1930's The Arts | Arena: The History of the Federal Theatre

Memoir

By: Hallie Flanagan

Date: 1940

Source: Flanagan, Hallie. Arena: The History of the Federal Theatre. 1940. Reprint, New York: Benjamin Blom, 1965, 340–346.

About the Author: Hallie Flanagan (1890–1969) was described by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as "the third most powerful woman in America, after my wife and Frances Perkins" (who was the first female cabinet member). Flanagan, however, earned this reputation with President Roosevelt by exerting her influence in the American theater, most notably as director of the Federal Theatre Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1939. She later became dean of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and remained as professor of drama until her retirement in 1955.

Introduction

When Franklin D. Roosevelt (served 1933–1945) took office in 1933, the nation was reeling from...