1. Outline: Great Depression & WW II
Initial New Deal Relief Actions
Aid for the Farmers
New Deal Work Programs

2. Miriam A. “Ma” Ferguson

3. Franklin D. Roosevelt & the “New Deal”

4. John Nance Garner (w/ FDR)

5. A “Bank Run”

6. “Bank Holiday”
Banks closed until relief bill drafted & passed by Congress
Approved in 7 hrs.; signed into law by FDR

7. Emergency Banking Act
Gov’t inspection of banks; approval needed to reopen
“Good banks” allowed to reopen
Banks about to collapse closed forever
Banks “in between” received gov’t aid (loans + purchase of bank stock) & reopened soon

8. Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC)
Gov’t guaranteed many mortgages if lenders changed loan terms:
Lower monthly payments & longer pay periods
20% of the US home mortgages refinanced to stop further foreclosures

9. Agricultural Adjustment Admin. (AAA)

10. Agricultural Adjustment Admin. (AAA)
Farmers paid to reduce production ¼ to ½
Farmers were to benefit by: a) gov’t subsidy checks; b) increased prices for crops raised/sold

11. AAA AAA began as a voluntary program
In 1st year, farmers asked to “plow up” part of growing crops for $$ + hope to raise crop prices
After overcoming problems & resistance, about 1/3 of TX crop reduced; cotton prices doubled

12. AAA After 1st year, reductions became practically mandatory
Cooperating farmers’ demanded change b/c non-cooperators profiting more at their expense
Quotas put in place; excess cotton taxed so heavily it would be pointless to sell it (The “Bankhead Act”)
S. Court later forced further changes

13. AAA
Big losers under the AAA = sharecroppers & tenant farmers (black & white)
Less land in use = less laborers needed
Tens of thousands evicted in TX; hundreds of thousands South-wide

14. Public Works Administration (PWA)
Created June 1933
Purposes:
To provide jobs
To stimulate demand for materials
To construct long-lasting large-scale projects of social & economic worth

15. Public Works Administration (PWA)
PWA granted about ½ labor/material costs; matched by localities/states
Over $6 billion granted nationally
Over $100 million for projects in TX
Minimum wages & maximum hours required on all PWA projects

16. Port of Brownsville
Lower Rio Grande out of use due to silt buildup; canal carved and port facilities established to facilitate trade (irrigated farming)

17. Mansfield Dam (Lake Travis)
To tame the Colorado—flood control/recreation/generate power; overcame private power resistance; 6 Lower Colorado River Authority dams in all including Marshall Ford; numerous lakes created

18. UT Main Building & Tower
Building additions to colleges & universities across the country…

19. John Peter Smith City-County Hospital (Ft. Worth)
To alleviate overcrowding/turning away patients at the old one

20. Terminal & Hangar at Houston Municipal (Hobby) Airport
Currently home of the Air Terminal Museum

21. Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Primary Purpose: to provide jobs, jobs, jobs
Employed 8 million in US; 600,000+ in TX
¾ worked on construction (smaller scale than PWA)
Next year was election year & unemployment still around 20%; projects offered from local level to be approved by WPA; $10 billion total spent

22. Houston City Hall
Art Deco style; WPA built courthouses, city halls, & other public buildings; Spanish style in Santa Maria

23. San Jacinto Battlefield Monument
Historic commemoration/tourist attractions

24. Ft. Worth Botanic Gardens
City beautification with parks, playgrounds, new sidewalks, and gardens

25. Dallas & San Antonio Zoo improvement
Civic improvement/attractions: Walking areas, exhibits, etc.

26. Dealey Plaza in Dallas
City development & beautification projects, here at edge of downtown; we all know what else happened there…

27. Art Deco Buildings & Lagoon in Fair Park (Dallas)
For the 1936 Texas Centennial Celebration; buildings and park used ever since; multiple museums; Hall of State houses the Dallas Historical Society

28. San Antonio’s Riverwalk
Party Central in San Antonio; originally begun as a flood control project; decision made to develop for beautification & tourism

29. Corps of Cadets Dorms at Texas A&M
Dorms at UT and most other Texas universities

30. WPA Gym in Plano (now the Courtyard Theater)
Cox Gymnasium; example of athletic centers built in small towns; now a small multi-purpose theater for concerts, plays, etc.; shows usefulness of many of these structures to this day…

31. Works Progress Administration (WPA)
¼ performed non-construction work
Next year was election year & unemployment still around 20%; projects offered from local level to be approved by WPA; $10 billion total spent

32. WPA Theater Project
Never big in Texas—limited to Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston

33. WPA Music Project: Concerts
Musicians paid to entertain

34. WPA Music Project: Music Classes
Musicians paid to teach

35. WPA Art Project: Exhibitions
Artist paid to put on exhibits of their work

36. WPA Art Project: Art Classes
Artists paid to teach art techniques

37. WPA Library Project: Bookmobiles
WPA workers hired to run them

38. WPA Library Project: Audio Books for the Blind
“Books on tape: 1930’s version!”

39. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Purpose: to conserve the nation’s natural & human resources
2.5 million men, ages (50,000 in TX) served
Wages = $1/day; $30/mo. w/ $25 sent home

40. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Multiple agencies involved:
Labor Dept. for recruitment
US Army to house & feed enrollees in work camps
Depts. of Interior & Agriculture to oversee work projects in parks & forests
Segregation in camps b/c of Fechner

41. Planting Millions of Trees & Fighting Forest Fires
Hundreds of millions of trees planted across the US; dangerous work fighting fires—some died in the process…

42. Pavilions at Angelina & Davy Crockett Nat’l Forests
Covered eating facilities I nTX

43. Access Roads at Big Bend Nat’l Park
Extensive road development, here at Big Bend where definitely needed; started as state park, later became a nat’l one…

44. Dam & Refectory at Huntsville State Park
Lake Raven created by dam

45. Swimming Pool & Rec Hall at Abilene State Park
Other recreation facilities for parkgoers…

46. White Rock Lake (Dallas)
Example of municipal work done in Texas by the CCC; Zilker Park in Austin is another prime example….

47. Longhorn Cavern State Park
One of the more unique jobs by the CCC at a TX state park; need to clean out the cavern; install lighting, build stairs and pathways, and otherwise make it accessible for the public as a tourist attraction…

48. Longhorn Cavern State Park

49. Mission Excavation/Restoration: Goliad
Other interesting CCC work out of the ordinary – archeological excavation and rebuilding of mission; work done with San Antonio missions as well…

50. National Youth Administration (NYA)
Open to male & female youth
Purpose #1:
To provide part-time jobs for 2 million high school & college students (175k in TX)
School work-study NOT the whole program; just half of it;
Wages = $6/mo. for high school & $15/mo. for college students

51. Texas NYA Administrator Lyndon Johnson
Aubrey Williams; Mary McLeod Bethune; Eleanor Rosoevelt

52. NYA Library Assistance
One example of on-campus work

53. NYA Office Work at a High School
Another classic example; blacks working in this case…

54. National Youth Administration (NYA)
Purpose #2: To aid 2.5 million out-of-school youth aided through various work programs (75k in TX)
Aid = wages + skills training
On-the-job skills training on construction sites; b) Workshops; Wages = $10-$20/mo.

55. Mixing Cement at an NYA Work Center
NYA set up work centers to teach marketable skills; precursor to the 1960s Job Corps of LBJ’s Great Society

56. NYA Machine Shop Training
More examples

57. San Benito (Cameron County) Public Library
Some building construction – libraries, school buildings

58. Little Chapel in the Woods at Texas Woman’s University
On-the-job masonry training; architect = Ford O’Neill who was later asked to work on La Villita; ER came to the dedication ceremonies…

59. La Villita (San Antonio)
Restore old buildings in downtown district of San Antonio; build replicas

60. La Villita (San Antonio)
Major arts district and tourist shopping area

61. La Villita (San Antonio)
More examples of NYA work

62. Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) Ag. Adjustment Admin. (AAA)
Miriam Ferguson
John Nance Garner
“Bank Holiday”
Emergency Banking Act
Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC)
Ag. Adjustment Admin. (AAA)
Public Works Admin. (PWA)
Works Progress Admin. (WPA)
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
National Youth Admin. (NYA)