Works Progress Administration


The federal government established the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Depression. Many St. Louis residents participated in this program. If your ancestor(s) worked for the WPA, you may obtain a copy of their federal personnel records.

The National Civilian Personnel Records Center houses the personnel records for former WPA workers. You may write to this facility to obtain a copy of the personnel record for your ancestor. If the worker is still living, he or she must sign the record request. Otherwise, send a copy of the death certificate along with the request.

If your ancestor was a civilian government employee in another area, contact the same facility for his/her record. The records include the personnel folder, medical records, and dependent medical folders. While most of the records housed at this facility are from 1900 to the present, if a civilian employee retired after 1900, his entire record is included.

National Archives Records Administration
National Civilian Personnel Records Center
111 Winnebago St.
St. Louis, Missouri 63118-4199
314-538-4271

Bibliography

Missouri: The WPA Guide to the Show Me State. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Press, 1998.

The WPA Guide to 1930s Missouri. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas, 1941.