Henry Alsberg: The Driving Force of the New Deal Federal Writers’ Project

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During the Great Depression, Henry Alsberg, a journalist with a passion for social justice, directed the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal program of the Works Progress Administration. Under his guidance, thousands of unemployed writers were hired. Despite attacks from the House Committee on Un-American Activities, the Project produced more than 1,000 publications from 1935 to 1939, including some literary masterpieces and the still highly acclaimed American Guide series. Some writers, such as Richard Wright, went on to storied careers. Alsberg also led the Project’s unprecedented collection of more than 10,000 oral histories from ex-slaves, immigrants and others.

Alsberg volunteered to aid Jewish pogrom survivors in Eastern Europe, initiating the first major effort to assist international political prisoners. His friends included anarchist revolutionary Emma Goldman and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. This book brings Alsberg to light as an important but forgotten figure of the 20th-century.