 Women provided 11.7% of the workforce in 1930  Women begin to have more influence during the Great Depression ◦ Eleanor Roosevelt helps drive this  Frances Perkins becomes Secretary of Labor ◦ First Female Cabinet Member  The vast majority of women generally disagreed with women in the workplace ◦ 82% thought a wife shouldn’t work if the husband does  Women make up 15.6% of the workforce in 1940 ◦ They will become an even larger percentage in a just a short time

 The Civil Rights Movement really gets going during the depression  A. Phillip Randolph starts the first all-black trade union  Mary McLeod Bethune worked for/with young African- Americans ◦ Job Training ◦ Educational Opportunities  Over 100 African-Americans were appointed to the government positions  Eleanor Roosevelt played a key role in rights/opportunities for minorities  FDR was not fully committed to civil rights ◦ No anti-lynching law ◦ No abolition of the poll tax ◦ Some programs did not provide jobs for African-Americans

 Mexican-Americans immigrated to the southwest looking for work ◦ Generally, what kind of work did they receive?  They struggled to gain workers rights  America’s policy towards Native Americans moved from assimilation to autonomy ◦ Big change in government policy  They were given some key rights ◦ Economic – they owned their own lands ◦ Cultural – children could go to school on the reservations ◦ Political – they had councils to govern their own territories

 Created by FDR and supported the Democratic Party ◦ Southern whites, labor unions, urban groups  Labor unions grew immensely ◦ 3 million to 10 million  Unions had typically been skilled labor ◦ CIO is established to support unskilled or semi-skilled workers (auto industry, steel workers)  Labor strikes were common ◦ Some were violent ◦ Memorial Day Massacre in Chicago in 1937  10 unarmed strikers are shot and killed  FDR is reelected in 1936

 People sought an escape from the harsh realities of the Depression ◦ Over 65% of people went to the movies once a week ◦ Over 90% of households owned a radio  Some films depicted life during the depression while others avoided the topic  Gone With the Wind is the classic example of Great Depression Cinema  Radio was widely varied in topic ◦ Dramas such as “The War of the Worlds” captivated listeners ◦ “Soap operas” get their start on the radio

 Adapted from a novel  Tells the story of the Civil War and Reconstruction  Highest grossing movie of all time  e.com/watch?v=GQ 5ICXMC4xY e.com/watch?v=GQ 5ICXMC4xY

 Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, Gummo  Allowed an escape from the everyday and laughter  Duck Soup and Monkey Business  e.com/watch?v=VK TT-sy0aLg e.com/watch?v=VK TT-sy0aLg

 Written by H.G. Wells in 1898  Read and adapted for the radio by Orson Welles  Captivated the American public  e.com/watch?v=eg udvdwtDIg e.com/watch?v=eg udvdwtDIg

 Art tended to be more serious in nature  Was a social commentary on the tough and democratic nature of Americans  Painters and artists were out of work too ◦ The Federal Art Project sought to give them work through murals, education, and other projects  The Federal Writer’s Project helped to fund some of the great literature of the time ◦ John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath (1939)  They tried to praise the virtues of America while illustrating the difficulties and hard times