More than half a century after the establishment of the Federal Writers' Project, a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, Muncie Public Libraries started a series of lectures called "Soul of a People."
The series started Jan. 12 and will extend until April, with members of Ball State University faculty giving presentations on 20th-century artists and writers and their success due to Roosevelt's program.
Donna Browne, grant writer for the Muncie Public Library, and associate professor of history Michael Doyle applied to the National Endowment for the Humanities program to receive a $2,500 grant in the summer of 2008. Muncie Public Library was one of the 30 selected around the country and the only library in Indiana to receive the award to initiate the program.
Browne said the program will emphasize literature and art created during the Great Depression, as well as the benefits provided by the Civilian Conservation Corps and other institutions from Roosevelt's New Deal.
"[These artists] left a portrait of their time," Browne said. "Not only their creativity but the portrait of what life was like during the Great Depression and how they coped to their economic situation."
She said the program depicts the U.S. position during Roosevelt's presidency and compares it to the current circumstances the country is facing.
"Our current situation is looking more and more like the situation that prompted the creation of the Works Progress Administration and the Writers' Project," Browne said. "So it's becoming more timely every day as the current administration is looking for ways to put people back to work. That's exactly what Roosevelt did during the New Deal.
Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts Michael O'Hara will be one of the speakers for the program. He said Doyle invited him to take part in the program because of his research studies on the 1930s.
Doyle's lecture will focus on the theater industry during the Depression and the political controversies created from progressive writers.
O'Hara's lecture is scheduled for Feb. 16.
Doyle said Browne asked him to be the project's scholar. Doyle collaborated by helping to look for the speakers and will moderate an open discussion after the presentation of a documentary scheduled to be shown in May.
Doyle said he expects students will take interest in going to the presentations and take something from them.
"Maybe we can learn from [history], what worked and what didn't and engage with actions that will bring about a resolution to the crisis," he said. "After all, this is about to be the students' world."
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