1 Franklin, President Roosevelt, D. “Presidential Statement on the Establishment of the National Youth Administration,” June 26, 1935, in The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, volume 4, The Court Disapproves, 1935 ed. Rosenman, Samuel I. (New York: Random House, 1938), 281–282.Google Scholar

2 Badger, Anthony J. The New Deal: The Depression Years, 1933–1940 (New York: Hill and Wang, 1989), 207. Levine, David O. The American College and the Culture of Aspiration, 1915–1940 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986), 197–198, 201. The NYA aided about 1.5 million high school students between 1935 and 1943. Federal Security Agency, War Manpower Commission, Final Report of the National Youth Administration, Fiscal Years 1936–1943 (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1944), 54, table 11.Google Scholar

3 Levine, American College and the Culture of Aspiration, 26–32.Google Scholar

4 Final Report of the National Youth Administration, 47–48. Levine, American College and the Culture of Aspiration, 196.Google Scholar

5 Levine, American College and the Culture of Aspiration, 196–197.Google Scholar

6 Final Report of the National Youth Administration, 240. Merrill, Perry H. Roosevelt's Forest Army: A History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933–1942 (Montpelier, VT: Merrill, Perry H. 1981), 196.Google Scholar

7 Salmond, John A. A Southern Rebel: The Life and Times of Aubrey Willis Williams, 1890–1965 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1983), 74.Google Scholar

8 Olag Steiglitz offers a similar analysis of how New Deal historians treat the NYA in his “New Deal Programmes for Youth: Recent Historiography and Future Research” in The Roosevelt Years: New Perspectives on American History, 1933–1945 eds. Garson, Robert A. and Kidd, Stuart (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999), 42–55. For general works on the New Deal that fit this pattern see: Badger, The New Deal: The Depression Years, 207–208. McElvaine, Robert S. The Great Depression: America, 1929–1941 (New York: Times Books, 1993), 190–191, 265. For works on American education see: Kliebard, Herbert M. Schooled to Work: Vocationalism and the American Curriculum, 1876–1946 (New York: Teachers College Press, 1999), 175–209. Moreo, Dominic W. Schools in the Great Depression (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996), 136, 144. An exception is: Reiman, Richard A. The New Deal and American Youth: Ideas and Ideals in a Depression Decade (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992).Google Scholar

9 Final Report of the National Youth Administration, 27.Google Scholar

10 Reiman, The New Deal and American Youth, 183 184, 187.Google Scholar

11 Pollard, James E. History of the Ohio State University: The Story of its First Seventy-Five Years, 1873–1948 (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1952), 311–313. Cowley, W.H. “NYA Student Aid Program at the Ohio State University, Columbus,” March 5, 1936, 29. NA, RG 119, #330, box 123. Sixty-Fifth Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio State University to the Governor of Ohio for the year ending June 30, 1935 (Columbus: Ohio State University, 1935), 14–17, 167. “University Facing Serious Crisis if State Legislature Fails to Act,” Ohio State Lantern, September 25, 1935.Google Scholar

12 U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, Part 1, Chapters A-M (White Plains, NY: Kraus International Publications, reprint 1989), 383, Series H, 700–715.Google Scholar

13 Ohio University Annual Reports for 1930–1931 and 1933–1934. Ohio University Archives [hereafter OUA], Athens, Ohio. Western Reserve University Bulletin, Reports of the President and Officers, 1930–1931 and 1933–1934. Case Western Reserve University Archives, classification #10A, Box 3,4.Google Scholar

14 Reiman, New Deal and American Youth, 63 68.Google Scholar

15 Letter from Hopkins, Harry L. FERA Administrator, to state emergency relief administrations, July 3, 1934. Ohio State University Archives [hereafter OSU Archives], George Washington Rightmire Papers (RG 3/8/23/3), folder titled “Federal Emergency Relief Administration, 1934.” The requirement for gender equity was not normally seen in the 1930s. Its derivation remains a mystery and it is rarely, if ever, noted in histories of the period. The original FERA program at the national level was to have included a clause requiring colleges to waive tuition for students receiving federal aid. Some colleges, however, refused to go along with the idea and FERA regulations were changed to simply ask that colleges lower tuition for FERA students. Reiman, New Deal and American Youth, 71.Google Scholar

16 Information on tuition costs at Ohio State University from 1935 comes from compilations of the Ohio State University Archives staff. The cost includes incidental fee, matriculation fee, Ohio Union fee, physical education fee, medical services fee, and library fee. A $50 nonresident fee was added for students who were not residents of Ohio. The OSU Archives, Information Files, “Fees (tuition) 1874–1975.”Google Scholar

17 Reiman convincingly argues that government officials were fully aware that the program would benefit both students and universities. Reiman, New Deal and American Youth, 68.Google Scholar

18 Resolution to FERA from Ohio Colleges, dated 8/31/34. Ernest, H. Wilkins Papers, Oberlin College Archives hereafter OC Archives, Group 2/7, Special Matters Related to FERA, Box 88. The examples cited in the letter mentioned Oberlin College, Ohio State University, Ohio Wesleyan University, and Wooster College as institutions where men needed more aid than women.Google Scholar

19 Oberlin College did object to the changes, see pages 19–22. Ernest, H. Wilkins Papers, OC Archives, Special Matters: Oberlin (2/7), Box 90.Google Scholar

20 Reiman, New Deal and American Youth, 32. Weston quote from: Weston, S. Burns “Youth in the Balance,” June 12, 1941, 5. NA, RG 119, # 8, box 2.Google Scholar

21 Greenleaf, Walter J. U.S. Office of Education, quoted in: “The Federal Student Aid Plan at Work in Ohio Colleges and Universities,” March 1936, No. 2, Issued by the Student Aid Office of the State Relief Commission of Ohio, Walls, W.A. Executive Director, 1. Papers, E.H. Wilkins OC Archives, Special Matters: FERA (2/7), Box 88.Google Scholar

22 “The Federal Student Aid Plan at Work in Ohio Colleges and Universities,” 2, 3.Google Scholar

23 Cowley, W.H. “FERA Student Aid Program at Ohio State University,” October 23, 1934, 1–2. George Washington Rightmire Papers, OSU Archives, (RG 3/f/23/2). “University of Cincinnati, Report of the President, 1934–1935,” “Business Administration of the University,” submitted by Vice President Daniel Laurence, 168. Letter from Upham, A.H. to Jenkins, C.T. July 12, 1934. MU Archives, folder marked “Charles T. Jenkins, NYA Coordinator.” Letter from AH Upham to Jenkins, July 23, 1934. Miami University Archives, folder marked Charles T. Jenkins, NYA Coordinator.Google Scholar

24 “The Federal Student Aid Plan at Work in Ohio Colleges and Universities,” 16.Google Scholar

25 Reports about the FERA and NYA on campus were common in a number of the student newspapers surveyed. A few examples of coverage of the NYA on campus include: “NYA Grant Aids Many U. Students,” The Campus Collegian, University of Toledo, September 27, 1935, 1. “295 Receive NYA Service Grants Here,” The Campus Collegian, University of Toledo, September 25, 1936, 1. “Roosevelt to Continue NYA Program If He Is Reelected,” The Campus Collegian, University of Toledo, October 23, 1936, 2. “480 Get NYA Jobs as Readjustment Increases Funds,” Ohio State Lantern, January 7, 1936, 1. “NYA Replaces FERA; Student Aid Continued,” Miami Student, September 17, 1935, 1. “C.T. Jenkins Distributes 321 NYA Positions,” Miami Student, September 25, 1936, 1. For positive editorials on the NYA see: “NYA Must Continue,” Ohio State Lantern, May 19, 1936, 2 (quoted in text). “Continue the NYA,” Miami Student, May 18, 1937, 2. “NYA on Trial?,” Cincinnati News Record, October 26, 1938, 2.Google Scholar

26 “NYA Workers Approve Proposal of Youth Act,” Cincinnati Bearcat, March 25, 1936. U.S. Representative Byron B. Harlan quoted in: “Congressman's Help Promised For NYA Work,” Miami Student, May 29, 1936, 1.Google Scholar

27 “NYA Workers Approve Proposal of Youth Act,” Cincinnati Bearcat, March 25, 1936, 1. “NYA Finances 500 Students in University,” Cincinnati News Record (formerly Cincinnati Bearcat), October 10, 1936. “Workers Meet to Reorganize NYA Program,” Cincinnati News Record, December 9, 1936.Google Scholar

28 “The Federal Student Aid Plan at Work in Ohio Colleges and Universities,” 2. For information on the National Student Federation of America see: Rawick, George “The New Deal and Youth: The Civilian Conservation Corps, The National Youth Administration, and the American Youth Congress,” (Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin, 1957), 279.Google Scholar

29 Rawick, “The New Deal and Youth,” 350. For background on the American Youth Act see Rawick, 325–329. Background on the American Youth Congress from Reiman, New Deal and American Youth, 42–43.Google Scholar

30 Letter from Upham, A.H. to Hopkins, Harry November 28, 1934. Upham was secretary of NASU and had been asked to send a supportive resolution to Hopkins. Letter from Upham, A.H. to Hopkins, March 26, 1935 with accompanying resolution from Ohio colleges dated March 1, 1935. MU Archives, A.H. Upham Papers, box 18.Google Scholar

31 Letter from Simmons, H.E. et. al. to Richard Brown, Deputy Executive Director of the NYA, June 29, 1937. Other examples of Ohio colleges lobbying in favor of the NYA exist. For instance, the administrations at both Miami University and Ohio State University at different times lobbied for the continuation of NYA aid. Telegram from Rightmire, George W. to Congressmen Jedd Johnson and Clifton Woodrum, May 27, 1937. Rightmire, George W. Papers, RG 3/f/35/15. Letter from U.S. Senator Bulkley, Robert J. to Upham, May 28, 1937. Letter from Congressmen Harlan, Byron B. to Upham, May 28, 1937. Upham, A.H. Papers, Miami University Archives, box 18.Google Scholar

32 Letter from Morrill, J.L. to Rightmire, George W. December 4, 1935. Letter from Morrill, J.L. to Meckstroth, J.A. December 13, 1934. George Washington Rightmire Papers, OSU Archives (RG 3/f/23/2). Although Vice President Morrill shares a last name and set of initials with Morrill, Justin L. of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, which provided for the creation of land grant colleges like Ohio State, the two apparently were not related.Google Scholar

33 Letter from Stradley, B.L. to Morrill, J.L. January 7, 1937. Morrill, James Lewis Papers, OSU Archives (RG 3/f-2/8).Google Scholar

34 “Replies of Presidents of National Association of State Universities to Questionnaire on Continuation of Federal Student Job Program,” April 1935. James Lewis Morrill Paper, Ohio State University Archives (RG 3/f-2/8). Note: Nine of the forty-five presidents did not give a definitive yes or no answer. Two other Ohio college presidents voted. Miami University President A.H. Upham agreed with Rightmire in both voting for the continuation of the program and against federal loans. Ohio University Acting President E.W. Chubb voted for both continuing the program and for a loan program.Google Scholar

35 Letter from Larsen, Spencer A. to Rightmire, George August 4, 1936. Letter from Morrill, J.L. to Larsen, August 12, 1936. Rightmire, George W. Papers, OSU Archives (RG 3/f/35/15).Google Scholar

36 “University Will Be Hurt If NYA Dropped,” The Ohio State Lantern, May 19, 1936.Google Scholar

37 Letter from Stradley, B.L. to Morrill, J.L. December 2, 1936. Letter from Guthrie, William S. to Morrill, December 3, 1936. Letter from Cowley, W.H. to Morrill, December 3, 1936. Morrill, James Lewis Papers, OSU Archives (RG 3/f-2/8).Google Scholar

38 Guthrie, to Morrill, December 3, 1936. Morrill, J.L. Papers, OSU Archives (RG 3/f-2/8).Google Scholar

39 Letter from Morrill, J.L. to members of the Ohio State University NYA Executive Committee. James Lewis Morrill Papers, OSU Archives (RG 3/f-2/8), December 31, 1936.Google Scholar

40 Cowley, W.H. to to Morrill, J.L. January 11, 1937. Guthrie, William S. to Morrill, January 11, 1937. Stradley, B.L. to Morrill, January 7, 1937. University Comptroller Chas. Kuntz, A. to Morrill, undated. The text of Kuntz’ letter makes it clear he was responding to the same letter as Cowley, Guthrie, and Stradley. James Lewis Morrill Papers, OSU Archives (RG 3/f-2/8).Google Scholar

41 Cowley, to Morrill, January 11, 1937. Guthrie, to Morrill, January 11, 1937. Kuntz, to Morrill, undated. Stradley, to Morrill, January 7, 1937. Morrill, James Lewis Papers, OSU Archives (RG 3/f-2/8).Google Scholar

42 Cowley, to Morrill, January 11, 1937. Cowley suggested that a plan could be devised to determine the financial need of students on a university-by-university basis because he believed students in state universities needed more aid than those in private institutions. Guthrie to Morrill, January 11, 1937. James Lewis Morrill Papers, OSU Archives (RG 3/f-2/8).Google Scholar

43 Rightmire from Sixty-Fifth Annual Report… of the Ohio State University, 1935, 15.Google Scholar

44 A.H. Upham's speech as reported in Miami University, Report to the Board of Trustees, 1939–1940, Report of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, 2. Upham, A.H. to Rabe, Harry E. December 1, 1936. Upham, A.H. Papers, MU Archives, box 18.Google Scholar

45 Jenkins, Charles T. to Williams, Aubrey November 18, 194?. The date on the handwritten letter is obscured, but the text mentions Jenkins serving as Miami's federal student aid administrator for seven years, so the year was probably 1940 or 1941. The letter is sloppily hand-written and no typed version is in the file. AH Upham Papers, MU Archives, box 18. Quinn, James A. quoted in The University of Cincinnati News Record, March 25, 1936.Google Scholar

46 It appears that Ohio State, Cincinnati, Wilberforce, and Western Reserve universities participated in the program at various times. It is important to note that all but Wilberforce were in urban areas. Wilberforce is a historically African- American college and did receive general funds from the NYA. Wilberforce also had an NYA resident training center attached to the college. NA, RG119, #116, box 4. “Approximate Number Negro Youth Employed on College and Graduate and Special Negro Fund for Fiscal Year, 1940–1941. NA, RG 119, #115, box 3. Letter from Lasseter, Dillard B. to Jacobs, Leo B. October 7, 1941. NA, RG 119, #44, box 2. For general information on the Special Negro Fund see: Salmond, A Southern Rebel, 126–127, 135 and Weisenberger, Carol A. Dollars and Dreams: The National Youth Administration in Texas (New York: Peter Lang, 1994), 131.Google Scholar

47 Information on Ohio colleges from 1939–1940 academic year. NA, RG 119, #195, box 2.Google Scholar

48 Wilkins, Ernest H. wrote to the presidents of: Wheaton, Haverford, Wells, Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, Harvard, Yale, Swarthmore, and Bryn Mawr. Specific letter quoted is Wilkins to Leigh, Robert D. of Bennington College, October 23, 1935. Wilkins, E.H. Papers, OC Archives, Group 2/7, Special Matters: Oberlin, Box 90.Google Scholar

49 The responses Wilkins received can be found in: Wilkins, E.H. Papers, OC Archives, Group 2/7, Box 90.Google Scholar

50 Wilkins, Ernest H. to Rabe, Harry E. Ohio Supervisor of Student Aid, September 7, 1937. Weston, S. Burns to Wilkins, Ernest H. September 24, 1937. Wilkins, Ernest H. Papers, OC Archives, Group 2/7. Special Matters: Oberlin, Box 90. The delay in Weston's response resulted from his absence while on vacation.Google Scholar

51 Weston, to Wilkins, September 27, 1937. Wilkins, to Weston, October 7, 1937. Wilkins, to Weston, October 13, 1937. Weston, to Wilkins, October 22, 1937. Memo “Oberlin College and the NYA in September and October, 1937.” Dated November 1, 1937, written by Wilkins, Wilkins, Ernest H. Papers, OC Archives, Group 2/7, Special Matters: Oberlin, Box 90. “Prudential Committee Alters NYA Stand After Receiving Information From Board,” Oberlin Review, October 30, 1937, 1.Google Scholar

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64 Reiman provides statistics on the overall NYA budget, The New Deal and American Youth, 180. College program stats from Final Report of the National Youth Administration, 54.Google Scholar

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68 Interview with former University of Cincinnati Winkler, President Henry conducted by the author, December 2, 2002 and in author's possession. Professor Winkler is currently President Emeritus of the University of Cincinnati as well as Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Cincinnati and Rutgers University. He was president at the University of Cincinnati from 1977–1984.Google Scholar

69 Reiman, The New Deal and American Youth, 183.Google Scholar