The Center for New Deal Studies holds a wealth of information on the New Deal. These include one of the largest book collections in the Midwest, a growing archival collection, the Ephemera Collections, New Deal Films and Videos, and photographs.
The book collection covers the Great Depression, New Deal, and World War II home front, including government source materials, memoirs, economic studies, periodicals, WPA studies, novels, propaganda, art and photography.
There is also a growing archival collection of miscellany, including contemporary magazines and publications, sheet music, and unpublished studies of the New Deal.
The Center holds some 5,000 artifacts related to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. These include plaques, busts, political buttons, campaign textiles, toys, dolls, glass and tinware, china, paintings, and other artifacts.
This collection is not formally a part of the Roosevelt Library's collection, although it is administered by the library staff and print items in the collection are cataloged in the library's online book catalog. The Center for New Deal Studies has its own separate Director, Advisory Board and budget. See the Center for New Deal Studies' Web site for more information on its programs, services and governance.
Collecting parameters
All policy decisions about future additions to this collection are determined by the Center and its Director and Advisory Board.
The photographs in the collection are gifts, as are the items of memorabilia. The Center is not making any new purchases in these areas, though additional gifts are welcomed. Audiovisual materials, such as videos, are purchased on a case-by-case basis. All personal papers in the Center were also gifts, and the Center is not currently purchasing anything along these lines.
The only area of the collection in which purchases are being made is books. The Center attempts to be inclusive in buying new books on the New Deal and purchases many titles dealing with FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. The Center has also been purchasing WPA documents from second-hand book dealers.
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