Kansas Federal Writers' Project Collection

The Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) was a program created by the United States Government during the Great Depression as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The U.S. government established the FWP in 1935, and it continued under federal sponsorship until 1939, while state sponsorship of the program in Kansas lasted until 1943. Materials in this collection were created as a part of the state-wide Kansas Federal Writer's Project. As a part of the New Deal, the program was designed to provide work for the unemployed – specifically unemployed writers and anyone who could qualify as a writer, such as lawyers, teachers, and librarians.

One of the more famous achievements of the Federal Writers’ Project was the American Guide books, a series of guides for nearly every U.S. state and territory. These guides provided a great deal of information about each state and territory it covered, including local histories, geography, and travel information. The Federal Writers’ Project also produced numerous other books and pamphlets documenting subjects such as local history, interviews, folklore, natural history, and ethnic studies.