeye State |date = 1938 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=My76xBkl6vAC Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000235067 HathiTrust] | |
| Kansas | Kansas: A Guide to the Sunflower State, 1939. | [https://books.google.com/books?id=PSIR8b2tbjQC Google Books] | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015027812505 HathiTrust] | Internet Archive |
| Kentucky | {{Cite book |publisher = Harcourt, Brace and Company |location = New York |title = Kentucky: a Guide to the Bluegrass State |url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.59837 |year= 1939 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=VqQtnAKMQH0C Google Books] | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264629 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/stream/kentuckyguidetob00federich Internet Archive] |
| Louisiana | {{Cite book |location = NY |publisher=Hastings House |title = Louisiana: a Guide to the State |date = 1941}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=lOSvzYLs3tMC Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264253 HathiTrust] | |
| Maine | {{cite book |title=Maine: a Guide 'Down East' |url=https://archive.org/details/maineguidedownea00unse |location=Boston |publisher= Houghton Mifllin |year= 1937 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=OfgBVf_jO3AC Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001873621 HathiTrust] | |
| Maryland | {{cite book |title= Maryland: a Guide to the Old Line State |url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.157346 |location=New York |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 1940 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=K6BlU1wPV7oC Google Books] | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003616235 HathiTrust] | |
| Massachusetts | {{Citation |location = Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |title = Massachusetts: a Guide to its Places and People |date = 1937 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=HCnn3t_nH_MC Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001261993 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/massachusettsgui00federich Internet Archive] |
| Michigan | {{cite book |title= Michigan: a Guide to the Wolverine State |url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.169551 |location=New York |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 1941 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=-V6KxeFbTS0C Google Books] | ||
| Minnesota | A State Guide, 1938 | [https://books.google.com/books?id=-h81ZE9ABuMC Google Books] | [https://archive.org/details/minnesotastategu00writrich/ Internet Archive] | |
| Mississippi | {{Citation |publisher = Viking |location = New York |title = Mississippi; a Guide to the Magnolia State |date = 1949 |oclc = 478887}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=Nb2ME6mgsAsC 1938 ed. via Google Books] | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/inu.32000007268115 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/stream/mississippiguide00federich Internet Archive] |
| Missouri | {{Citation |location=New York |publisher= Duell, Sloan and Pearce |title= Missouri: A Guide to the 'Show Me' State |year= 1941}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=bGCz07w5IgYC Google Books] | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013091080 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/stream/missouriguidetos00writrich Internet Archive] |
| Montana | {{cite book |title=Montana: a State Guide Book |url=https://archive.org/details/montanastateguid00federich |year=1939 |location=NY |publisher=Viking Press}} | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001265895 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/stream/montanastateguid00federich Internet Archive] | |
| Nebraska | Nebraska: A Guide to the Cornhusker State, 1939 | [https://books.google.com/books?id=bpKdZYwACMUCe Google Books] | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b4470705 HathiTrust] | |
| Nevada | {{Citation |publisher = Binfords & Mort |location = Portland, Oregon |title = Nevada: a Guide to the Silver State |date = 1957}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=XRdZL0gd3QMC 1940 ed. via Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001269119 HathiTrust] | |
| New Hampshire | {{Cite book |location = Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |title = New Hampshire: a Guide to the Granite State |url = https://archive.org/details/newhampshireguid00federich |date = 1938|isbn=9780403021796 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=NVNm_97RrcwC Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001261806 HathiTrust] | |
| New Jersey | {{Cite book |location = NY |publisher=Hastings House |title = New Jersey: a Guide to its Present and Past |date = 1946 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=t6wmzEJvTGcC 1939 ed. via Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001268372 HathiTrust] | |
| New Mexico | {{Cite book |location = NY |publisher=Hastings House |title = New Mexico: a Guide to the Colorful State |date = 1940}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=RdI2tYr4Ju4C Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001875167 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/newmexicoguideto0000jose Internet Archive] |
| New York | {{cite book |title=New York: a Guide to the Empire State |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.180091 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1940 }} | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001262532 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/newyorkguidetoem00unse Internet Archive] | |
| North Carolina | {{cite book |title= North Carolina: a Guide to the Old North State |year= 1939}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=dQDwh9Ep6jAC Google Books] | [https://archive.org/stream/northcarolinagui00fede Internet Archive] | |
| North Dakota | {{Citation |publisher = State Historical Society of North Dakota |title = North Dakota: a Guide to the Northern Prairie State |date = 1938 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=ogAFiiuD_ggC Google Books] | ||
| Ohio | {{Citation |publisher=Oxford University Press |title = The Ohio Guide |date = 1940 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=8MEi95NfEecC Google Books] | [https://archive.org/details/ohioguidecompile0000writ/mode/2up Internet Archive] | |
| Oklahoma | {{Citation |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |title= Oklahoma: a Guide to the Sooner State |year= 1941}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=2fvfkPErXawC Google Books] | [https://archive.org/stream/oklahomaguidetos00writrich Internet Archive] | |
| Oregon | {{cite book |title=Oregon: End of the Trail |location=Portland |publisher= Binfords & Mort |year=1951 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=8fWjdr-bOVQC 1940 ed. via Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001444295 HathiTrust] | |
| Pennsylvania | {{Citation |publisher = Oxford University Press |date = 1940 |location = New York |title = Pennsylvania: a Guide to the Keystone State}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=mcTGoFtgwW0C Google Books] | [https://archive.org/details/pennsylvania0000unse_o3u8 Internet Archive] | |
| Rhode Island | {{cite book|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|location=Boston|title=Rhode Island: A Guide to the Smallest State|url=https://archive.org/details/rhodeislandguide00unse|date=1937|oclc=691847}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=bKHQOOx1eGEC Google Books] | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015046809193 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/stream/rhodeislandguide00federich Internet Archive] |
| South Carolina | {{Citation |location = Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |title = South Carolina: a Guide to the Palmetto State |date = 1941}} | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001263858 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/stream/southcarolinagui00inwrit Internet Archive] | |
| South Dakota | {{cite book |title=South Dakota Guide |year=1938}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=Db0kzDtsl_0C Google Books] | [https://archive.org/stream/southdakotaguide00writmiss Internet Archive] | |
| Tennessee | {{Citation |location = New York |publisher=Viking |title = Tennessee: a Guide to the State |date = 1939}} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=e31FpfI1CVMC Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001874452 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.75272 Internet Archive] |
| Texas | {{Citation |location=New York |publisher=Hastings House |title=Texas: A Guide to the Lone Star State |year= 1940 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=zUI26u0B_VEC Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264479 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/stream/texasguidetolone00writrich Internet Archive] |
| Utah | Utah: A Guide to the State, 1941 | [https://books.google.com/books?id=DBkIEWzSxFIC Google Books] | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b4469589 HathiTrust] | |
| Vermont | {{cite book |title= Vermont: a Guide to the Green Mountain State |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher= Riverside Press |year= 1937 }} | [https://archive.org/stream/vermontguidetogr00fede Internet Archive] | ||
| Virginia | {{Citation |title = Virginia: a Guide to the Old Dominion |publisher=Oxford University Press |date = 1941 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=PBBAaN0aDicC Google Books] | [https://archive.org/stream/virginiaguidetoo00writ Internet Archive] | |
| Washington | {{Citation |publisher = Binfords & Mort |location = Portland, Oregon |title = Washington: a Guide to the Evergreen State |date = 1941 |oclc =5847836 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=2AE1AAAAIAAJ Google Books] | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001444313 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/washingtonguidet00writ Internet Archive] |
| West Virginia | {{cite book |title=West Virginia: A Guide to the Mountain State |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.165932 |year= 1941 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location= New York }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3n11Tg9kDoC Google Books] [https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7TpCAAAQBAJ Google Books] | ||
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin: A Guide to the Badger State, 1941 | [https://books.google.com/books?id=qNmxCkmkam0C Google Books] | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015010532045 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/wisconsinguideto00writ Internet Archive] |
| Wyoming | {{Citation |title = Wyoming: a Guide to Its History, Highways and People |date = 1941 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=kayF9jqCaccC Google Books] |
=Cities=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
!State | City | Title | Google Books | HathiTrust | Internet Archive | Other |
| Arkansas | North Little Rock | {{cite book |title=Guide to North Little Rock |year=1936 |oclc= 11575040 }} | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008298777 Hathi] | |||
| California | Los Angeles | {{cite book |title=Los Angeles: A Guide to the City and Its Environs |year= 1941 }} | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015029508374 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/losangelesguidet00writrich Internet Archive] | ||
| California | San Diego | {{cite book |title=San Diego: A California City |year= 1937 }} | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001611026 HathiTrust] | |||
| California | San Francisco | {{cite book |title=San Francisco: the Bay and its Cities |year= 1940 }} | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002783436 1947 ed.] via HathiTrust | [https://archive.org/details/sanfranciscobaya00writrich Internet Archive] | ||
| California | Santa Barbara | {{cite book |title=Santa Barbara: A Guide to the Channel City and its Environs |year= 1941 }} | [https://archive.org/details/santabarbaraguid00writmiss Internet Archive] | |||
| Delaware | Newcastle | {{cite book |title= New Castle on the Delaware |year= 1936 }} | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015027762932 HathiTrust] | |||
| District of Columbia | Washington | {{cite book |title=Washington, City and Capital |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtoncityca0000unse |url-access=registration |location = Washington, D.C. |publisher=Government Printing Office |year= 1937 }} | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000195219 HathiTrust] | |||
| Florida | Key West | {{cite book |title=A Guide to Key West |year=1941}} | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uva.x001317461 HathiTrust] | |||
| Florida | Miami | {{cite book |title=Planning Your Vacation in Florida; Miami and Dade County including Miami Beach and Coral Gables |year= 1941 }} | [https://archive.org/details/planningyourvac00writrich Internet Archive] | |||
| Florida | St Augustine | {{cite book |title=Seeing St. Augustine |year=1937 }} | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264096 HathiTrust] | |||
| Georgia | Atlanta | {{cite book |title=Atlanta: A City of the Modern South |year=1942 |oclc=1299312424}} | [https://archive.org/stream/atlantacityofmod00writrich Internet Archive] | |||
| Georgia | Augusta | {{cite book |oclc=1411325 |title=Augusta |year= 1938 }} | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015038921634 HathiTrust] | |||
| Georgia | Savannah | {{Cite book |title = Savannah |date = 1937 }} | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264018 HathiTrust] | |||
| Illinois | Cairo | Cairo Guide. | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015038921634 HathiTrust] | |||
| Illinois | Galena | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001265069 HathiTrust] | ||||
| Illinois | Princeton | [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b725815 HathiTrust] | ||||
| Iowa | Bentonsport | Bentonsport Memories | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008296260 HathiTrust] | |||
| Iowa | Dubuque | A Guide to Dubuque | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3635774 HathiTrust] | |||
| Iowa | Estherville | {{cite book |title=A Guide to Estherville, Iowa |year=1939 }} | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3635775 HathiTrust] | |||
| Iowa | McGregor | {{cite book |title=A Guide to McGregor |year=1940}} | ||||
| Kentucky | Henderson | {{cite book |title=Henderson: A Guide to Audubon's Home Town in Kentucky |year=1941}} | ||||
| Kentucky | Lexington | {{cite book |title=Lexington and the Bluegrass Country |year= 1938}} | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264677 HathiTrust] | |||
| Kentucky | Louisville | {{cite book |title=Louisville: A Guide to Falls City |year=1940}} | ||||
| Louisiana | New Orleans | {{cite book |title=New Orleans City Guide |year= 1938 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=pHSsAAAACAAJ Google Books] | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264320 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/neworleanscitygu00federich Internet Archive] | |
| Maine | Portland | {{cite book |title=Portland City Guide |year= 1940 }} | [https://archive.org/details/portlandcityguid00writrich Internet Archive] | |||
| Nebraska | Lincoln | {{cite book |title=Lincoln City Guide |year= 1937 }} | ||||
| New Jersey | Princeton | {{cite book |title=Princeton and its Neighbors }} | ||||
| New York | Albany | [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015019212193 HathiTrust] | ||||
| New York | New York City | {{cite book |title=The New York City Guide: A Comprehensive Guide to the Five Boroughs of the Metropolis; Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Richmond |year=1939 }} | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001873906 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/newyorkcityguide00federich Internet Archive] | ||
| New York | Rochester | Rochester and Monroe County. 1937. | Internet Archive | |||
| North Dakota | Bismarck{{cite book |title=Catalog: American Guide Series |year=1938 |author=Federal Writers' Project |location=Washington DC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |hdl = 2027/mdp.39015033903686}} | |||||
| Ohio | Cincinnati | {{cite book |title=Cincinnati: A Guide to the Queen City and Its Neighbors |year= 1943 }} | [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264815 HathiTrust] | |||
| Oklahoma | Tulsa | {{cite book |title=Tulsa: A Guide to the Oil Capital |year=1938}} | ||||
| Pennsylvania | Erie | {{cite book |title=Erie: A Guide to the City and County |year= 1938 }} | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005062496 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/erieguidetocitya00federich Internet Archive] | ||
| Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | {{cite book |title=Philadelphia: A Guide to the Nation's Birthplace }} | [https://archive.org/details/philadelphiaguid00federich Internet Archive] | |||
| Texas | Beaumont | {{cite book |title=Beaumont: A Guide to the City and Its Environs |year=1939 |oclc=1386509 }} | ||||
| Texas | Denison | |||||
| Texas | Corpus Christi | {{Cite book |publisher= Corpus Christi Caller-Times |oclc= 2674098 |title=Corpus Christi, a History and Guide |year= 1942 }} | ||||
| Texas | Houston | {{cite book |title=Houston, a History and Guide |year= 1942 }} | [https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5865/ University of North Texas] | |||
| Texas | San Antonio | {{cite book |title=San Antonio: A History and Guide }} | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264520 HathiTrust] | |||
| Wisconsin | Portage | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008297370 HathiTrust] |
=Counties=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
!State | County | Title | Google Books | HathiTrust | Internet Archive | Other |
| Illinois | DuPage Co. | Du Page County: a descriptive and historical guide, 1831–1939 | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000234380 HathiTrust] | |||
| Kentucky | Union Co. | Union County, past and present | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008298773 HathiTrust] | |||
| New York | Dutchess Co. | Dutchess County | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006776353 HathiTrust] | |||
| Ohio | Muskingum Co. | Zanesville and Muskingum County | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008297800 HathiTrust] | |||
| Ohio | Trumbull Co. | Warren and Trumbull County | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008297801 HathiTrust] | |||
| South Carolina | Spartanburg Co. | A History of Spartanburg County | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102030353 HathiTrust] | |||
| South Dakota | Miner Co. | Prairie tamers of Miner county | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006691945 HathiTrust] | |||
| Virginia | Albemarle Co. | Jefferson's Albemarle, a guide to Albemarle County and the city of Charlottesville, Virginia | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001263654 HathiTrust] | |||
| Virginia | Sussex Co. | Sussex county, a tale of three centuries | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005062352 HathiTrust] |
=Regions and territories=
File:Mount Hood;a guide, (IA mounthoodaguide00writ).pdf: A Guide (1940)]]
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;" | Locale | Title | Google Books | HathiTrust | Internet Archive | Other |
| Northeast | {{cite book |title=Bergen County Panorama |year=1941 }} | [https://archive.org/details/bergencountypano00writrich Internet Archive] | ||||
| Northeast | Berkshire Hills | {{cite book |title=The Berkshire Hills |year= 1939 }} | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009890937 HathiTrust] | |||
| Northeast | Cape Cod | {{cite book |title=Cape Cod Pilot: A Loquacious Guide |year= 1937 }} | ||||
| West | Death Valley | {{cite book |title=Death Valley: A Guide |year= 1939 }} | ||||
| West | {{cite book |title=Ghost Towns of Colorado |year= 1947 }} | |||||
| West | {{cite book |title= Guide to Alaska: Last American Frontier |year= 1939 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=J4q4hvs62XgC Google Books] | ||||
| Midwest | {{cite book |title=Guide to Cedar Rapids and Northwest Iowa |year= 1937}} | |||||
| Northeast | New England | {{cite book |title=Here's New England! A Guide to Vacationland |year= 1939 }} | ||||
| South | {{cite book |title=Intracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Key West |year=1937 }} | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001263365 HathiTrust] | ||||
| Midwest | Arrowhead Country | {{cite book |title= Minnesota Arrowhead Country |year= 1941 }} | ||||
| South | {{cite book |title=Mississippi Gulf Coast: Yesterday and Today, 1699-1939 |year=1939 }} | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264158 HathiTrust] | ||||
| West | Monterey Peninsula | {{cite book |title=Monterey Peninsula |year= 1941 }} | [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.31822042948323 HathiTrust] | |||
| West | Mount Hood | {{cite book |title=Mound Hood: A Guide |year= 1940 }} | [https://books.google.com/books/about/Mount_Hood.html?id=w1czAAAAIAAJ Google Books] | |||
| Northeast | {{cite book |title=New York Panorama |year= 1938 }} | [https://archive.org/details/newyorkpanoramac00federich Internet Archive] | ||||
| South | Ocean Highway | {{cite book |title=The Ocean Highway: New Brunswick, New Jersey to Jacksonville, Florida |year= 1938 }} | ||||
| Midwest; West | {{cite book |title= Oregon Trail, US 30: The Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean |year= 1939 }} | [https://books.google.com/books?id=T1sz3w79VrwC Google Books] | ||||
| Insular area | Puerto Rico | {{cite book |title=Puerto Rico: a Guide to the Island of Boriquén |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.166404 |publisher=University Society |location=New York |oclc=245805 |year= 1940 }} | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000316839 HathiTrust] | [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.166404 Internet Archive] | ||
| Northeast; South | U.S. Route 1 | {{cite book |title=U.S. One: Maine to Florida |year= 1938 }} | [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001062957 HathiTrust] |
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- Mangione, Jerre "The Dream and the Deal: The Federal Writers' Project 1935-1943", Little, Brown, 1972
- {{Citation |publisher = University Press of Mississippi |isbn = 1578061946 |location = Jackson |title = The WPA Guides: Mapping America |author = Christine Bold |date = 1999 }}
- Gross, Andrew S. [http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/arizona_quarterly_a_journal_of_american_literature_culture_and_theory/v062/62.1gross.html "The American Guide Series: Patriotism as Brand-Name Identification"] Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture, and Theory. Vol 62 Number 1. p. 85-111. 2006
- Powell, Lawrence N. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100310122314/http://www.southernspaces.org/contents/2009/powell/1a.htm "Lyle Saxon and the WPA Guide to New Orleans."] Southern Spaces 29 July 2009.
- Kelly, Andrew. "Kentucky by Design: The Decorative Arts and American Culture", University Press of Kentucky, 2015. {{ISBN|978-0-8131-5567-8}}
- DeMasi, Susan Rubenstein. Henry Alsberg: The Driving Force of the New Deal's Federal Writers' Project, McFarland and Co., 2016.
- {{citation |author=David M. Shribman |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/03/19/opinion/dreaming-federal-writers-project-20/ |date=March 19, 2021 |title=Dreaming of a Federal Writers' Project 2.0 }}
See also
External links
{{commons category|American Guide Series}}
- [https://www.parigibooks.com/pages/books/30703/federal-writers-project-of-the-works-progress-administration-wpa/a-complete-set-of-the-federal-writers-project-fwp-american-guide-series-to-the-states Parigi Books: Gallery of American Guide book covers]
- American Guide Series: Guidebooks for each state, including Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii, published by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration, 1940–42, (121 titles dispersed in the division's collection). From the [https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/ Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress]
- [http://digital.lib.usf.edu/?W27 University of South Florida Libraries: Tampa WPA Papers] Manuscripts and revised typescripts of the Florida edition of the American Guide Series, particularly to the City of Tampa
{{Authority control}}
Category:Works Progress Administration
Category:Series of geography books
Category:American travel books