National Youth Administration and the Witte Museum - San Antonio, TX USA - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

San Antonio is a city over 300 years old that has gone trough very tough times in its history. One of those periods of struggle occurred in the 1930s and continued into the mid-1940s, before WW2 began. Because of a convergence of poor farming methods and of unregulated banking and investment practices, the USA entered a disastrous time keeping people from all backgrounds employed. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) focused on helping mature adults find employment until the economy could get back to more stable conditions. Similarly, the National Youth Administration (NYA) was formed to assist young adults coming into the work place as new full time workers. The WPA and the NYA had similar goals to employ people who were out of work, but they focused on different age groups.

San Antonio had a large and productive local rock quarry and a manufacturer of cement so many of the NYA projects in San Antonio for young new workers, some part-time and some full time, were focused on construction of stone works like retaining walls along the San Antonio River, stone boundary walls around public properties and stone work on buildings.

The Witte Museum is a well established institution in San Antonio, TX and since it is within the boundary of Brackenridge Park, it could apply for project work for improvements to its property that would be done through the NYA. Since the 1940s, at least two generations have grown up and the young people of today may not be aware that the NYA works done nearly 80 yeats ago have lasted and are still functioning as designed. Many of the features around the Witte Museum and the larger Brackenridge Park have their origin as a National Youth Administration project.

The sidewalk that runs in front of the Witte's Mays Family Center property and on to the northern parking lot at the edge of the Witte Museum property has a sign of history next to the sidewalk about the National Youth Administration. The text on the freestanding panel made of decorative iron work reads as follows:

"National Youth Administration and the Witte Museum

[The Witte Museum logo]

The National Youth Administration (NYA) worked on a number of projects on the Witte Museum grounds and throughout Brackenridge Park from 1935 to 1943. The NYA was a New Deal program established by the United States Government to create employment, education and recreation-based project work for young people from sixteen years of age to twenty-five. In conjunction with the Works Progress Administration, the NYA constructed the stonework along the San Antonio River and the bridge across it. They reconstructed the Twohig house, which still stands, as well as the Reptile Garden structure that once stood on the Witte Museum grounds. The NYA operated employment and training programs for youth and offered part-time work for high school and college students. Under the guidance of State directors Lyndon Baines Johnson and Jesse Kellan, more than 75,000 out-of-school youths were employed by the NYA."

Group that erected the marker: The Witte Museum URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 3801 Broadway San Antonio, TX USA 78209

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Date Logged Log   03/11/2021 WayBetterFinder visited it