Monday, August 9, 2021

August 17th Virtual Author Talk: Scott Borchert

An immersive account of the New Deal project that created state-by-state guidebooks to America, in the midst of the Great Depression—and employed some of the biggest names in American letters. 

The plan was as idealistic as it was audacious, and utterly unprecedented. Take thousands of hard-up writers and put them to work charting a country on the brink of social and economic collapse, with the aim of producing a series of guidebooks to the then forty-eight states—along with hundreds of other publications dedicated to cities, regions, and towns—while also gathering reams of folklore, narratives of formerly enslaved people, and even recipes. With this effort, America was documented, its families and their sensibilities brought to life by such celebrated authors as Nelson Algren, Zora Neale Hurston, and Richard Wright. Don’t miss Scott Borchert’s discussion with genealogist Rhonda McClure about this remarkable, history-making Federal Writers’ Project, part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA)’s New Deal initiative.

Scott Borchert is a writer and editor based in New Jersey and a former assistant editor at the book publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He holds a master’s degree in cultural reporting and criticism from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, and his work has appeared in Southwest Review, Monthly Review, The Rumpus, PopMatters, Brooklyn Magazine, and other publications.   

Rhonda McClure is the senior genealogist at American Ancestors/NEHGS. She has been a contributing editor for Heritage Quest Magazine and Biography magazine and contributed to The History Channel Magazine and American History Magazine. She is the author of ten books, including the award-winning The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Genealogy.

To register for this free online event, please visit: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3z5h6NC4TLSGJBzQ27UhiA

Be sure to check out other upcoming events hosted by our partner: https://www.americanancestors.org/inspire 


Author Talks Committee
State Library of Massachusetts


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