Happy Veteran’s Day to you fair readers. This week gave us a much needed moment to be proud of our country (before we get back to the important work that needs to be done that is.) There are two 20th century government programs that put performers to work using their special skills: The WPA and the USO.

The USO was formed at FDR’s request in February 1941 with the help of a relatively diverse group of organizations: Jewish Welfare Board, the National Catholic Community Service, the Salvation Army, the Travelers Aid Association of America, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) The organization in its incarnation was to provide clubs for young servicemen and women to watch movies, dance or write letters home.

Shortly after an umbrella organization was created within the USO called “Camp Shows Inc” that would utilize professional performers donating their time to create vaudeville like shows for the troops. The first domestic shows occurred in October 1941 and the first overseas show occurred in the Caribbean in November 1941.

The American Theatre Wing (producers of the Tony Awards) produced the oversees camp shows and open their own “Stage Door Canteens” which were partially funded by the film rights to the movie “Stage Door Canteen.”

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These trips could be dangerous and all in all during World War II 28 performers died. In one notable case, a plane crashed in Lisbon carrying Broadway singer Jane Froman and actress Tamara Drasin. Drasin was killed and Froman was injured, returning to perform on crutches. She married the co-pilot of the plane and the love story was documented in the movie “With A Song In My Heart.” Al Jolson contracted Malaria on a USO tour, causing him to loose a lung. According to historian Paul Holsinger, between 1941 and 1945, the USO did 293,738 performances in 208,178 separate visits. Estimates were that more than 161 million servicemen and women, in the U.S. and abroad, were entertained.

The USO was disbanded after World War II in 1947 for lack of funds, but was reviving for The Korean war and the Vietnam War and has been active ever since.

The WPA, or the Works Progress Administration, was founded as part of the “New Deal” in 1935. Designed to give much needed to work to those who so desperately needed it, the program’s initial budget was $4.9 billion, a staggering amount for the time. Federal Project One was the WPA’s cultural initiative and included 5 parts:

• The Federal Art Project: Put artists to work creating posters and artwork for the other projects as well as presenting exhibitions and teaching art to adults and children.
• The Federal Music Project: Made up of 16000 musicians, the project included lots of diverse mini groups such as chamber orchestras and and choirs to present concerts and radio dramas. There was also a heavy educational component for children.
• The Federal Theatre Project: Famous names such as Orson Wells and EG Marshall presented 1200 plays in the four years of the project’s existence. This was the first project to end as its federal funding was cut in 1938.
• The Federal Writers’ Project: Produced 275 pamphlets and books. Wrote comprehensive guidebooks for all 50 states and created important historical journals including “The Slave Narratives” in which the memories of freed slaves were written down for posterity.
• The Historical Records Survey: Helped to catalog historical documents

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As we look back on these sweeping initiatives we see a time in history when art and artist’s work was though of as important and not “play” We find ourselves as artists in 2020 yearning for the the public to be reminded of that. It may seem naive to think that that’s what January 2021 may bring in any small way, but what else is left but to look to a brighter day?