The CWA and WPA Projects of the Easton Library

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was a short-lived United States job creation program started by the New Deal during the Great Depression to help create manual labor jobs for millions of unemployed workers. President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveiled the CWA on November 8, 1933. Although most jobs from this program were construction related, (improving or constructing buildings and bridges), in December of 1933 an amazing and very important professional project was started at the Easton Public Library. “Compilation of early records, typing of data previously gathered, German translations, indexing of School Board minutes, genealogies and local historical manuscripts, comprise a work of lasting and practical value to residents of Easton and Northampton County." (see Newspaper and date below)


The projects were started by then Librarian, Henry F. Marx who directed and contributed to the work until his retirement in 1936.  In June of 1937 it was announced they were finished. By this time the project was known as the Works Progress Administration (WPA).  (The CWA was ended and replaced with the WPA due to taxpayers complaints of  "no permanent value" in the projects, hence the WPA was founded and became the largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency, employing millions of unemployed people.)

Other important contributors to the Easton Library projects were A. D. Chidsey  Jr., Rev. A.W. Leiby, Dr. Wm. John Hinke, J. Ingham Kinsey, W. A. Stocker and Jennie L. Stewart. Seventeen volumes of Northampton County family histories from the manuscripts of Horatio Gates Shull (1858 - 1929) were also added to the collection.

According to the newspaper article, WORK OF LASTING VALUE COMPLETED AT EASTON LIBRARY (Easton Express, June 3, 1937) , there were twenty volumes of local and county churches and ten volumes of local and county newspaper extracts of marriages and deaths. We currently have 32 volumes of church records in our INDEXED WPA CHURCH RECORDS.  The Indexes were completed in 1945 and credit is given to the WPA personnel, Robert F. Ehret, and the staff of the Easton Public Library. I personally am amazed what a great and accurate job they did for the Indexes as it was all done manually without the help of computers to organize it. It was a monumental project to go through 32 volumes of church records and to match up all the surnames along with given names.

Currently we have 37 volumes of Marriage & Death Newspaper extracts, 1799-1902 with additional death notices/obituaries 1900 to current. Another very important project they did were the Wills of Northampton County from 1752 (the start of the county) to 1840. Over 3,000 early English and German script wills were translated. The abstracts of these are exclusively at the Easton Area Public Library.

Miscellaneous records such as cemetery records, copies of Revolutionary muster rolls, and early Northampton County Tax lists were also added to the genealogical library through this project.

"The Easton School Board sponsored the work, the benefits from which have been two-fold. Permanent additions to the Library have been made possible, as well as employment for many deserving citizens of the community."

Citizens from all over the country if not world, still benefit from this CWA/WPA project. Volunteers and staff are still adding to the collection of the Marx Room making it a premier stop for genealogist and historians.