The WPA Guide to Vermont: The Green Mountain State

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor.

The WPA Guide to Vermont takes the reader across the Green Mountain State from Lake Champlain to its namesake mountain range with chapters detailing the state’s significant literature, architecture, history and transportation. Dorothy Canfield Fisher, a popular author at the time of the guide’s initial publication, adds distinction to the volume with an essay entitled “Vermonters” which expounds on the unique spirit of the people of Vermont.