Roads to Renewal: The Report of Activities and Accomplishments of the Civil Works Administration in Michigan, November 1933-March 1934

This publication makes available to historians and general readers a little-known document mapping the achievement of a crucial initiative in the plans for recovery from the harshest blows of the Great Depression, in one of America’s hardest-hit states. It presents a historically unique case history of the Federal Civil Works Administration, established by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

The CWA addressed the issues of unemployment and destitution brought on by the Depression, specifically in Michigan. With a contextualizing introduction and afterword by historian James R. Anderson, the republication of this report - with its wealth of data and statistics, and its compelling information about the extent of the crisis and of the government’s initiatives - brings to light fascinating aspects of how critical (and impactful) such interventions were in the context of unprecedented economic challenges.