Black Culture and the New Deal

Lauren Sklaroff talked about her book Black Culture and the New Deal: The Quest for Civil Rights in the Roosevelt Era (University of North Carolina Press, 2009). In her book she examines New Deal Federal Arts Projects that promoted black artists from Lena Horne to Duke Ellington and Richard Wright. The author relays how this federal support played a significant role in the history of race relations in the United States and the Roosevelt administration’s failures to promote greater legislation to improve the lives of African Americans. She responded to questions from members of the audience at the seventh annual Roosevelt Reading Festival. It was held by the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in the Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center in Hyde Park, New York. close