Chapter 16 Section 3 Life in the New Deal Era

The Dust Bowl and Migration  A mass migration to California was brought about by severe drought and winds that turned a 50 million acre region into a wasteland Great Plains  {The Dust Bowl was a name used to describe the Great Plains region}  When the travelers reached California they found themselves in fierce competition with other laborers

Picturing Life in the Depression  This grim time provided powerful subject matter for photographers and filmmakers  Believing that those opposing federal relief programs would change their minds after seeing pictures of devastation and broken spirits, the government hired these photographers  The Farm Security Administration (FSA) used photography effectively to bring reality to light.  Head of the FSA Roy E. Stryker assembled a team of photographers that included Walker Evans, Gordon Parks, Margaret Bourke-White and Dorothea Lange.

 Dorothea Lange was one of the most talented photographer of the depression era. The federal government hired her to photograph migrant farmers in California. Her photographs reveal the migrants’ poverty and suffering as well as their great dignity. {Dorothea Lange’s most famous photo, Migrant Mother, is considered a masterpiece}

Evaluating the New Deal  By supplying jobs, the New Deal programs restored the people’s sense of self-worth  It also created a system of government institutions that provides for the basic needs of its citizens (health care & benefits)  The New Deal promoted deficit spending- having the gov. spend more money that it receives in revenue  Many also felt that the gov., including the president, had become too involved in the economy, which threatened the free enterprise system

Photographs by Walker Evans

Continued….  Many historians agree that the New Deal was not completely effective to end the Great Depression  The economy did not fully recover until the U.S. began its preparations for WWII  Nonetheless, the New Deal did help many Americans survive the depression and it created programs that still are around today

Photographs by Gordon Parks

Photographs by Margaret Bourke-Wright