American Guide Series

Another Pandemic Reading Project

       The "American Guide Series" is one of the results of the Federal Writers' Project which was part of the Works Progress Administration during the Roosevelt presidency. "The Guides" are works devoted to various states, regions, cities and other geographical topics and were produced by, as Time magazine indicated, “unemployed newspapermen, poets, graduates of schools of journalism who had never had jobs, authors of unpublished novels, high-school teachers, people who had always wanted to write,” and so on. Putting writers on the public payroll was controversial, but as Harry Hopkins, the administrator of the Works Progress Administration, said at the time, “Hell, they’ve got to eat just like other people.”  The Federal Writers' Project employed six thousand people. 

    We can't travel right now because of the Covid pandemic. When we are able to do so, I think it would be a good idea to consider employing unemployed journalists and graduate students for such an effort in Canada. Rather than simply handing out cheques, people could be put on the payroll for public projects from which we all would benefit.

   We can't travel, but we can read about travelling. The works produced under the auspices of the WPA were often written by people who later became established writers. As well, many of the Guides are remarkably detailed and cover subjects not routinely included in guidebooks. I happened upon The Ocean Highway: New Brunswick, New Jersey to Jacksonville, which ran through my hometown and I learned things about the local area of which I was unaware.  It is reported that Steinbeck carried these books when he travelled with Charley. 

   Provided below are examples of these books that are found up at Western University. Many of the publications produced by the Federal Writers' Project are available over the Internet. Reprints are also available and original editions can be found on Abe Books. 

   And, books written about the U.S., even during the Depression, are less depressing than reading books about the U.S. now.

   Since you cannot travel to Florida, read about it here: Florida: A Guide to the Southern-most State. 

Sources: 

   There is a Wikipedia entry for the American Guide Series. 

    See the Library of Congress: American Life Histories: Manuscripts From the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1940.

     The Library of Congress has just completed digitization of the posters of the WPA. See Posters: WPA Posters

    Some libraries have produced guides for the series. For example see:

Utah State University: The American Guide Series: American Culture Explained. 

Rowan University: The WPA Federal Writers' Project: The Guides. 

NYPL: Better Know a State: See the Nation, Through the American Guide Series. 

   Listed here are books from the American Guide Series that are available in the Western Libraries in early 2021. For an accurate list, you should check with a librarian at Western University. For more bibliographic information about each title, search the Western Libraries catalogue. 
   Some of these books are available over the Internet through the google books project and others are available on HathiTrust, of which Western Libraries is a member. Those which are available for free in the Internet Archive are marked with an I.
   Most of the books below are about states, but there are a few about cities (NY, New Orleans, San Francisco,) and  a couple that are regional, the Berkshire Hills and New England. In some cases, there are duplicate copies and these print volumes are located in a storage facility. Two about Kentucky are available in a microformat.
    There are also books about the collection. For three see: The Dream and the Deal; The Federal Writers' Project, 1935-1943, by Jerre Mangione. Regular Loan E175.4.W9M3. The Federal Writers' Project : A Study in Government Patronage of the Arts / Monty Noam Penkower. -Weldon Library Regular Loan PS228.F43P4 and Portrait of America : a Cultural History of the Federal Writers' Project / Jerrold Hirsch. Archives Storage - Regular Loan E175.4.W9H57 2003

Alabama : a guide to the Deep South 
Archives Storage- Regular Loan F326.W7 1973
Arizona : a State guide
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F809.3.W7 1972
Arkansas; a guide to the state
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F411.W8 1973
Atlanta : a city of the modern South 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F294.A8W8 1973
The Berkshire hills...
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F72.B5F37
California; a guide to the golden state.  I
Storage Regular Loan F859.3.H35 1967
California: a guide to the Golden State
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F859.3.F4 1972
Colorado; a guide to the highest state. I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F774.3.W74 1973
Connecticut : a guide to its roads, lore, and people
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F100.F45 1973
Death Valley : a guide 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F868.D2F4 1978
Delaware, a guide to the first State.
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F164.F45 1955
Florida; a guide to the southern-most state,    I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F316.F44
Georgia : a guide to its towns and countryside    I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F291.W94 1973
Georgia ; a guide to its towns and countryside, 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F291.W94
A guide to Alaska, last American frontier    I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F909.F45
Here's New England! : a guide to vacationland
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F2.3.F42 1973
Idaho, a guide in word and picture.     I 
Storage Regular Loan F746.F44 1961
Illinois : a descriptive and historical guide    I     
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F539.3.F4 1973
Illinois, descriptive and historical guide 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F539.3.F4 1974
Indiana; a guide to the Hoosier state. 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F524.3.W75 1961
Iowa, a guide to the Hawkeye state. 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F621.F45 1976

Jefferson's Albemarle, a guide to Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville, Virginia  
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F232.A3W87 1978
Kansas, a guide to the Sunflower State.
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F686.F45 1973
The WPA Guide to 1930s Kansas
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F686.K164 1984
Kentucky, a guide to the Bluegrass state,     I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F456.F44 1973

Los Angeles; a guide to the city and its environs, 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F869.L8W74 1972
Louisiana : a guide to the state 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F367.3.W74 1973
Maine, a guide 'Down East,'
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F17.3.F42 1972
Maryland, a guide to the old line state, 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F181.W75 1973
Massachusetts: a guide to its places and people. 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F70.F295 1973
Massachusetts: a guide to the Pilgrim State 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F70.F295 1971
Michigan : a guide to the Wolverine state 
Weldon Library Regular Loan F566.W9
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F566.W9
Mississippi; a guide to the Magnolia State.    I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F341.F45 1973
Missouri, a guide to the "Show Me" State,    I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F466.W85 1973
Montana; a state guide book,      I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F731.F44 1973
Nebraska, a guide to the Cornhusker. 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F666.F46 1976
Nevada; a guide to the Silver State,
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F841.W77 1973
New Hampshire : a guide to the Granite State 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F39.F43 1974
New Jersey, a guide to its present and past
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F139.F45 1973
New Mexico : a guide to the colorful State 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F794.3.W7 1974
New Orleans City guide 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F379.N53F42 1972
New York, a guide to the empire state.   
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F124.W76 1962
New York : a guide to the Empire State 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F117.3.W75 1962
New York City guide I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F128.18.F37 1977
New York panorama : a companion to the WPA guide to New York City : a comprehensive view of the metropolis, presented in a series of articles / prepared by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration in New York City ; with a new introduction by Alfred Kazin.
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F128.18.N435 1984
North Carolina guide    I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F259.F44 1976
North Dakota : a guide to the northern prairie state 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F636.F43
The Ohio guide.
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F496.W76 1962
Oklahoma : a guide to the Sooner State   I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F694.R8 1974
Old capitol and Frankfort guide / 
Series: American guide series.; Kentucky culture series ; 21278-LCP - 21281-LCP.Weldon Library Ground Floor Microcard - In-Library Use Only F446.K33 21278
Oregon; end of the trail, 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F874.3.W73 1972
The Oregon trail: the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F874.3.F4 1972
Pennsylvania : a guide to the Keystone State 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F154.W94 1976
Rhode Island : a guide to the smallest state   I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F79.F38 1976
San Francisco, the bay and its cities, 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F869.S3W95 1972
South Carolina : a guide to the Palmetto State    I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F267.3.W74
South Dakota : a guide to the state     I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F656.F45 1974
Tennessee; a guide to the state,   I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F436.F4 1973
Texas : a guide to the Lone Star State  I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F386.W72 1974
Union County, past and present 
 Kentucky culture series (microcard)
Utah; a guide to the State. 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F824.3.W74 1972
Vermont; a guide to the Green Mountain State.    I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F47.3.F42 1973
Virginia : a guide to the Old Dominion     I
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F231.W88 1941
Washington, a guide to the Evergreen state. 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F889.3.W74
West Virginia, a guide to the Mountain State. 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F241.W85 1974
Wisconsin, a guide to the Badger State. 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F586.W97 1973
Wyoming; a guide to its history, highways, and people, 
Archives Storage - Regular Loan F759.3.W75 1966