United States. Works Progress Administration

Edward Connor Papers

drice — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:14:14 -0500

Mr. Connor served with the Public Works Administration in Gary, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois (1935-43). He was executive director of the Detroit Citizens Housing and Planning Council (1943-48), a member of the Detroit Common Council (1948-66), chairman of the Wayne County Board of Supervisors (1954- 58), and a Detroit Recorder's Court judge (1966-1967). Mr. Connor also served as secretary of the Southeastern Michigan Community Research Corporation (1958-63), director of the National Association of County Officials (1959), and as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Urban Health Affairs (1963-64). Subjects include Works Progress Administration; Adult and Workers Education (1935-43); civic, housing, health, transportation, and industrial problems of the Detroit metropolitan area (1943-66); urban health problems in Russia (1964); election campaigns for Detroit Council (1948-65); primary election for governor of Michigan (1960); Recorder's Court election (1966). Correspondents include Al Barbour, Edward Carey, Jerome P. Cavanagh, Eleanor Coit, John Dingell, Philip Hart, Nicholas Hood, Frank Kelly, John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Frank Martel, Mel Ravitz, Roy Reuther, Dorothy K. Roosevelt, and G. Mennen Williams.

Estelle Wolf Photographs

eclemens — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 10:46:02 -0500

The Estelle Wolf photographs consist of 280 photographs Ms. Wolf took during her tenure as a WPA photographer in Detroit. Under the WPA, her assignments involved taking photos of workers on federally funded projects or of the people who benefited from these projects. The collection was originally housed in three scrapbooks. The photographs have been removed from the books, placed on archival backings, and are numbered by the original order. Some of the photographs in this collection were published within Progress in Michigan, a newsletter issued by the Michigan Works Progress Administration. Copies of Progress in Michigan can be found at the Bentley Historical Library of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Other examples of Wolf’s work can be found within the collections of the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress. For further information on Ms. Wolf's life, please consult her oral history within Grand Valley State University's Digital Collections.

Merrill-Palmer Institute: Edna Noble White Records

drice — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:34:05 -0500

Edna Noble White, a pioneer in family life education, served as first director of the Merrill-Palmer Institute from her appointment in 1920 until her retirement in 1947. Under Edna Noble White’s leadership, the Institute expanded its services to include a student program of college level courses in child development, family life, parenting skills, and nursery education as well as the Merrill-Palmer Nursery School, Camps, Farm, Infant Services, and Recreational Clubs.
Ms. White was also very active professionally on a national level and engaged with Detroit youth services agencies.

The records of Edna Noble White contain personal and professional correspondence; minutes from various national, state, and local organizations as well as Merrill-Palmer committees; literature regarding child and parental education; research studies relating to child development, family relations, and immigrant acculturation; and correspondence and literature from a number of federal agencies concerned with child and family welfare.

Blanding Sloan Papers

drice — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:47:36 -0500

Blanding Sloan (1886-1975) was a puppeteer, theater designer, playwright, printmaker and director who was involved with the marionette program of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP), one of the cultural programs of the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. His papers reflect his involvement with the FTP in San Francisco and with the Unemployed Co-operative Distribution Association.