Public Works Administration

• American

The Public Works Administration was a federal program that provided almost $6 billion during the 1930s to construct various public works projects including public buildings. Authorized under the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, the PWA was headed by Secretary of the Interior, Harold L Ickes. Ickes and the PWA, which was supposed to create jobs for the unemployed and stimulate an economic recovery, were criticized for the slow and arduous process of project selection and funding. Because of its deliberate pace, the PWA failed to provide the much-needed quick boost to the economy. Projects that were funded through the PWA typically received 30 percent federal funds which were matched with 70 percent local funds. Half of the schools and most of the municipal water and sewage systems built during the 1930s were funded in part through the PWA. - NRHP, 23 April 1997