The Story of American
Unemployment
A dramatisation of the story of the Works Progress Administration of the United States Government
Written and produced by William N. Robson
A recorded feature programme originating in the New York Office of the BBC
It is claimed that the Works Progress Administration. President Roosevelt's great scheme for administering relief and conquering unemployment, is ' a new frontier in America, a frontier against disease, dirt, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, despair, and social apathy'. '. In May, 1933. there were fifteen million unemployed in the United States. Today that figure is eleven million, a reduction that is largely due to the great state-directed effort of the WPA to harness American man-power and direct it to every useful kind of national work.
William N. Robson is director of the Columbia Workshop, and some of his productions have been heard in this country. Crosstoun New York was the latest.