Word: alsberg
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1940-1949
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Credit for planning the State Guide series goes to the Project's first national director, slow-moving, slow-speaking Henry Alsberg. He understood that U.S. citizens wanted more information about their country than could be had in filling-station handouts, Chamber of Commerce booklets, and the last (1909) edition of the U.S. Baedeker. (Admitting U.S. travel was "as safe as in the most civilized parts of Europe," Baedeker told his readers they could leave their firearms at home, advised them to bring their own matches, buttons, ribbons, dress gloves...
...Director Alsberg, onetime newsman and Provincetown Theater director, soon had a Writers' Project in every city of 10,000, at least one writer or field worker in each of the U.S.'s 3,000 counties. He defended himself and his Project against charges of boondoggling and radicalism until 1939 when he retired to make way for John Dimmock Newsom, under whom most of the State Guides appeared...
About the same time it was decided that tousle-headed, slow-spoken, walrus-mustached National Director Henry Alsberg seemed a little too pinko, talked a little too much about his indigestion, was a little too slow in getting production started on the Guide Books and other projects. He retired from WPA. Alsberg and colleagues had started out to produce great Art. Congress by & large preferred results...
...year Director Newsom has been ruling the writers, 28 State Guide Books have been published. This week even the belated Maryland Guide appeared, with sketches of Marylanders Barbara Fritchie and Wallis Warfield. With the 17 that came out under Alsberg, that leaves only three States undescribed...
Director Newsom is given credit for ramming through the State Guide Books. Ex-Director Alsberg is credited with the plan whereby established publishing houses bring them out. Viking Press has published nine. Oxford University Press and Hastings House are each publishers of seven. Houghton Mifflin published the six New England Guides, soured a little when Massachusettsians raised hob about the amount of space given to Sacco and Vanzetti. Publishers have not made much money out of the Guide Books, but report a steady sale...