Historic Preservation
America’s national repository for historic documents, photographs, and other records.
National Archives and Records Administration (1934)
called Public Works Branch from 1933-1935, then Public Buildings Branch from 1935-1939
Part of new Procurement Division created to consolidate federal building activities.
Managed the construction and repair of most federal buildings.
U.S. Treasury, Public Buildings Branch (PBB) (1933)
Created Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) for price stabilization and income support through government purchases, marketing boards, and land retirement.
Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933, Reauthorized 1938)
Rehabilitated the sugar and rum industries of the Virgin Islands; reduced unemployment; provided various farm services and loan programs; coordinated with a homesteading program.
Virgin Islands Company (1934)
Provided low-interest credit and other services to farmers in need.
Farm Security Administration (1937)
Made the conservation of historic sites a responsibility of the National Park Service and gave it power to survey, select and preserve buildings and sites of national significance.
Historic Sites Act (1935)
Created by Bonneville Power Act.
Managed electric power grid and sales from the Columbia River project.
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) (1937)
Created Farm Credit Administration (FCA).
Oversight of all farm credit programs & refinancing of farm mortgages.
Farm Credit Act (1933)
A large tree-planting project in the Great Plains, to protect against wind erosion and to provide work for the unemployed.
Shelterbelt Project (1934)
Created Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC).
Provided financial assistance to home owners and the mortgage industry.
Home Owners’ Loan Act (1933)
Inventoried federal, state, and local records; work product is used today by historians, researchers, and genealogists.
Historical Records Survey (HRS) (1935)
Created under the Reorganization Act of 1939 to manage all federal (non-military) buildings, taking over the work of the U.S. Treasury Procurement Division.
Public Buildings Administration (PBA) (1939)
Provided low-interest credit and other services to farmers in need.
Farm Security Administration (1937)
Evolved from earlier emergency relief legislation.
Created planned communities for Americans whose livelihoods had been upturned by the Depression; rehabilitated overused land; made loans to farmers.
Resettlement Administration (RA) (1935)
Improved housing for low-income residents of Washington, DC.
Alley Dwelling Authority (1934)
Created under the Reorganization Act of 1939 as an umbrella agency to
administer existing public works programs, including the PWA, WPA, USHA, PRA (BPR), and PBA.
Federal Works Agency (FWA) (1939)
Helped Americans purchase electric appliances; worked in conjunction with the TVA and the Rural Electrification Administration.
Electric Home and Farm Authority (1934)
Created Social Conservation Service (SCS) to help build soil protection and water conservation works, following on success of emergency Soil Erosion Service (SES).
Soil Conservation Act (1935)
Created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to guarantee mortgages with banks
Created the Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corporation to act like Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (see above) for Savings and Loan institutions.
National Housing Act (1934)
Created under the Reorganization Act of 1939 to manage a number of federal agencies & offices, including the the CCC, the NYA, and the Social Security Board.
Federal Security Agency (FSA) (1939)
Protected farms from creditor repossession; aided distressed cities and towns; reformed business bankruptcies; created more personal bankruptcy options.
Bankruptcy Reform (1934-1938)
Preceded by Executive Order creating Rural Electrification Administration (REA) (1935); brought electric grid to distant rural areas.
Rural Electrification Act (1936)
Created U.S. Housing Authority (USHA) to build public housing.
United States Housing Act (1937)