Chapter 26, Section 4: The Nation in Hard Times Main Idea: Many Americans found relief from the hard times of the Great Depression in the work of creative artists.

A. The Dust Bowl Buried Under Dust Migrant Workers The Dust Bowl - name given to part of the Great Plains due to a severe drought & resulting dust storms (black blizzards). Buried Under Dust Dust storms buried areas, blowing everywhere & getting in everything. The cause was years of over-grazing by cattle & over-plowing by farmers, followed by drought & high winds. Migrant Workers “Okies” - name given to farmers from Oklahoma that had to pack up & move West to become migrant workers -drifters moving from one area to another in search of work. Many settled in OR, WA, & CA picking fruit (apples, oranges, grapes). Many were not wanted there by the locals, who feared they would take their jobs, & were often sent away by angry mobs. John Steinbeck – The Grapes of Wrath depicted the struggles that the Okies faced as they tried to find work in CA.

B. Women Face the Depression Women were usually the last to be hired. A woman would not get a job before a man. The federal government would not hire a woman if her husband already had a job. Women in the Workplace During the Depression, the number of married women who worked increased by over 50%. Educated: secretaries, teachers, social workers No education: maids, seamstresses, factory workers An Active First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt broke the mold for first ladies. She was the “eyes & ears” of FDR. Toured the nation, talking to the unemployed & visiting homes of the poor & downtrodden Told President what she had seen and heard Wrote her own newspaper column, called “My Day,” and had her own radio show For speaking out about women’s rights & pushing for social justice, Eleanor was very controversial in her day. While many people admired her for her views, many others despised her for expressing them (polarizing). Most first ladies before her did not speak out.

C. African Americans African Americans were often the first to lose their jobs. Black unemployment was 50%, double the national average. They were often denied public works jobs with the government. Some charities refused to serve African Americans in need. Because FDR did more to help them than any President since Lincoln, many African Americans became Democrats. He did not, however, support an anti-lynching law because he feared losing support for the New Deal from southern Democrats in Congress. Roosevelt invited black leaders to the White house to advise him on race issues. They were known as the “Black Cabinet.” Robert Weaver, Mary McLeod Bethune (1st black agency leader – NYA)

D. Other Americans Face the Depression Mexican Americans Over 400k were deported to Mexico during the 1930s (some born in US). Asian Americans The Repatriation Act (1935) provided free transportation to Filipinos who agreed to return to the Philippines & not come back to the U.S. Native Americans Indian New Deal gave Native Americans more control over their own affairs. John Collier headed the Bureau of Indian Affairs & ended the government policy of breaking up Indian lands. The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) even expanded Indian reservation lands in 1934. The Indian Emergency Conservation Work Group provide jobs for Native Americans controlling soil-erosion, irrigation, & land development.

E. The Arts of the Depression Painting & Photography Thomas Hart Benton painted murals of frontier/western life. Grant Wood painted American Gothic. Dorothea Lange photographed the suffering of Dust Bowl families. Margaret Bourke-White photographed poor tenant farmers in the South. Radio During the Depression Radio (“talking furniture”) provided an escape for people during the Depression George Burns & Gracie Allen – comedy team Soap operas were serial dramas that usually aired during the daytime (sponsored by soap companies to target housewives) “The War of the Worlds” - Halloween, 1938 Actor Orson Welles presented a “newscast” based on the book. He did it in a style that made it sound like we were actually being attacked by alien invaders from Mars. This caused mass hysteria because some people tuned in late & didn’t realize it was fake.

Movies During the Depression The “Silver Screen” also provided a chance for people to escape their problems for a while. Many movies from this time tried to be optimistic & told stories with happy endings. Shirley Temple was a child star who was most famous for singing “On the Good Ship Lollipop” Disney’s Snow White & the Seven Dwarves was the 1st full-length animated film, released in 1937. Judy Garland starred in The Wizard of Oz in 1939 . Gone With the Wind was the most expensive & popular movie of the 1930s. It romanticized the Civil War Era & life in the Old South. This movie reminded Americans that they had survived hard times before (Civil War), and they would survive this too.