| Book Review | Indiana Magazine of History, 102.2

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to Indiana Magazine of History online. About 181 words from this article are provided below; about 454 words remain.

If you are a individual subscriber to Indiana Magazine of History, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a subscriber to Indiana Magazine of History, you can:: • subscribe here.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of Indiana Magazine of History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | Indiana Magazine of History, 102.2 | The History Cooperative

Reviews

Creating a Hoosier Self-Portrait
The Federal Writers' Project in Indiana, 1935–1942

By George T. Blakey

(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005. Pp vi, 262. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index, $29.95.)

The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a New Deal program formed to utilize the writing, interviewing, and analytical skills of journalists, teachers, writers, and others who had lost their livelihoods during the Great Depression. Writers who would go on to gain a name in American literature—including Nelson Algren, Ralph Ellison, Eudora Welty, Zora Neale Hurston, Studs Terkel, and Saul Bellow—were all, at one time or another, employed by the FWP.

The project's most public and lasting legacy is the American Guide series: a combination of "state history, encyclopedia, and travel guide" to each of the forty-eight states, assembled from hours of interviews, writing, and re-writing by fieldworkers (p. 41). While the primary job of each state's FWP staff was to research, write, and see through to publication a Guide, the project also resulted in side projects, including most notably the former-slave narratives that have been published in recent decades.

. . .

There are about 454 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.

Reviews

Creating a Hoosier Self-PortraitThe Federal Writers' Project in Indiana, 1935–1942

By George T. Blakey

Creating a Hoosier Self-Portrait
The Federal Writers' Project in Indiana, 1935–1942