Coast to Coast: The Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939
Living Newspaper

Perhaps the most successful of the Living Newspapers was One-Third of a Nation, which took its title from a phrase in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s second inaugural address: “I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.” These Innovative productions took their inspiration from newspaper headlines of the day, dramatizing social, economic, and racial issues, and calling upon the audience to enact change. One-Third of a Nation ran for 237 performances and detailed the need for better housing conditions for the poor, touching on actual instances of public housing problems. The FTP archives holds dramatic source materials for this production, which includes real-life photographs of slum conditions, such as the image shown here of a woman living in squalor. The play may have been responsible for legislation and federal funding to help address the nation’s housing problems.

Perhaps the most successful of the Living Newspapers was One-Third of a Nation, which took its title from a phrase in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s second inaugural address: “I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.” These Innovative productions took their inspiration from newspaper headlines of the day, dramatizing social, economic, and racial issues, and calling upon the audience to enact change. One-Third of a Nation ran for 237 performances and detailed the need for better housing conditions for the poor, touching on actual instances of public housing problems. The FTP archives holds dramatic source materials for this production, which includes real-life photographs of slum conditions, such as the image shown here of a woman living in squalor. The play may have been responsible for legislation and federal funding to help address the nation’s housing problems.

Perhaps the most successful of the Living Newspapers was One-Third of a Nation, which took its title from a phrase in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s second inaugural address: “I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.” These Innovative productions took their inspiration from newspaper headlines of the day, dramatizing social, economic, and racial issues, and calling upon the audience to enact change. One-Third of a Nation ran for 237 performances and detailed the need for better housing conditions for the poor, touching on actual instances of public housing problems. The FTP archives holds dramatic source materials for this production, which includes real-life photographs of slum conditions, such as the image shown here of a woman living in squalor. The play may have been responsible for legislation and federal funding to help address the nation’s housing problems.