Research

Administrative History

The federal Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1939 stipulated that in order to continue to receive Works Progress Administration (WPA) aid, states were required to provide 25% of the financial support of each WPA-funded project. The WPA retained administrative control over projects, but designated state agencies served as local cosponsors. The State Education Department, through the Division of Archives and History, became the state's cosponsor of the Federal Writers' Program.

The records in this series were most likely created in conjunction with various projects undertaken by the Federal Writers' Program. Information may have been compiled in preparation for the never published Historical Album of New York, which was to document the state's historical sites and influential residents. Biographical information pertaining to influential New Yorkers, primarily from the nineteenth century, may also have been compiled for use in related projects such as the proposed State Almanac and State Encyclopedia.