Chapter 11 Section 2 Life During the Great Depression

Bad Times The Depression grew worse during Hoover’s administration. Thousands of banks failed, and thousands of companies went out of business.

More Bad Times Millions of Americans were unemployed. Many relied on bread lines and soup kitchens for food. In 1932 alone, some 30,000 companies went out of business.

Losing Homes Many people could not afford to pay their rent or mortgage and lost their homes. Court officers, called bailiffs, evicted nonpaying tenants.

Hoovervilles Throughout the country, newly homeless people put up shacks on unused or public land, forming communities called shantytowns. Blaming the president for their plight, people referred to these shantytowns such places as Hoovervilles.

Hobos Some homeless and unemployed people wandered around the country. Known as hobos, they traveled by sneaking onto open boxcars on freight trains.

Farming Great Plains Farmers soon faced a new problem. When crop prices decreased in the 1920s, farmers left many fields unplanted. In 1932, the Great Plains experienced a severe drought.

Dust Bowl The unplanted soil turned to dust. Much of the Plains became a Dust Bowl. From the Dakotas to Texas, America's wheat fields became a vast “Dust Bowl.”

Heading West Many families packed their belongings into old cars or trucks and headed west , hoping for a better life in California. Still, many remained homeless and poor.

Movies Americans turned to entertainment to escape the hardships of the Depression. During the 1930s, more than 60 million Americans went to the movies each week, which features child stars such as Shirley Temple who provided people with a way to escape their daily worries.

Comedians Millions of people listened to comedians such as Jack Benny, George Burns, and Gracie Allen.

Disney Americans also enjoyed cartoons. Walt Disney produced the first feature-length animated film in 1937. Even films that focused on the serious side of life were generally optimistic.

1939 Movies Two movies from this period were The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, both produced in 1939. Gone with the Wind is a Civil War epic that won nine Academy Awards. One went to Hattie McDaniel, who won Best Supporting Actress. She was the first African American to win an Academy Award.

Radio Americans also listened to the radio. They listened to news, comedy shows, and adventure programs like The Lone Ranger.

Soap Operas Short daytime dramas were also popular. These radio melodramas were often sponsored by makers of laundry soaps, causing the shows to be nicknamed soap operas.

Arts (Writers & Painters) During the Depression, artists and writers portrayed the life around them. Art and literature in the 1930s reflected the realities of life during the Depression. Painters such as Grant Wood showed traditional American values, particularly those of the rural Midwest and the South. His painting American Gothic is one of the most famous American works of art.

John Steinbeck The writing of novelists such as John Steinbeck evoked sympathy for their characters and indignation at social injustice. Steinbeck wrote about the lives of people in the Depression.

Grapes of Wrath In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck told the story of an Oklahoma farm family who fled the Dust Bowl to find a better life in California. He based his writing on visits to and articles about migrant camps in California.

William Faulkner Some writers during the Depression influenced literary style. In a technique known as stream of consciousness, William Faulkner showed what his characters were thinking and feeling without using conventional dialogue. Faulkner explored the issue of race in the American South.

Life Magazine Photographers traveled around the nation taking pictures of life around them. In 1936, magazine publisher Henry Luce introduced Life, a weekly photojournalism magazine that enjoyed instant success and showcased the work of photojournalists, such as Dorothea Lange and Margaret Bourke-White, who documented the hardships of the Great Depression.