Federal Emergency Relief Administration
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was established in 1933 during the Great Depression to provide immediate relief to millions of unemployed Americans. Created under the leadership of Harry Hopkins, FERA focused on delivering work relief rather than just financial handouts, emphasizing the importance of jobs in restoring dignity and self-sufficiency. With an initial allocation of $500 million, funds were distributed to states on a matching basis, encouraging local governments to actively participate in relief efforts.
FERA's operations included assessing individual needs and creating programs that facilitated employment, education, and social services. The agency played a crucial role in various initiatives, such as food distribution through food stamps and school lunches, and it supported educational programs for adults and children, reaching over 1.7 million enrollees at its peak. By the time FERA concluded its operations in December 1935, it had disbursed more than $3 billion, significantly impacting the lives of over 15 million Americans. The principles established by FERA laid the groundwork for subsequent New Deal programs, promoting the idea that public relief is an essential right for citizens in times of need.
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Identification New Deal direct-relief agency for the unemployed
Also known as FERA
Date Established on May 12, 1933
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) provided $3.1 billion in federal grants to states and localities between May, 1933, and December, 1935. Authorization for the FERA came from the Federal Emergency Relief Act that Congress passed in May, 1933. The FERA was the first direct-relief operation of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.
Planned by Harry Hopkins and Roosevelt the first week after Roosevelt’s inauguration and passed by Congress during the first one hundred days of Roosevelt’s administration, the FERA authorized immediate grants to states for relief.
When the Federal Emergency Relief Act passed in May of 1933, fourteen million people—more than one-fourth of the U.S. workforce—were unemployed. After directing the New York Temporary Emergency Relief Administration while Roosevelt was New York governor, Hopkins became the director of the FERA. The organization emphasized work relief, not handouts.
Congress allocated $500 million, one-half of which was available on a matching basis of one federal dollar for every three dollars the state had spent over the previous three months. Hopkins made the second half available on a discretionary basis because the Depression had impacted each state differently.
The State Emergency Relief Administrations submitted monthly reports that enabled Hopkins to allocate funds equitably; these state agencies typically distributed the funds on a monthly basis to the county relief committees. The FERA could assume control of a state’s relief organization if it failed to comply with federal mandates.
State social workers visited homes, assessed needs, and determined other possible sources of income to establish eligibility. Relief applicants who were able to work usually performed some task; women and white-collar workers, however, were often more difficult to accommodate than the unskilled.
Additional relief became necessary for the winter of 1933-1934. On November 9, 1933, President Roosevelt created by executive order the Civil Works Administration (CWA), to provide short-term aid for the unemployed. Its $400 million went primarily to the states for soup kitchens, blankets, employment projects, and nurseries.
The temporary CWA disbanded in the spring of 1934, and Hopkins reorganized the FERA into three divisions: social service, public works, and rural rehabilitation. The FERA had three primary objectives: adequate relief, work for those on relief rolls, and a diversity of programs, including education. Some results included the creation of fishing cooperatives, freezing and processing plants on the coastal plain, a cattle program, a vagrancy program, and survey and research projects. The FERA helped reduce farm surpluses and redistribute food to the needy through food stamps, school lunches, and direct distribution.
The FERA provided work and education to more than fifteen million Americans. In March, 1935, the emergency education programs of the FERA were at their peak with more than 1,724,000 enrollees. More than forty-four teachers—many previously unemployed—began serving as educators. The education programs included general adult-education and literacy classes, vocational education and rehabilitation programs, aid to college students, and nursery classes for underprivileged preschoolers.
The FERA ended in December of 1935. The Works Progress Administration, the Social Security Board, and other New Deal agencies assumed its duties.
Impact
Within the first two hours of its existence, the FERA distributed $5 million in relief funds. By December of 1935, the FERA had distributed more than $3 billion. The FERA provided work relief and education to millions of Americans. Furthermore, the agency established the idea that sufficient public relief from the government was a right of American citizens.
Bibliography
Axinn, June, and Mark J. Stern. Social Welfare: A History of the American Response to Need. 7th ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2008.
Brock, William Ranulf. Welfare, Democracy, and the New Deal. Reprint. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Davis, Kenneth S. FDR: The New Deal Years, 1933-1937. New York: Random House, 1986.