Special Collections Research Center

The Federal Theatre Project Collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, and production records created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.

Throughout the existence of the FTP, they formed a photographic unit to document their productions and create a visual record of their work. The photographers in this unit worked in all major cities and on every major production. They captured not only the live theater performances, but also rehearsals, audience reactions, backstage activities, and the tools used to put on FTP plays. You can find all of that documented here!

Arnold Goldman's collection consists of research materials, on the living newspaper "Injunction Granted". Introduced in the time of the Federal Theatre Project, FTP members wrote and presented a number of Living Newspapers on social issues of the day, including Triple-A Plowed Under, Injunction Granted, One-Third of a Nation, Power, and Spirochete.

The interviews in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Oral Histories Collection were conducted between 1961 and 1984. A majority of the interviews were done in the 1970s and 1980s by Lorraine Brown and John O'Connor as part of the Institute on the Federal Theatre Project and New Deal Culture, with people who were associated with various WPA projects in the 1930s. The interviews were conducted by members of the Federal Art Project, Federal Music Project, and Federal Writers Project.