National Youth Administration

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Poster for the Illinois branch of the National Youth Administration, 1937
National Youth Administration was a Vocational Guidance--brush-up classes to improve typing ability (Illinois).
NYA float, "Projects for Out-of-School Youth", Inaugural Parade, Washington, D.C., January 20, 1937

The National Youth Administration (NYA) was a New Deal agency sponsored by the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the U.S. that focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 25.[1] It operated from June 26, 1935 to 1939 as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA)[2] and included a Division of Negro Affairs headed by Mary McLeod Bethune who worked at the agency from 1936 to 1943. Following the passage of the Reorganization Act of 1939, the NYA was transferred from the WPA to the Federal Security Agency.[2] In 1942, the NYA was transferred to the War Manpower Commission (WMC).[2] The NYA was discontinued in 1943.

By 1938, college youth were paid from $306 to $400 a month for "work study" projects at their schools. Another 155,000 boys and girls from relief families were paid $10 to $25 a month for part-time work that included job training. Unlike the Civilian Conservation Corps, it included young women. The youth normally lived at home, and worked on construction or repair projects. Its annual budget was approximately $580 million.

The NYA was headed by Aubrey Willis Williams, a prominent liberal from Alabama who was close to Harry Hopkins and Eleanor Roosevelt. The head of the Texas division at one point was Lyndon B. Johnson, who was later to become president of the United States.

The NYA operated several programs for out-of-school youth.

Origins[]

As the Great Depression continued to grip the American economy and inhibit the harnessing of American potential, unemployment and poverty spiraled to record highs. These debilitating years saw youth unemployment rise to 30% and the younger cohorts of the United States increasingly faced the devastation of not being able to afford education.[3] Serving as the main catalyst for change and accelerator for government intervention, Eleanor Roosevelt advocated government involvement. In 1934 she notably declared that she frequently experienced "moments of real terror when [she thought] we might be losing this generation".[4] Halfway through the depression, Roosevelt had mixed opinions on the NYA and started leaning towards Congress to shut it down.

Creation[]

In June 1935, to combat the economic forces that entangled youth and their families, the National Youth Administration was launched by Executive Order 7086.[5] The federal agency was intended to assist young Americans during the tumultuous times, to prevent them from falling victim to current hardships, and to maintain their potential for future achievement and societal contribution. The NYA's first mission embodied the goal to prevent already-enrolled high school and university students from dropping out before earning their degree, out of necessity due to dire financial times. The agency achieved this by providing grants to youth in exchange for part-time work positions in various sectors of the education system, including administration, janitorial work, and cafeteria services. These efforts stemmed from a twofold mission to develop the youth's talent, while simultaneously keeping them from flooding the already-suffering and compromised labor markets.[6]

Secondly, the NYA was committed to providing training and employment for long-term value and advancement. Young people were provided with work experience and learning-by-doing training in a wide variety of fields, including recreation, public service, education, the arts, research and development, agriculture, and construction.[7] By 1937, more than 400,000 youth were employed or participating in occupational training under the NYA. These vocational programs and occupational placements were put to the ultimate test with the onset of World War II. The 1939 outbreak of war in Europe provided the perfect testing grounds to observe the effectiveness of NYA's training and initiatives in many fields that were related to the war economy. The war effort increased the program's reach and saw a substantial surge in young, trained workers contributing to the defense industry. On a larger scale, the program enabled American youth to contribute to the war effort, stimulate the American war economy, and effectively turn the United States into an international powerhouse of production.[6]

Aubrey Williams[]

The NYA was also fundamental in bringing considerations for African Americans into the dialogue surrounding aid to workers and maturing youth. This platform was strongly pushed by Aubrey Williams' leadership in the agency. He was a forerunner in addressing unemployment and access to education among African Americans, creating the . His goals emphasized increasing their economic well-being through labor opportunities, increased educational attainment, and maximizing potential.[6]

More generally, Williams was influential in emphasizing the program's broad reach and positive implications on the future. His public addresses adamantly expressed that the transition youth experienced when adjusting from elementary years to greater independence and work positions was always rough, yet the economic situation of the Depression aggravated the transition and threatened to derail reaching final aspirations of work. Consequentially, it was the NYA's duty to provide access to education, advancement, and sense of occupational achievement through its interactive initiatives and agendas.[8] Williams' emphasis on turning America's youth into productive citizens was further supported by President Franklin Roosevelt's proclamation that the "yield on this investment [the establishment of the NYA] should be high."[9] Providing the youth with the foundation they needed would enable them to contribute to America's future development, the nation's strength, and progress and acceleration forward.

Achievements and legacy[]

NYA stone picnic table in Babcock Wayside on the Mississippi River in Minnesota

Overall, the NYA helped over 4.5 million American youths find jobs, receive vocational training, and afford higher standards of education. More significantly, it provided the means necessary for this "struggling generation" to overcome the economic adversity that threatened to overrun the country. Through the NYA's initiatives, the youth triumphed and maintained their dignity by contributing to society, growing personally, and stimulating advancements in America that eventually proved crucial to pulling the country out of a period of domestic strife.[6]

As the home effort of World War II gained momentum, the NYA's crucial role quickly dwindled. The booming munitions and war industry economy was recruiting large numbers of workers, and the agency was no longer vital for ensuring work opportunity and growth among the population. This was specifically true for lesser-skilled workers who previously needed a support network to secure work or the skills needed to get their careers under way.[10]

The NYA had positive effects on the skilled labor supply, decreased the proportions of mismatched workers and employers, and improved America's capacity for production, growth, and economic stimulation. During other times of economic hardship, unemployment, and fears of declining education, activists have agitated for a similar program to be reestablished.[6]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-01-02. Retrieved 2016-08-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Records of the National Youth Administration [NYA]". archives.gov. 15 August 2016. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  3. ^ David Woolner, "Saving a 'Lost Generation' Through the National Youth Administration" Roosevelt Institute (2011)
  4. ^ Abramowitz, 570.
  5. ^ Roosevelt, Franklin D. (June 26, 1935). "Executive Order No. 7086: The National Youth Administration Is Established - June 26, 1935". Internet Archive. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service. p. 282-287.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Woolner, "Saving a 'Lost Generation Through the National Youth Administration"
  7. ^ Cox, 127.
  8. ^ Williams, 66.
  9. ^ Williams, 377.
  10. ^ Reiman, 175.

Further reading[]

  • Abramowitz, Mildred W. "Eleanor Roosevelt and the National Youth Administration 1935-1943: An Extension of the Presidency." Presidential Studies Quarterly 14#4 (1984), pp. 569–580. online
  • Bourgeois, Christie L. "Stepping over Lines: Lyndon Johnson, Black Texans, and the National Youth Administration, 1935-1937." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 91.2 (1987): 149-172. online
  • Bower, Kevin P. "Out of School, Out of Work: Youth, Community, and the National Youth Administration in Ohio, 1935–1943." Ohio Valley History 4.2 (2004): 27-40 online.
  • Bremner, Robert H. ed. (1974). Children and Youth in America: A Documentary History vol 3. pp. 1603–9.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  • Cole Jr, Olen. "Black Youth in the National Youth Administration in California, 1935-1943." Southern California Quarterly 73.4 (1991): 385-402. excerpt
  • Corley, Florence Fleming. "The National Youth Administration in Georgia: A New Deal for Young Blacks and Women." Georgia Historical Quarterly 77.4 (1993): 728-756. online
  • Halstead, Gordon (Project Director NYA Resident Work Center, Lima, NY), Work—Study—Live: The Resident Youth Centers of the NYA, The New Deal Network website (accessed June 25, 2007)
  • Lassonde, Stephen "The Real, Real Youth Problem: The New Deal and American Youth: Ideas and Ideals in a Depression Decade by Richard A. Reiman," Reviews in American History 22#1 (1994) pp. 149–155 in JSTOR
  • Lindley, Betty Grimes and Ernest K. Lindley. A New Deal for Youth: The Story of the National Youth Administration (1938)
  • Lyon, Bruce Wayne. "The federal government and college students during the great depression: a study of the college student aid programs of the federal emergency relief administration and the national youth administration." Diss. The Ohio State University, 1969.
  • Meriam, Lewis. Relief and Social Security (Brookings Institution. 1946). Highly detailed analysis and statistical summary of all New Deal relief programs; 912 pages online; pp 445–449 on NYA
  • Reiman, Richard A. The New Deal and American Youth: Ideas and Ideals in a Depression Decade (1992), origins of NYA
  • Ross, B. Joyce. "Mary McLeod Bethune and the National Youth Administration: A case study of power relationships in the Black Cabinet of Franklin D. Roosevelt." Journal of Negro History 60.1 (1975): 1-28. online
  • Tyack, David et al. Public Schools in Hard Times (1970) online
  • Weisenberger, Carol A. Dollars and Dreams-the National Youth Administration in Texas (Peter Lang Publishing Incorporated, 1994).
  • Woolner, David. "Saving a 'Lost Generation' Through the National Youth Administration" (2011) Roosevelt Institute online

Primary sources[]

  • Daniel, Walter G., and Carroll L. Miller. "The participation of the Negro in the National Youth Administration program." Journal of Negro Education (1938): 357-365 online.
  • Federal Security Agency. Final report of the National youth administration, fiscal years 1936-1943 (1944) online
  • National Youth Administration. Report of the National Youth Administration, June 26, 1935, to June 30, 1938 (1938) primary source; online

External links[]

Media related to National Youth Administration at Wikimedia Commons

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