Seeking information about Percy Loomis Sperr

It appears that Sperr was under contract as a photographer to the New York Public Library from the early 1920's to the early 1940's.  The WPA provided money to public libraries including in NYC for various projects, so he may have been indirectly working for the WPA through the library. http://archives.nypl.org/mss/3108   Unfortunately I do not know if there is a master list of people employed directly by the WPA.

Hi Courtney,

Welcome to History Hub

There are many articles on the internet about Mr. Sperr..including is burial site and family names.on find a grave

https://www.bing.com/search?q=Percy+Loomis+Sperr&form=ANNTH1&refig=ed27c66b448a4a6ca00ae2fc14cc2bc2&sp=-1&pq=percy+loomi…

I hope this helps

Alice Lane

Research Volunteer

Dear Ms. Iacone,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

The Works Projects Administration (WPA) consisted of subdivisions of different departments and offices, each of which focused on a different type of project. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Federal Project Number One (the Federal Writers, Art, and Music), and the various engineering and construction offices all made up the WPA.

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located 143 series in the Records of the Works Projects Administration (Record Group 69) that pertain to employment policies and administration. For access to these series, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.

Please note that most activities of the WPA were operated at the state level and hired personnel for each of the projects. Therefore, the records of these individuals may be kept by that state archives, as the previous poster noted.

We suggest that you complete a NA Form 14137 - Request Pertaining to Works Progress Administration (WPA) Personnel Records and include as much available information as possible about your family member.  Please attach the completed form and email it to the National Archives at St. Louis (RL-SL) at stl.archives@nara.gov.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2 and RL-SL . We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!