The administration of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, promised a New Deal for America.
Between 1933 and 1935, a spade of new federal agencies were
established to provide a massive stimulus to the American economy.
Education was a targeted sector for New Deal expenditures.
As the Roosevelt administration had little faith in leaders of the nation's public
schools, the new federal agencies sidestepped school district officials and
exercised direct control of their own educational programs.
They provided emergency relief dollars to shore up
rural teacher salaries in poor southern states.
Various new agencies provided funds for the construction and
renovation of school buildings.
Indeed, 70% of all new construction between 1933 and
1939 received New Deal support.
Photographers for the New Deal's Farm Security Administration provided
poignant images of rural schoolchildren and their schoolhouses.