Welty traveled around the state writing about WPA projects for local newspapers. She began taking pictures on her own of the people and places she visited, and some of those photographs were later published in One Time, One Place (1978) and Photographs (1989).
1935: Writer Eudora Welty begins work as Works Progress Administration publicity agent
March 4, 1935: Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield opens
March 30, 1935: Mississippi Choctaws vote to accept Indian Reorganization Act
The Choctaws began drawing up the articles of the Choctaw Constitution.
May 6, 1935: Works Progress Administration created
Works Progress Administration Banner
The WPA built 650,000 miles of roads, 78,000 bridges, 125,000 buildings, and 700 miles of airport runways. Seven percent of the WPA’s budget was earmarked for art projects, resulting in 225,000 concerts and 475,000 artworks.
Image: Banner for a WPA playground project.
June 4, 1935: Meridian natives Algene and Frederick Key set flight endurance record
In their plane the Ole Miss, they flew nonstop over Meridian’s airport for 27 days, flying 52,000 miles in 653 hours and 34 minutes. The airport was later renamed Key Field, and the Ole Miss is on display in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.