The Federal Theater Project (FTP) was established in the late 1930s by the United States government. Although it existed for only four years, at its peak the FTP employed an average of 10,000 workers, operated 185 production units in 28 states, and entertained a weekly audience of nearly half a million people. group of African American theater artists had come before to founding a truly national black theater.
The creation of the FTP came on the heels of the Harlem Renaissance, a period of intense creativity and innovation within the African American arts community. Thus, by the time the FTP was founded, a diverse body of thought concerning the social function of art already existed within the African American community. to think about what it means to assume black roles both on and beyond the stage.
Although it did not have a long history, the FTP provided a lifeline for the theater during the Great Depression, a time when the performing arts in the United States faced an uncertain fate. This allowed the Negro Units to produce of African American artists and their audiences nationwide.
What this question is testing
Your task
Identify why the author included the referenced detail at that point in the passage — its function, not its content.
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Answers that merely repeat or summarize the topic of the detail instead of describing the role it plays.
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Ask what job the detail does for the paragraph, then for the passage's broader point.
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