A Better Minnesota (1937 Original Black & White Film)

Step back to 1937 with this engaging documentary, *A Better Minnesota*, which showcases the transformative Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects that helped shape the state during the Great Depression. The film opens with a dramatic sequence of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and WPA units battling a forest fire, highlighting the dedication of workers in preserving Minnesota’s natural resources. It also features the construction of dams at locations such as Lakeland and St. Paul, crucial infrastructure projects that contributed to flood control and power generation. The documentary then shifts to the WPA’s involvement in education and public health, showing members supervising nursery school operations and conducting medical examinations for children, ensuring the well-being of future generations. It also highlights household training classes and scenes from a children’s vacation camp, where young people enjoyed recreation and learning. In a culturally rich segment, Sioux and Chippewa Indians are shown weaving, embroidering, and making beads, preserving important traditions. The film also showcases the quarrying of pink granite and the beginning of building construction, contributing to the state’s industrial development. Additional scenes feature WPA exhibits at the 1936 State Fair, as well as improvements made to the fairgrounds, and the grading and surfacing of county roads, which improved transportation across the state. *A Better Minnesota* is a testament to how WPA projects improved infrastructure, education, and cultural preservation across Minnesota.

Source: National Archives. (1937). *A Better Minnesota*. [Video] Retrieved from the National Archives Catalog, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12358