Get Involved
Help Document, Preserve and Publicize the New Deal
The Living New Deal needs people like you to help us collect information on New Deal public works throughout the country. It is like a giant treasure hunt, searching out buildings, murals, photos, documents and other sources. If you have information on New Deal sites, we invite you to send them in to be added to our database and national map. This can either be entirely new sites or new photographs and documentation on existing sites. Submit project information.
The New Deal touched millions of lives, especially those of ordinary people who worked on work projects across the country. Most of that generation is gone now, but their children and grandchildren often have stories and photographs passed down to them. If you or someone you know has a family story about a grandfather in the CCC, a grandmother who worked for the WPA, or an uncle who helped build roads, dams or buildings funded by the PWA, and so on, please let us know. Submit family or community stories.
Memory of the New Deal is fading even where New Deal structures are right under our noses. We need people to help see that local officials provide proper markers and signage on New Deal buildings, parks and artworks, so that Americans living today will recognize how much of the New Deal legacy survives as beautiful and functional parts of our towns, cities and countryside. There is a Living New Deal project to do this in New York City; why not in your city, town or county?
Many New Deal public works are threatened with destruction – including precious artworks. We need concerned citizens alert to New Deal sites suffering neglect, demolition or sale to private owners – who may not allow public access. If you know of such dangers in your area, Contact us and we can publicize them. Conversely, if you have good news about the discovery of lost artworks, restoration of public buildings, or celebrations of the New Deal, send us a message.
We invite suggestions of books, films, organizations, oral histories and other New Deal resources, which can be added to the extensive collections on our website. To submit suggestions, Contact us
Finally, we invite historians, preservationists and enthusiasts to sign on as Living New Deal Research Associates, to bolster our work of documentation, preservation and advocacy. If you wish to join our ranks, please contact us today.