The history of the Atlanta Federal Theatre Project, 1937-1939

The Atlanta Federal Theatre Project was established in 1937, not only to employ out-of-work theatre personnel in that area of the South, but also to build a strong community-based theatre that would outlive the Federal Theatre. Did the Project reach its goal, and did it have any lasting influence on theatre in Atlanta?

The Depression, Southern culture, and the national FTP all influenced the Atlanta Project. However, the national FTP was most influential as it set the goals and standards for the Project. The goal of building community-based theatres was one shared by every Project established under the Federal Theatre Project. Although Atlanta did not have a tradition of theatre, it was thought that a community-based theatre could be established in this growing city.

The Atlanta Federal Theatre Project operated for two years, 1937-1939. Within these two years those who worked on the Project tried, to the best of their ability, to provide professional theatre for the people of Atlanta, and to provide jobs to actors, directors, and stagehands in that area of the South. Though they succeeded in employing over ninety people, and in producing thirty-six plays, the Project supervisors were not able to attain the goal of establishing a strong community-based theatre in Atlanta.

Without the emergence of a community-based theatre in Atlanta, the influence of the FTP on Atlanta theatre was limited to the time in which it operated. After the FTP closed its various Projects in 1939, theatre in Atlanta reverted back to its former state and the Atlanta FTP was virtually forgotten.