New Deal Pointless Prize

[historygeek]

There’s so much history around us, and I, for one, am going to need biking destinations (since they can’t all be coffee shops and breweries this year). For those days when it’s too cold to stop outside for long enough to eat or drink– here’s a pointless prize for visiting New Deal projects.
What it is: During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt promised a “New Deal” for Americans. Federal programs, including the CCC, WPA, and others, came to be collectively known as the New Deal. Projects ranged from new trails in parks to municipal buildings to recording folk music and oral histories. I’m defining this broadly– so if it’s federally funded and from the 1930s, we’ll count it.
The rules:
Take a bike-related pic at your favorite New Deal site. Post it in the “New Deal Pointless Prize” channel. Prizes awarded for:
Visiting the most New Deal sites by bike (and posting each to the channel).
Best New Deal Pic.
The Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial Prize for best historical description.

Need help getting started? Go to https://livingnewdeal.org/map/ to find a map of New Deal sites. But don’t limit yourself to these. Want to travel to a location where a famous artist lived while working for the WPA? Go for it. The site of a great music performance funded by a federal arts program? That counts. #bikenewdeal

Topic

[historygeek]

@HokieBeth 203822 wrote:

New Deal projects top to bottom: GW high school in Alexandria; Torpedo Factory; the Pentagon; National Airport

I love the facade on the high school!

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[JoM]

When I was at GW, a group of student leaders met w student leaders from UMCP at Rossborough Inn. I didn’t know that it was the oldest building on campus, built in 1798 with improvements in 1938 from a WPA grant.

Historygeek already featured this building, so i tried to get a closer view.

[consularrider]

Also lots of “New Deal” sites in the NYC area.

Today was the Marine Parkway Gil Hodges Bridge to Rockaway completed in 1936.

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And the Jacob Riis Park Bathhouse on Rockaway. The bathhouse was originally completed in 1931, but was modified with WPA funds. Part of the beach is considered “clothing optional,” so beware!

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[consularrider]

My first ride of the year included the Bronx Grand Concourse and Bronx Borough Hall and Tallman State Park at Sparkill, NY.

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[JoM]

Headed out to Old Greenbelt, which has lots of New Deal sites. Tonight I visited Lenore Thomas, a mother and child statue. She was a WPA sculptor. She was in her 20s when she created this piece in 1939.

[rumipumi]

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[JoM]

Anacostia Pool and Recreation Center
Built in 1938, by Work Progress Administration.

[consularrider]

Washington National Airport (now Terminal A). Not a bike friendly place.

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[CBGanimal]

@consularrider 204686 wrote:

Washington National Airport (now Terminal A). Not a bike friendly place.

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You are right about it “not a bike friendly place” last year for FS I took a pic of the Regan statue and had a hell of a time getting to it.

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[historygeek]

@consularrider 204686 wrote:

Washington National Airport (now Terminal A). Not a bike friendly place.

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Extra points for referring to it by its proper name.

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[historygeek]

Not strictly New Deal, but an interesting DC story from that era…
The Bonus Expeditionary Force, or the Bonus Army, descended upon DC in 1932. The group, at least 25,000 homeless World War I veterans, vowed to camp in DC until the government paid them the bonus owed them for their service during World War I (the 1924 Bonus Bill, passed over Coolidge’s veto, sought to compensate veterans for the civilian wages they had lost during the war. Payment was scheduled, however, for 1945). The men, and on some case their families, set up camp in abandoned federal buildings and tents along the banks of the Anacostia. The House passed legislation to make the payments, but the Senate defeated the bill. Regardless, the Bonus Army remained. In July 1932, President Herbert Hoover ordered the eviction of the Bonus Army from federal buildings and land. The police tried to enforce the order, killing William Hushka and Eric Carlson in the attempt. Hoover then sent in troops under Douglas MacArthur (yes, that MacArthur) to “restore order.” MacArthur went beyond the orders he had received (spoiler alert: not the last time), using tanks, tear gas, bayonets, and the threat of machine guns to drive the veterans out of DC. He then had the camp burned. Many of the residents of the camp suffered injuries. After removing the peaceful encampment, Hoover bragged that his administration knew “how to handle a mob.”
A new Bonus Army returned to DC in May 1933, not long after FDR’s inauguration. Newspaper coverage at the time indicates that DC was preparing for violence. FDR allowed the veterans to be housed in an unused camp (Fort Hunt, Virginia) and provided them with food through the Relief Administration. He also, however, refused to allow payment of the bonuses. His Administration began plans for a work relief program, planning to put the men to work on a reforestation project. Louis Howe, one of FDR’s main political advisors and close friend of the Roosevelts (also the person who taught Eleanor Roosevelt her public-speaking skills) asked ER to take him for a drive one afternoon, as he often did. He had her drive him out to the BA camp, then sat in the car, telling her to go walk around among the men and see how things were for them. She joined the group, who had just lined up for a meal, said a few words to them about her own experience of the war, and they serenaded her with old Army songs. She then toured a few of the buildings, including a hospital run by the RA. FDR also met with leaders of the Bonus Army, and worked to ensure that their march through DC remained peaceful. “Hoover sent the Army,” people said, “but Roosevelt sent his wife.”
If you bike the ART through Anacostia Park, you’ve probably passed through the site of the first encampment. [ATTACH=CONFIG]22530[/ATTACH]

(a note about sources: I used ER’s autobiography (which mis-dates the events), contemporary news articles, and Oxford’s Reader’s Companion to US History)

[historygeek]

Also– I have idea if there are any historical markers or the like at Fort Hunt. If someone lives near there and fancies a ride that way, let me know what you find.

[JoM]

Hyattsville County Services Building

[consularrider]

#bikenewdeal – George Washington Middle School (originally High school). Mt Vernon Ave, Alexandria

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[JoM]

WPA labor was used to improve Agricultural Buildings, like this barn at the University of Maryland.

[Author]

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