The Great Depression

This abandoned farm in rural Oklahoma was one of thousands left deserted due to the drought and dust storms of the 1930s. Tenant farmers and sharecroppers were hit the hardest. (National Archives) •Why was the Great Depression especially difficult for farmers living in the Great Plains region? Did the government attempt to help these farmers? Do you think the government could have done more to help these farmers? Compare how life during the Great Depression was different for farmers living in the Great Plains than it is for farmers living there now.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was one of FDR's favorite New Deal programs. Known as the "tree army," the CCC hired young men to work on conservation projects from planting trees to creating hiking trails in national parks. (U.S. Forest Service) •What ages were the young men hired by the CCC? What qualities would men who worked for the CCC need to possess? • Using google, name some national parks of conservation projects the CCC was responsible for during the Depression. Include some details about these parks/conservation efforts as well. (For example, where are they and what are they)

These children are pictured with a sign that reads "Hoover's Poor Farm These children are pictured with a sign that reads "Hoover's Poor Farm." Hoover was blamed for everything that went wrong after the 1929 crash. (Library of Congress) •Why do you think the public disliked Hoover so much by the end of his Presidency? Was Hoover responsible for the nation’s problems, or was he a scapegoat? • How did Hoover respond to the stock market crash and the Great Depression? Should Hoover have responded to the Depression differently?

The Great Depression devastated millions who lost their jobs and with them the means to provide food and shelter for themselves and their families. Breadlines stretched as far as the eye could see as impoverished workers lined up in the hope of obtaining some meager rations for their hungry families. (Library of Congress) •Explain what caused the Great Depression. • How would you have felt if you were one of the people in these breadlines? How would the depression have changed your views about America?

Roy Stryker, director of the Farm Security Administration's (FSA) resettlement program, wanted photographs to convince the public that rural Americans faced difficulties but with help were capable of overcoming those troubles."Migrant Mother," by Dorothea Lange, is one of the best-known photographs commissioned by the FSA during the 1930s. (Library of Congress) •What emotions are portrayed in this photograph? How do you think this woman feels towards her children? • Does this photographer successfully show how much rural Americans suffered during the depression? Why would it be important for Americans in more urban areas to see images such as this?

Eleanor Roosevelt visited many sites in her efforts to bring the New Deal to forgotten and dispossessed Americans. She is shown here visiting an African American nursery school run by the WPA in Des Moines, Iowa. •How did Eleanor Roosevelt transform the role of first lady? Why do you think she was an adamant crusader for the rights of African Americans? • Why do you think Roosevelt was so concerned with helping the poor?

•Why was FDR handicapped? How did the American people feel about FDR? • How did he attempt to reach out to the Amercan people? How did he transform the presidency? The prevailing belief during Roosevelt's presidency was that a physical handicap was an indication of a deeper flaw, perhaps mental. To hide his paralysis when he appeared in public, Roosevelt concealed his heavy braces and leaned on the strong arm of a companion--usually one of his sons. (FDR Library)

•What caused the "Dust Bowl"? • What measures have been taken to prevent such a calamity from happening again? During the 1930s, drought conditions in the West and Midwest aggravated the economic calamity for millions of rural Americans. Here a father and his son struggle through a dust storm in Oklahoma in 1936. (Library of Congress)