WPA Guide to Oregon

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the countrys shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authorsmany of whom would later become celebrated literary figureswere commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each states unique flavor.The WPA Guide to Oregon contains some quaint features, including a chapter entitled Tall Tales and Legends and a recipe for huckleberry cakes. The impact of the depression on the people of the Beaver State is discussed, and the beauty of the state is emphasized from the tips of the Cascadian Mountains to the agricultural region of Willamette Valley.