The American Pageant Chapter 33 The Great Depression and the New Deal, Cover Slide Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

"Buy an Auto…" ad Recognizing the connection between sales and jobs, this ad asked readers to purchase an automobile and keep workers working so that they too could spend and stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, the number of people with enough money to spend was never enough to rekindle the economy and the Depression continued. (Private Collection) "Buy an Auto…" ad Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Black tenant farm family from Putnam County, Georgia, Harmony Community, 1941 Numerous African American families were evicted from their farms during the Great Depression. White planters who received government payments for taking land out of cultivation were supposed to share these payments with their tenants and sharecroppers. Instead, many kicked these families off the land and kept the money for themselves. This family in Putnam County, Georgia, loaded all its possessions into a rickety truck for the trip north. (National Archives) Black tenant farm family from Putnam County, Georgia, Harmony Community, 1941 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CCC workers Here, Civilian Conservation Corps workers plant seedlings to reforest a section of forest destroyed by fire. Before its demise in 1942, the CCC enrolled over two million young men. In addition to its work in conservation, the CCC also taught around thirty-five thousand men how to read and write. (UPI/Bettmann ) CCC workers Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Construction of a Dam by William Gropper The New Deal's Federal Arts Project commissioned murals for post offices and other public buildings. Gropper, whose work often exposed social injustice and class inequalities, painted his upbeat mural for the Department of the Interior building in Washington, D.C. (Smithsonian American Art Museum,Washington,D.C. Art Resource, NY) Construction of a Dam by William Gropper Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Dorothea Lange photo of migrant mother and child Dorothea Lange became one of the most famous photographers of the Depression. Her photo of a migrant mother and her children at a migrant camp in Nipomo, California, captured the human tragedy of the Depression. Seeking jobs and opportunities, over 350,000 people traveled to the state, most finding few opportunities. (Library of Congress) Dorothea Lange photo of migrant mother and child Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Eleanor Roosevelt visits West Virginia Coal Mine, 1933 A New Yorker cartoon of 1933 portrayed one coal miner exclaiming to another: "Oh migosh, here comes Mrs. Roosevelt." But reality soon caught up with humor, as the First Lady immersed herself in the plight of the poor and the exploited. ( (c) Bettmann/Corbis) Eleanor Roosevelt visits West Virginia Coal Mine, 1933 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Farmer's Holiday Association marching Protesting Minnesota farmers demand relief in a 1933 march on the state capitol. (Minnesota Historical Society) Farmer's Holiday Association marching Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Federal Theatre Project Poster: "Power" The New Deal's massive hydroelectric power projects were celebrated in this "Living Newspaper" production by the WPA's Federal Theatre Project, which took place in August of 1937 in San Francisco. (Library of Congress) Federal Theatre Project Poster: "Power" Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Forgotten Woman President Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigned on helping the "forgotten man." As shown in this political cartoon Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady, did not forget women. She worked diligently to ensure that they benefited from the New Deal and had access to government and the Democratic Party. (Franklin D. Roosevelt Library) Forgotten Woman Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Four families from the Dust Bowl in Texas in an overnight roadside This 1937 image by Dorothea Lange, a photographer with the Farm Security Administration, pictures migrants from the Texas Dust Bowl gathered at a roadside camp near Calipatria in southern California. (Library of Congress) Four families from the Dust Bowl in Texas in an overnight roadside Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover on the way to FDR's inauguration, March 4, 1933 With little in common but their top hats, Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt ride to Roosevelt's inauguration on March 4, (Library of Congress) Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover on the way to FDR's inauguration, March 4, 1933 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

John Collier and Native Americans John Collier worked to ensure the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act. Designed to restore tribal sovereignty under federal authority, each tribe had to ratify the act to participate. Not all tribes did; seventy–seven rejected it, including the Navajos, the nation's largest tribe. This photo shows a group of Navajos meeting with Collier to discuss government–imposed limitations on the number of sheep each Navajo could own. (Wide World Photos, Inc.) John Collier and Native Americans Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Kids at the movies--Metro Theatre, 2175 Logan Ave, 1935 Throughout the Depression, the most popular form of entertainment was the movies, providing escape from daily hardships into a prosperous world of fantasy. At twenty cents a ticket, movies attracted as many as seventy-five million people a week. In this photo, taken at a movie theatre in San Diego, children display door prizes given during the matinee. (San Diego Historical Society, Photograph Collection) Kids at the movies--Metro Theatre, 2175 Logan Ave, 1935 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Mary McLeod Bethune In 1935 Mary McLeod Bethune (front center), became the first African American woman to hold a high-ranking government position, serving as the head of the Office of Minority Affairs in the National Youth Administration. Here, she is shown with the council of Negro Women, which she helped organize in 1935 to focus on the problems faced by African Americans at the national level. (New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture) Mary McLeod Bethune Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Memorial Day Massacre How do historians know that police officers were largely responsible for the 1937 Memorial Day Massacre in Chicago? There is both photographic and medical evidence of the police's culpability. Covering the story at the Republic Steel plant were a cameraman from Paramount News and photographers from Life magazine and the Wide World Photos syndicate. Paramount News suppressed its film footage, claiming that releasing it "might very well incite local riots," but an enterprising reporter alerted a congressional committee to its existence, and a private viewing was arranged. Spectators at this showing, the reporter noted, "were shocked and amazed by the scenes showing scores of uniformed policemen firing their revolvers pointblank into a dense crowd of men, women, and children, and then pursuing the survivors unmercifully as they made frantic efforts to escape." Medical evidence also substantiated the picketers' version: none of the ten people killed by the police had been shot from the front. Clearly, the demonstrators had been trying to flee the police when they were shot or clubbed to the ground. (WideWorld Photos, Inc.) Memorial Day Massacre Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Mexican pecan shellers In San Antonio, Texas, many Mexican Americans held jobs as pecan shellers and were among the worst paid in the nation--sometimes working a 54-hour week for only three dollars. (Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas, Austin) Mexican pecan shellers Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

NRA code The National Recovery Administration was Roosevelt's main vehicle to restore industrial recovery during his First One Hundred Days. Headed by General Hugh Johnson, the NRA's goal was to mobilize management, workers, and consumers under the symbol of the Blue Eagle; establish national production codes; and get America moving again. (Collection of David J. and Janice L. Frent) NRA code Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Oklahoma drought refugees stalled on highway Plagued by dust storms and evictions, thousands of tenant farmers and sharecroppers were forced to leave their land during the Great Depression. Known as the "Okies" and "Arkies," they took off for California with their few belongings. These refugees from drought-stricken Oklahoma experienced car trouble and were stalled on a New Mexico highway. (Library of Congress) Oklahoma drought refugees stalled on highway Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Poster by Ben Shahn: "Years of Dust" Under the Agricultural Adjustment Act, farmers received government payments for not planting crops or for destroying crops that were already planted. Some farmers, however, needed help of a different kind. The Resettlement Administration, established by executive order in 1935, was authorized to resettle destitute farm families from areas of soil erosion, flooding, and stream pollution to homestead communities. This poster was done by Ben Shahn. (Library of Congress) Poster by Ben Shahn: "Years of Dust” Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Sharecropper by Jerry Bywaters, 1937 Sharecropper, an oil painting by Jerry Bywaters, shows one of the major problems facing farmers on the southern plains in the 1930s: grasshoppers, which along with drought and dust storms ravaged crops in Oklahoma, Kansas, and other states. (Dallas Museum of Art, Allied Arts Civic Prize, Eighth Annual Dallas Arts Exhibition.) Sharecropper by Jerry Bywaters, 1937 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Social Security poster Enacted in 1935, Social Security has been one of the most enduring of all New Deal programs. This poster urges eligible Americans to apply promptly for their Social Security cards. (Library of Congress) Social Security poster Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Unemployed by Reginald Marsh, 1932 The Great Depression produced large- scale unemployment, reaching 25 percent in This picture, titled Unemployed, painted by Reginald Marsh, effectively captured the despair of men and women seeking jobs. (Library of Congress) Unemployed by Reginald Marsh, 1932 Cover Slide Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Women's emergency brigade with signs During the 1937 sit-down strike by automobile workers in Flint, Michigan, a women's "emergency brigade" of wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, and sweethearts conducted daily demonstrations at the plants. When the police sought to force the men out of Chevrolet Plant No. 9 by filling it with tear gas, the women armed themselves with clubs and smashed out the plant's windows to let in fresh air. (Wide World Photos, Inc.) Women's emergency brigade with signs Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WPA artist Alfred Castagne painting WPA construction workers, May 19, 1939 The Works Progress Administration not only built roads and buildings, but also provided employment for teachers, writers, and artists. A common theme among WPA artists and writers was the strength and dignity of common people as they faced their difficult lives. Here, a Michigan WPA artist sketches WPA workers. (National Archives) WPA artist Alfred Castagne painting WPA construction workers, May 19, 1939 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Young harvester by Walker Evans in the fields of Westmorland County, Pennsylvania (Library of Congress) Young harvester by Walker Evans in the fields of Westmorland County, Pennsylvania Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Young Mexican cotton picker, 1930s Whether in agricultural labor or urban barrios, Mexican Americans endured harsh conditions during the depression. (Library of Congress) Young Mexican cotton picker, 1930s Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Map: Presidential Election, 1932 Presidential Election, 1932 One factor above all decided the 1932 presidential election: the Great Depression. Roosevelt won forty-two states, Hoover six. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Map: The Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl From the Dakotas southward to the Mexican border, farmers in the Great Plains suffered from a lack of rainfall and severe soil erosion in the 1930s, worsening the hardships of the Great Depression Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Map: The Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority To control flooding and to generate electricity, the Tennessee Valley Authority constructed dams along the Tennessee River and its tributaries from Paducah, Kentucky, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

FDR’s First Fireside Chat (Archive Films.) Video: FDR’s First Fireside Chat Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Click on image to launch video. Apple QuickTime® required for viewing

New Deal Overview (Archive Films.) Video: New Deal Overview Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Click on image to launch video. Apple QuickTime® required for viewing

FDR’s First Inaugural Address (1933. Great Speeches of the 20 th Century, Rhino Records, Los Angeles, CA 1991) Audio: FDR’s First Inaugural Address Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Click on image to launch audio. Apple QuickTime® required to play.