Civil Works Administration

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The Civil Works Administration was a short-lived U.S. federal jobs program of the New Deal that provided millions of unemployed workers with temporary manual labor on public works projects during the Great Depression.

Aliases (1)
  • Civil Works Administration enabling legislation ×1

Statements (46)
Predicate Object
instanceOf New Deal agency
federal jobs program
appliesToJurisdiction United States
coordinateWith local governments
state governments
country United States
describedBySource Encyclopaedia Britannica
U.S. National Archives
director Harry Hopkins
dissolved 1934-03-31
employer unemployed workers
facetOf U.S. economic history
history of the New Deal
fieldOfWork infrastructure construction
public works projects
unemployment relief
foundedBy Franklin D. Roosevelt
fundedBy U.S. federal government
hasEffect expansion of local infrastructure
short-term reduction of unemployment
headOfGovernment Franklin D. Roosevelt
headquartersLocation Washington, D.C.
inception 1933-11-08
industry public works
legislativeBody U.S. Congress
locatedInTime Great Depression in the United States
mainSubject Great Depression
namedAfter civil works
notableWork airport improvement
bridge and sewer projects
public building repairs
road construction
school construction and repair
numberOfEmployees 4000000
operatingPeriod 1933-1934
parentOrganization Federal Emergency Relief Administration
partOf First New Deal
New Deal
purpose construct and improve public works
provide emergency employment
relieve unemployment during the Great Depression
reasonForDissolution high cost and temporary emergency nature
replacedBy Federal Emergency Relief Administration work relief programs
Works Progress Administration
significantEvent provided approximately four million jobs during the winter of 1933–1934
use manual labor


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