Part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was established under the Works Progress Administration to provide employment opportunities for unemployed writers, alongside similar programs for actors, artists, and musicians. Its most famous achievement was the American Guide Series, a set of tour guides for each U.S. state. In 1962, John Steinbeck called them "the most comprehensive accounts of the United States ever put together," a praise that still holds nearly 90 years later. Beyond their literary and historical value, the rise and fall of the FWP offers insight into the political, social, and economic struggles of the Great Depression.