Abstract
Public library development in Florida greatly benefited from the New Deal relief programs that emerged out of the Great Depression. Historians and librarians had advocated for expansion of state support for libraries and the creation of a state library since the nineteenth century, but little progress occurred until 1925 when the Florida legislature passed a bill funding a state library. Although the early years of the Depression curtailed some activities of the state library and other public libraries around the state, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal agencies helped advance these institutions. The State Library Board of Florida and the State Librarian, William Cash, eagerly sought federal relief money to start library and historical preservation projects. The State Library Board eventually sponsored three Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects: the State Archives Survey (later the Historical Records Survey), the Statewide Library Project, and the Rare Books Project. All of these programs enriched Florida’s culture by discovering new material, providing easier access to library possessions, and expanding library service.
The support during the New Deal for these historical and cultural preservation projects came out of intellectual traditions and actions during the nineteenth century. Progressive thought helped spur New Deal thinkers into defending the need for intervention by the federal government to solve economic and social problems and experimentation in relief and recovery programs. The intellectuals of the 1920s who turned away from pragmatism brought forth a new appreciation for the arts and American history. In addition, the work of Progressives to improve the education and lives of the poor, such as through settlement houses, provided visible examples of how to accomplish goals. The New Deal brought all these ideas together with the creation of work relief programs that provided federal funds for cultural and historical projects. Despite the hardships that the Depression brought to Florida and the rest of the country, in the long-run the economic troubles provided the opportunity to gain valuable historical knowledge and preserve cultural traditions to be available for future generations.
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