Whose Stories? Exploring the Legacy of the Federal Writers’ Project

The People's Recorder, a national podcast launched in 2024, recounts stories of American life in the 1930s using interviews and recordings made by workers of the WPA’s Federal Writers’ Project. This webinar intertwines voices from the past with contemporary stories that echo with them, while exploring the FWP’s legacy—what it achieved, where it fell short, whose stories got told and what it means to America today.

David Taylor is writer and producer of The People Recorder, from Spark Media. He wrote and co-produced the 2009 award-winning documentary "Soul of a People, Writing America’s Story”, directed by Andrea Kalin, about the origins of the FWP.

Michelle Danforth Anderson is Marketing and Tourism Director for the Oneida Nation and producer of the documentary, "Missing Threads, The Story of the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act."