Making Aviation Safer for America: WPA's Airport Enhancements, 1937

This silent film from 1937 documents the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) efforts to improve air travel safety and efficiency across the United States. It features various airport developments, including the grading of runways at Newark, New Jersey, and Jacksonville, Florida. Planes are shown landing at Detroit City Airport, while at Floyd Bennett Field in New York City, a plane is maneuvered using a turntable. The film also includes the installation of water systems at Shushan Airport in New Orleans, Louisiana, with ditches being dug and pipes laid. Seaplane operations are showcased with a seaplane landing and docking. Aerial views of cities and countryside, along with planes in flight, illustrate the expansive scope of WPA's aviation projects during the Great Depression.