Sunday, March 30, 2008

Our First look at New Deal Programs


The title of the photograph at left is:
Entering Preston County, West Virginia. Sign refers to Arthurdale Project.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection,
LC-USF33-T01-001374-M3 DLC (b&w film dup. neg.)

It's tough to read, but I thought it was a great image to introduce the topic this week. After FDR came into office, many programs were put in place to help ease the suffering of Americans. One project was the creation of a homestead community called Arthurdale. Eleanor Roosevelt played an active role in the town's creation.

The former First Lady plays a role in The Miner's Daughter, the next book I'll review. It was written by Gretchen Moran Laskas and tells the story of, Willa and how she came to live at Arthurdale.

It's the first Young Adult book I've reviewed and I wanted to choose one that had a particular theme. Willa's journey from her coal mining town to Arthurdale is inspiring as well as historic!

Here's a link to the award winning site of Arthurdale Heritage, Inc. It's a great site, full of information, photographs, etc. that details the history of Arthurdale. http://www.arthurdaleheritage.org/

I think this is going to be a great topic!

Becky



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