Cross-Century Road Trip: New Deal, New Destinations

We are definitely in an era of building, the best kind of buildingthe building of great public
projects for the benefit of the public and with the definite objective of building human happiness.

The year was 1934 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke these words to a nation still picking itself up
after the historic stock market crash of 1929. His controversial New Deal programs were already well underway,
to the joy of some and the uncertainty of others. Whether or not the public agreed with Roosevelts methods at
the time, we are, in many ways, still benefiting from the New Deal programs more than eighty years later.
These programs created what FDR referred to as paid relief workthe construction of post offices,
museums, parks, and schoolsmany of which are still around today. In spite of the struggle to create these
spaces, most people now walk by them without realizing their connection to the New Deal.
This summer, consider mixing things up with a drive through time to see three places that exemplify human
ingenuity during the time of crisis we call the Great Depression. Fasten your seat belt and enjoy the trip!

Aquatic Park Bathhouse, California: A Palace for the Public

Our journey begins where so many people traveled in hopes of a better life: San Francisco. The Aquatic Park
Bathhouse was constructed in 1939 as a place where swimmers could store their belongings and clean up after a
long day of playing in the sheltered waters of Aquatic Park Cove.
The people of San Francisco watched as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) slowly turned what was
originally called Black Point Cove into the permanent port of a building resembling a 1930s-style ocean liner.
Artists working under the Federal Arts Project (FAP) created an underwater-inspired world out of the Streamline
Modernestyle bathhouse using sculptures, mosaics, and murals. Gorgeous is the word used by the aquatic
park staff when describing this building and its art, and it certainly is beautiful.
But this gorgeous building has a complicated historyone that altered its original design to accommodate a
variety of purposes over the years. Gina Bardi, a librarian at the Maritime Museum, tells the story of a small
scandal that took place soon after the WPA had finished construction of the building: city officials turned a large
portion of the bathhouse into a private restaurant and nightclub. Artists working on the project were furious with
the citys decision because the building was intended for publicnot privateuse and enjoyment. The artists
walked away from the project. Today you can still see Sargent Johnsons unfinished tile mural on the veranda.
Eventually the nightclub was shut down, but the building never fully recovered its original purpose. Instead
it housed a number of organizations over the years, including the US military during WWII, a maritime museum,
and a private senior center.
Today the bathhouse building, now part of San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, is still home to
several museum exhibits, offices, and the San Francisco Senior Center. Bardi says that efforts have been made to
maintain the buildings original architecture and that some of the staff members get to enjoy the addition of a
sink or drain in their office as a remnant of the WPAs work on the building.
Its well worth the trip to California to see this spectacular building and its artwork for yourself. While
youre there, you can tour the rest of the Maritime Historical Park, which includes Hyde Street Pier and its
collection of ships. If youre really feeling adventurous, you can visit the two historic water-sport clubs that call
the bay home (Dolphin Club and South End Rowing Club) and brave the bays chilly waters for a swim.
Toledo Zoo, Ohio: A Landmark in the Community
Next on our road trip through time is the Toledo Zoo, where you can find more than nine thousand animals
representing about eight hundred species. This monumental zoo got its start in 1900 with the donation of a
woodchuck to Toledos parks board.
That little woodchuck inspired big plans in Toledo for a world-class zoo. But the Depression hit the Glass
City especially hard, and those plans were put on hold as funding became scarce. Through the involvement of
alphabet agencies like the WPA, however, the city of Toledo was able to put its abundance of unemployed,
skilled laborers to work to create the incredible buildings that you see today, including the reptile house,
amphitheater, museum of science, aquarium, and aviary.
The zoo staff has worked over the years to preserve the original structures and artwork and to incorporate
them into everyday zoo life. Only the aviary and aquarium have undergone serious renovations since their
original construction.
If you look carefully, you can see the artwork of more FAP artists making things homey for the animals with
habitat murals and sculptures located throughout the zoo. In the 1990s, the zoo invited one of the original
painters, Mr. Forest Woody LaPlante, to restore some of the old murals on the walls of the reptile house.
Another artist, sculptor Arthur Cox, is featured in a favorite zoo tradition: you havent truly been to the zoo until
youve taken your picture with the stone bison and bear statues located by the exhibit of the sloth bears.
If youre visiting the zoo in July, you can get up close and personal with one of the original WPA
structuresthe amphitheaterwhere the zoo holds a free annual Music Under the Stars concert with the
Toledo Symphony Concert Band. Additionally, the zoo offers great twenty-one-and-over activities like the Rock
N Roar Dance Party and the ZOOtoDO food and entertainment fundraiser.
Ohio resident Shawn Kebker says that many of the residents of Toledo and its neighboring cities make the
trip in the winter to see the Christmas lights at the zoo (the Christmas experience in Toledo) but that the best
time for seeing any animals is during cool summer days, when they are more likely to be walking around.
More than a century after receiving its first donated woodchuck, the Toledo Zoo has realized the dream of
being a landmark in the community and a home for some fantastic animals.

Doubleday Field, New York: The Home of Baseball

The last stop on this cross-century road trip is Doubleday Field. Working under the assumption that Abner
Doubleday invented baseball (which is now generally accepted as a myth), Cooperstown, New York, converted a
farmers field into a playing field, and the plot of land saw its first game of baseball in 1920.
Just over a decade later, the WPA stepped in to help make the field a more permanent home for the all-
American pastime. They graded the field, installed fences and a new diamond, and landscaped the entrance. The
WPA continued to work on the field a few years later by constructing a steel and concrete grandstand and
working on the stone masonry of the structure.
Some people at the time disagreed with the choice to use already-scarce funds to build recreational facilities
when so many other projects needed to be completed. However, according to authors John Wong (FDR and the
New Deal on Sport and Recreation) and Robert Kossuth (Boondoggling, Baseball, and the WPA:
Cooperstowns Doubleday), these recreational projects were actually very popular with the WPA because they
provided immediate and temporary jobs that didnt keep workers from seeking permanent positions in the
private sector.
 Doubleday Field was completed in 1939just in time for the Cooperstown Baseball Centennial to be played
in honor of the 1839 creation of baseball and for the first induction ceremony of the Hall of Fame built just
down the road from the field.
The wooden seats on either side of the grandstand have since been replaced with aluminum, but you can still
sit on the original WPA grandstand and watch a game, even today. The field has hosted the Hall of Fame Game
(started in 1940 and running until 2008), which brought two major-league teams together in a unique in-season,
off-the-record annual game. More recently, the annual Hall of Fame Classic now takes place every Memorial
Day weekend. Dont worry if you miss the big game, though; theres always the Hall of Fame weekend in July,
which begins on the field.
And if youre hoping to get a more personal game-watching experience, you can pick from one of the many
games played on the field over the course of the season; these games are scheduled on a first-come-first-served
basis for interested teams.
Jim Gates, a librarian at the Hall of Fame, says that approximately 120 Hall of Fame players have played on
Doubleday Field at one time or another. Its certainly worth the trip to visit this all-American site with a home-
run history.
The end of the road arrived for many of the New Deal programs with the beginning of WWII, which created
jobs for Americans and effectively finished off the Great Depression. However, FDRs dream of building human
happiness lived on and was more successful than he might have first imagined. On the foundations laid by that
era of building, we have continued to build. As we build, we can look back and thank those who came before.
Its true that you could visit any of these three places and enjoy them without knowing their stories. But the
knowing makes the visit more meaningful.

Sources
https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/historyculture/fdr-radio-address.htm
nps.gov/safr/historyculture/bathhousebuilding.htm
toledozoo.org
thisiscooperstown.com/attractions/doubleday-field