Skip to main content

Gay Bolling Shepperson papers

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS522

Scope and Content

This collection consists of personal and business correspondence; copies and original newspaper and magazine clippings; house blueprints; and a World War II dated events map.

Dates

  • 1883-1945, undated
  • Majority of material found within 1933 - 1945

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. All requests to publish, quote, or reproduce must be submitted through the Kenan Research Center.

Administrative/Biographical History

Gay Bolling Shepperson (1887–1977) was the daughter of John Daniel and Mary Burton Shepperson. She entered the New York School of Social Work after receiving preliminary training in Washington, D.C. Shepperson taught school for six years before entering the field of social work. She worked for the United States War Department and as a field representative of the American Red Cross. Shepperson came to Georgia from Virginia where she headed the children’s bureau of the Virginia State Department of Welfare from 1923 to 1928. In Georgia she became administrator for three successive federal relief projects: the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Works Progress Administration, renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1937, was the federal agency responsible for administrating relief programs during the New Deal. Shepperson was the only female to serve as a state administrator for the WPA during the New Deal. She also served as president and chairman of the board of the Pine Mountain Valley Rural Community, one of the most successful examples of rural resettlement and rehabilitation work. She resigned her post in 1939 and returned to Richmond, Virginia, where she died at age 90.

Extent

0.834 linear ft. (two document cases)

Language

English

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift, 1984

Related Archival Materials

Gay Bolling Shepperson photographs, VIS 77, Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center

General

The bound volume History of the Georgia Civil Works Administration was cataloged as a book and is in Storage

Title
Gay Bolling Shepperson papers
Author
Sue VerHoef
Description rules
Finding Aid Prepared According To Dacs
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center Repository

Contact:
130 West Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta GA 30305
404-814-4040