1. Life During the Depression

2. Unemployment
By 1932 approximately one out of every four Americans was unemployed
Unemployment rose from 5 million in 1930 to 13 million by 1932
Children began to leave school in order to work to help their families

3. Homeless 1932- 2 million homeless in the US
Many more left homes to live with family members or crammed into houses with strangers
Some families kept their homes by taking in boarders and bartering
Hoboes – men left their families, hopped a train to travel to other towns in search for jobs

4. Hoovervilles
shantytowns built from discarded materials like crates, cardboard, and flattened tin cans

5. Emotional Toll
People felt that their situation was a sign of personal failure and many did not want a ‘handout’
‘Brother can you spare a dime?’ – famous song of the era which speaks of the misfortune many experienced

6. Entertainment
Many people stayed home and avoided socializing because they were ashamed of their misfortune
Others preferred to use entertainment as an escape from their worries
Comic books grew in popularity
Superman (1938)
Batman (1939)
Radio shows featuring comedians and adventures of Lone Ranger or Green Hornet

7. Entertainment Daytime radio dramas called soap operas began in the 30s
Serious movies had optimistic undertone
Wizard of Oz
Gone with the Wind
Comedies and cartoons were the most popular films
Shirley Temple
Snow White and the 7 dwarfs (1937)

8. Literature Literature and art flourished
Writers and artists tried to portray life around them using homeless and unemployed as subjects in story or picture
John Steinbeck wrote of poverty and misfortune
Grapes of Wrath – tells story of family fleeing dust bowl to find new life in California
Photos became powerful images of time period
Life – photojournalism magazine
Photographers = Dorthea Lange and Margaret Bourke-White

9. Dust Bowl When? Most of the 1930s – mostly 1930 - 1936 Where?
Great Plains – Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Eastern Colorado, New Mexico and Texas panhandle

10. Dust Bowl
Who?
Okies – families that left their homes in the Dust Bowl region to move to California in search of better conditions
Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men detailed the life of the Okies

11. Dust Bowl
What?
Dust storms that covered homes and cities in the Great Plains
Some dust storms would create dust walls up to 1000 ft. tall
Dust blew all the way to East Coast cities like New York

12. Dust Storms

13. 2) Poor farming practices
Why/Cause?
1) Severe Drought
2) Poor farming practices
Never rotated crops causing soil to be drained of nutrients
Extensive plowing - killed prairie grass which kept soil in place and trapped moisture

14. Dust Bowl Effect? Left more than 500,000 families homeless
Destroyed livelihood of people from the region since most were farmers
Caused many people to flee the area and head west in search of work

15. Dust Bowl Government services to conserve soil were created
Soil Conservation Service now called the Natural Resources Conservation Service
Educated farmers on soil conservation, crop rotation, terracing, and contour plowing
By 1938 conservation efforts reduced the amount of blowing soil by 65%