Life During the Depression 1929 - 1932 Chapter 17 Section 2

The Depression Worsens During President Hoover’s Administration the economic Depression gets steadily worse. Details: By 1933 9,000 banks have failed In 1932 30,000 companies went bankrupt IN 1933 unemployment was at 25%!!! (Today it is around 7%) Income fell from $2,300 - $1,600 in the early 30s.

Life During the Depression

The Depression Worsens Unemployed workers often stood at bread lines to receive free food or at soup kitchens where private charities gave a free meal to the poor. Americans unable to pay their mortgage or rent lost their homes. Those unable or unwilling to move had a court-ordered eviction notice delivered by a court officer or bailiff who forced nonpaying tenants out onto the street.

People in cities would wait in line for bread to bring to their family.

Evicted family with belongings on street, December 14, 1929.

Some families were forced to relocate because they had no money.

The Depression Worsens, cont. Many of the homeless built shacks in shantytowns, which they referred to as “Hoovervilles.”

“Hooverville” Some families were forced to live in shanty towns A grouping of shacks and tents in vacant lots They were referred to as “Hooverville” because of President Hoover’s lack of help during the depression.

“Hooverville," New York City, December 8 1930 [Sign on shack reads: "House of Unemployed"]

Central Park, New York City

Homeless People Unemployed and/or homeless men took to the rails and travelled from town to town searching for work. Some abandoned their families.

The Dust Bowl Remember farmers had not enjoyed prosperity in the 1920s? Overproduction of crops like wheat Falling prices of crops = falling profits Many farmers lost their savings when the banks failed after the Great Crash of ‘29. There was a drought in 1932. Effects: Killed crops Killed grass Soil turned to dust

The Dust Bowl Wind storms whipped up the dry dusty soil, creating huge dust storms. Dust storms grew from 22 in 1934 to 72 in 1937. Effects? (make predictions)

The Dust Bowl During the 1930’s, the Great Plains suffered from deadly dust storms.

Causes of the Dust Bowl: Overgrazing by cattle and plowing by farmers destroyed the grasses that once held down the soil. Wheat had been overplanted during WW1.

Two Families During the Depression

Migrants Those who left areas affected by the Dust Bowl were known as “Okies” because many left the drought stricken state of Oklahoma. They carried what they had with them, lived in roadside camps in terrible poverty and faced prejudice from those more fortunate. Many families lost their husbands and fathers and men left home to find work, and some did not come back.

Effects of the Dust Bowl: Farmers could barely make a living, causing many to leave their homes for the west. Farm foreclosure sale. (Circa 1933)

Many farmers became migrant farmers as they moved from region to region looking for work. Farm Security Administration: Families on the road with all their possessions packed into their trucks, migrating and looking for work. (Circa 1935)

Farm Security Administration: farmers whose topsoil blew away joined the sod caravans of "Okies" on Route 66 to California. (Circa 1935)

Migrant farmers from Oklahoma became known as Okies. Young Oklahoma mother; age 18, penniless, stranded in Imperial Valley, California.

Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother," destitute in a pea picker's camp, because of the failure of the early pea crop. These people had just sold their tent in order to buy food. Most of the 2,500 people in this camp were destitute. By the end of the decade there were still 4 million migrants on the road.

Escaping the Depression Americans escaped the hardships of the Depression by going to the movies and listening to radio broadcasts. Stories tended to be about overcoming hardships and achieving success.

Movies of the 1930s

First animated full length movie of the 1930s – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The Depression in Art & Literature John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath told the story of an Oklahoma family fleeing the Dust Bowl to find a new life in California. Steinbeck, like many writers of this time, wrote of poverty, misfortune, and social injustice. Many Americans could relate to these themes.

Summary