WPA Histories

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the United States Government initiated a number of programs to put people to work. One of the best-known was the Works Progress Administration (WPA). As part of the WPA, several residents of Morrison County, Minnesota, found work through a project to collect oral histories from long-time residents. They also collected a number of other histories on townships, cities, churches, schools, businesses, the military, and miscellaneous county history topics.

These WPA biographies and histories became the basis for the Morrison County Historical Society’s collections. A few years ago, the original WPA histories were retyped and a complete index was made of the documents. A copy of the index can be found at the link below:

WPA Index (pdf file – 78 pages)

The WPA biographies and histories are on file at the Weyerhaeuser Museum. If you’d like to view these documents, please visit the museum. If you’d like copies of specific WPA biographies or histories, contact us at 320-632-4007.

7 Replies to “WPA Histories”

  1. Good day: I am interested in a copy of two of the WPA oral histories you have on file … pls. let me know the best way to request copies on line. If need be, I can call. Thanks in advance.

    Regards,

    Bill Gau
    Mesa, Arizona

    Reply

  2. I would like to get copies of two of the WPA interviews. John Bieganek number 687 and Joseph Bieganek number 677 . John was my great- grandfather- the father of my grandfather Michael Bieganek and Joseph was my great uncle. If there is any charge for this please let me know!! I will be happy to reimburse any cost to you. Thanks You! Terry Litke

    Reply

    1. Terry, We’d be happy to provide you with copies. If you have not already done so, please check the “Fees & Policies” section of our website for a list of research fees and resources. We will also need a current mailing address. Thanks again! MCHS Staff

      Reply

  3. I have found that John Strandberg did a handwritten biography for the WPA project. His file is #1063 done in November 1937. The name of Dorrain Petron is listed in the pdf index.

    Is it possible to get a copy of this information?

    Thank you

    Reply

    1. Paula-

      We can get copies of this biography for you! We charge for copies, .20 per page. You can stop by our museum during our regular business hours and we can get them for you! If not, we can send you them through the mail. We would charge fro both copies as well as the shipping, and all we would need is your mailing address, which you can email to us at contactstaff@morrisoncountyhistory.org

      Thank you so much for reaching out to us!

      Grace Duxbury
      Museum Assistant

      Reply

  4. Would you please e-mail me a copy of the following WPA biographies:
    Adam Trafas, Sr. #268
    John Westphal #1009
    John Puchalla #569
    Thank you

    Reply

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