New Deal celebrating 75th anniversary

In the small community of Amistad,   Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal received a warm welcome at a celebration of the New Deal’s   75th anniversary.

Some 58,000 people were put to work in New Mexico through the programs of the New Deal, said Kathryn Flynn, executive director of the National New Deal Preservation Association, headquartered in Santa Fe.

The program gave people on-the-job training as well as a paycheck. “It gave people hope,” said Flynn who was a guest speaker at the event.
The gym in Amistad, with its 1937 zia-decorated facade, is one of the New Deal projects that   through its construction provided work for dozens of men and a gathering place for the community, according to historical notes about the building.

Despite its small population, Amistad has sought and received grants to keep its gym in good shape and the center for community gatherings, said Amistad resident Barbara Copeland, who organized Saturday’s gathering.

Amistad is about 25 miles north of Nara Visa.

It took two years to build the gym and it was completed in 1937, Copeland said. The building is now on the National Register of historic buildings, Copeland said.

Early remembrances of the gym note that the community could not afford chairs or bleachers, so they used planks supported by kegs to watch basketball games.

The Amistad gym, compared to some structures, is one that has been well taken care of and that is used by its community, Flynn said.
It was only last year, that the gym’s adjoining classrooms were used for a charter school, Copeland said.

Now, the area’s children  travel to Logan, Mosquero or across the border to Channing, Texas, to attend school, Copeland said.

The New Deal included programs such as the Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps and others that put men and women to work after the stock market crash in 1929 and during the depression of the 1930s, said Richard Melzer, president of the New Mexico Historical  Society and speaker at the event.

The CCC program, for example, paid an enrollee $30 per month. Five dollars was given to the worker and $25 was sent to the worker’s parents or family.

“It helped keep families together,” Melzer said.

There are many examples of New Deal projects throughout New Mexico, Flynn said.

In Eastern New Mexico, the courthouses in Clovis, Portales and Tucumcari have a similar appearance, Flynn  said. However, each acknowledges its respective county's tradition. On the front of the  Quay County Courthouse are two bas reliefs, one with a cowboy motif and the other with a train, an homage to the railroad.

In August, there will be a traveling photo exhibit of works and workers of New Deal programs in New Mexico in Tucumcari.
At the time, Flynn said she hoped that she or someone in the community would recognize local people who participated in one of the New Deal programs.

To have someone recognized, contact Kathryn Flynn at  P.O. Box 602, Santa Fe, NM 87504, or email newdeal@cybermesa.com