Life During the Great Depression Chapter 9 Lesson 2

The Struggle The jobless often went hungry Bread lines and soup kitchens were set up People lost their homes Creation of shantytowns called “Hoovervilles”

Immigrant Struggle 2 ways Immigrants returned to their native countries: 1. It was voluntary- they needed jobs 2. It was forced- through repatriation and deportation

The Dust Bowl Terrible drought struck the Great Plains leaving fields bare Soil dried and turned to dust Winds blew the dust burying crops and livestock The dust blackened the sky for 100s of miles. The dust bowl stretched from the Dakotas to Texas

The Okies During most of the 1930s there was an average of 50 dust storms a year Many farmers could not pay their mortgage and would lose their farms Families moved west to California to escape These migrants from Oklahoma became known as Okies.

Culture of the 1930s Hard times of the 1930s led many Americans to want to escape their worries Movies captured the imagination Radio offered information and entertainment Literature, art, and photography portrayed life around them

Movies In the 1930s more than 60 million Americans went to the movies each week. Comedies to provide relief from daily worries Child Stars delighted viewers Walt Disney produces the first feature-length animated film in 1937 Serious films that celebrated ordinary people and small-town American values Academy Award winning civil war Epic

Radio Tens of millions of people listened to the radio daily Daytime dramas that presented personal struggles (The Guiding Light) Sponsored by laundry soap Adventures of superheroes like the Green Hornet Radio also introduced listeners to a variety of music such as songs from movies and Broadway, country, and swing music

Painters Regionalist School Style Emphasized American values Thomas Hart Benton Grant Wood Emphasized American values American Gothic Pays tribute to no-nonsense Midwesterners while gently making fun of their severity

Literature Portrayed life around them New writing techniques such as consciousness told readers how the characters were thinking and felt before speaking The Sound of Fury by William Faulkner

Photography Images were becoming more influential In 1936 Life Magazine was introduced Pictures showed how the average American was effected by the Great Depression