1. Groups affected by the New Deal

2. Opportunities or Limits?
Important opportunity for minorities and women
BUT gains were still limited
Prejudice and discrimination
Prevented full and equal participation

3. Women Women named to government positions Frances Perkins
First female cabinet member
Secretary of Labor
Role in creating Social Security system
Roosevelt was encouraged by his wife
Wanted women’s vote

4. African Americans A. Philip Randolph
First all-black trade union
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (labor Union)
His work helped to lay the ground work for the civil rights movement
Roosevelt appointed more than 100 African Americans to key government positions
Mary McLeod Bethune

5. Mary McLeod Bethune Educator
Dedicated to promoting opportunities for young African Americans
President of Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration
Ensured the NYA provided training and benefits to minority students

6. Black Cabinet Organized by Bethune
Group of influential African Americans who advised the Roosevelt Administration on racial issues

7. Eleanor Roosevelt Instrumental in giving minorities an opportunity
Brought singer Marian Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939
DAR would not allow her to perform at their concert hall because of her race
Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the organization

8. Why? No Commitment! Roosevelt made efforts to promote racial equality
But never committed to full civil rights for African Americans
Why?
He didn’t want to upset southern democrats
He refused to pass a federal anti-lynching law and remove the poll tax
New Deal Programs DISCRIMINATED against African Americans
Lower wages
Supported New Deal as “their best hope for the future”

9. Native Americans STRONG government support from the New Deal
1924 full citizenship by law
John Collier- Commissioner of Indian Affairs
Indian Reorganization Act
Moved from assimilation to Native American autonomy
Restored reservation lands to tribal ownership
Economic
Cultural
Political
Some praised the act
Some objected

10. New Deal Coalition Minorities supported Roosevelt New Deal Coalition
Alignment of diverse groups dedicated to supporting the Democratic Party
Southern whites
Mid western Farmers
African Americans
Unionized industrial workers (blue collar)
Democrats dominated politics through the 1930s and 1940s

11. The Rural Scene
Under the 2nd AAA loans were made to farmers by the Commodity Credit Corporation
Value of the loan was determined by amount of a farmer’s surplus and the parity price
Parity Price- price intended to keep farmers’ income steady.
Federal aid to farmers continues today
Farm Service Administration (FSA)

12. The Environment The Civil Conservation Corps
The Soil Conservation Service- taught farmers how to conserve the soil through contour plowing, terracing, and crop rotation
Taylor Grazing Act of help reduce grazing on public lands
Today
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

13. Federal Deficit and Unemployment

14. Welfare State Creation of programs led to the rise of a welfare state
A government that assumes responsibility for providing for the welfare of children and the poor, elderly, sick, disabled, and unemployed.
Most Americans had never received any type of direct relief.
State, local, private charities
FDR wanted to create a “country in which no one is left out.”
New Deal established the federal government was responsible for the welfare of all Americans.

15. From the People….
Anderson County Schools Clinton, Tennessee January 26, 1936
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt Washington, D.C.
My dear Mrs. Roosevelt,
You may think I am a very insignificant person to be writing to a person of your standing and ability but by reading your article and hearing your talks I know you are real and have an interest in people even my dear little needy boys and girls of the mountain schools.
I am Rural Supervisor of schools in my county. I have forty schools to supervise. Due to insufficient clothing and food many are unable to attend schools.
I wish it were possible for you to see some of the conditions. It is not uncommon for a child to have but one dress or one shirt. They have to stay at home the day the mother laundries them.
I am just wishing that in some of your groups that it would be possible to interest them in our needs. The Save the Children Fund, with headquarters in New York, has helped me some. Many children of my schools would be unable to attend school had it not been for this organization.
I hope you will not consider me rude for writing. I have my heart in the work. I realize a hungry or a cold child cannot learn too much.

16. To the People… Reply to the letter: January 31, 1936 My dear Miss S:
Mrs. Roosevelt asks me to acknowledge your letter and to tell you that she read it with sympathetic interest. Much as she would like to help you, she finds it impossible to do so, as all the money she has to give has been pledged and allocated.
Assuring you of Mrs. Roosevelt's regret, I am
Very sincerely yours, Malvina T. Scheider Secretary to Mrs. Roosevelt