LIFE DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION Aim: How were the arts and daily life affected by the events taking place during the Great Depression? Do Now: take out your homework so that we can go over it!

The Dust Bowl  Harsh dust storms damaged farms across a 150,000 square mile region, which is called the Dust Bowl.  this included parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico.  Many farmers went to California to find work.  These migrant workers were not wanted on the West Coast.

Women during the Depression  If jobs were available, employers would hire men before they would hire women.  The federal government refused to hire a woman whose husband had a job.  Despite the hardship, the number of married women in the workforce increased by 52%, during the Depression.  Eleanor Roosevelt created a new role for the First Lady.  She toured the nation and talked to people. She became the eyes and ears of the President.  She supported women’s rights.

Minorities during the Depression  African American workers suffered a 50% unemployment rate (twice the national average)  The CCC employed many  FDR invited black leaders to the White House to advise him  The Black Cabinet  He appointed Mary McLeod Bethune to head the National Youth Administration’s Division of Negro Affairs.  She was the first African American to head a government agency

Mexicans, Asians, and Native Americans  Americans resented minority workers who they competed with for jobs.  More than 400,000 Mexicans were rounded up and sent back to Mexico, some were even American citizens.  In 1935, FDR signed a bill that provided free transportation to Filipinos who agreed to return to the Philippines and not come back.  The Indian New Deal were laws passed by FDR that gave Native American nations greater control of their own affairs.

The Arts of the Depression  The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was written in 1939 and it told a very heartbreaking story of people trying to get jobs in California  American Gothic became a famous painting that showed farmers that were determined enough to survive any hardship.

Photography and Entertainment  The vivid photographs of Dorothea Lange showed the suffering of Dust Bowl families.  Daytime radio programs called soap operas became very popular among the unemployed.  Shirley Temple became a hugely popular star.  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Gone with the Wind, and The Wizard of Oz became very popular movies of the decade.

“A picture is worth a thousand words…..” some scenes from The Great Depression

A Great Depression Christmas

The Bonus Marchers in Washington, D.C.

Lining up for work…

Children waiting on a bread line