Question: What North Carolina New Deal project did Eleanor Roosevelt visit in 1937?
Answer: On June 11, 1937, Eleanor Roosevelt visited Penderlea, a New Deal model farm community in North Carolina. Conceived by Wilmington industrialist Hugh MacRae during the Great Depression, it aimed to be the world’s best-planned rural community. It became one of the largest federal rural resettlement projects after being taken over by the government in 1934. Although the goal was 500 20-acre farms, only 142 were ever leased, and by 1941, few original homesteaders remained. Today, a large community building stands as a lasting reminder of the experiment.
