WPA Projects that Still Exist, 8-12

Here's the last in our list of WPA projects that still exist, starting with The Mathematical Tables Project.

8. The Mathematical Tables Project

Before the advent of computers, people created mathematical tables to compute complex calculations and formulas. The WPA's groundbreaking Mathematical Tables Project, which began in 1938 in New York City, employed hundreds of workers to mass-calculate the tables. Twenty-eight volumes of mathematical information were published, including navigation tables used by the Navy in World War II. The work was so valuable that the program was absorbed into the National Bureau of Standards in 1948.

9. Donal Hord, Aztec Statue, California

In 1936, San Diego sculptor Donal Hord was commissioned to carve a statue for the campus of San Diego State University. He completed the work, which he named Aztec, in 1937, and it soon became the inspiration for the school's mascot. Nicknamed "Montezuma," the statue makes its home in the university's Prospective Student Center. The funding for the project was twofold -- student groups raised $130 to purchase the one-ton chunk of black diorite for Hord to work with and the WPA Federal Arts Project supplied $6,000 to Hord and his assistants for their labor.

10. Outer Bridge Drive, Illinois

In the heart of the Windy City, this bridge, which crosses the Chicago River near Lake Michigan, was started in 1929, but the Great Depression prevented its completion until the WPA delivered funds in the mid-1930s. When completed in 1937, the bridge was 356 feet long and 100 feet wide, making it the world's longest and widest bascule bridge. Also known as the Lake Shore Drive Bridge, it still stands today, forming part of the scenic Chicago waterfront.

11. Alton Tobey, The Founders of Hartford, Connecticut

By age nine, Alton Tobey was a well-regarded artist who had won a scholarship to a class at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1940, while studying at Yale's University School of Fine Arts, he accepted a commission from the WPA for a mural to adorn the East Hartford post office. Thus, The Founders of Hartford was born. His full-color preparatory painting for the mural is in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection in Washington, D.C.

12. George Stanley's Muse Statues, California

One of the world's largest and most famous natural amphitheaters--with a capacity of nearly 18,000 -- has a WPA link as well. The Hollywood Bowl's entrance, a massive fountain structure designed by sculptor George Stanley, contains three granite art deco statues representing the muses of music, dance, and drama. From 1938 to 1940, the statue project cost the WPA $100,000 and was the largest of hundreds of WPA sculpture projects in southern California. Stanley is also known for designing the "Oscar" statuette that goes to Academy Award winners.

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Helen Davies, Marjorie Dorfman, Mary Fons, Deborah Hawkins, Martin Hintz, Linnea Lundgren, David Priess, Julia Clark Robinson, Paul Seaburn, Heidi Stevens, and Steve Theunissen