Berkeley and The New Deal

Harvey L. Smith has been researching this part of Berkeley’s history for more than two decades. The images in this volume have been selected from local and national archives and from the author’s contemporary photographs of the living legacy of the New Deal.

Like the heritage of the New Deal in San Francisco, Berkeley’s 1930s and early 1940s New Deal left a lasting legacy of utilitarian and beautiful infrastructure. These public buildings, schools, parks, and artworks helped shape the city and thus the lives of its residents. It is hard to imagine Berkeley without them. The artists and architects of these projects mention several themes: working for the community, responsibility, the importance of government support, collaboration, and creating a cultural renaissance.

These New Deal projects, however, can be called “hidden history” because their legacies have been mostly ignored and forgotten. Comprehending the impact of the New Deal on one American city is only possible when viewed as a whole. More than history, this book shows the period’s relevance to today’s social, political, and economic realities. The times may again call for comprehensive public policy that reaches Main Street.