1. The New Deal Affects Many Groups
Chapter 23
Section 3

2. Women
Gains – Women were appointed to important federal positions; slight increase in the number of women working outside the home in salesclerk and secretary positions
Problems – Discrimination in the work place, factories; discriminatory wages; discriminatory hiring practices because most Americans felt women should stay at home; competition from men for teaching and librarian positions; maids, seamstresses, and housekeepers w/o a job because people can’t afford to pay them; most found themselves at home canning food, sewing, and cooking

3. Eleanor Roosevelt Was the “eyes and ears” for Mr. Roosevelt
Energetic first lady who traveled the country to meet with people, and returned to report back to the president
Encouraged her husband to make things more fair for women, blacks, Mexican-Americans, and other minorities
Just as her husband, she talked to the nation on the radio
Had a daily newspaper column

4. Part of the Black Cabinet
African Americans
Part of the Black Cabinet
Dr. William H. Hastie
Robert Weaver
Gains – Increased political voice through greater access to the president; organizations created for tenant farmers
Problems – Segregation; racial violence; discrimination in all areas of life; poll taxes; loss of jobs; 1932 more than ½ of all blacks in the South were unemployed; one of the first to lose a job in the factories of the North

5. Mexican-Americans
Before the Depression many worked in the SW as migrants and were very much welcomed into this role by the owners of the farms
When whites from other areas w/o a job came west Mexican-Americans were thrown out of a job and some were deported
The unfortunate thing was that some of the individuals who were deported by the government had been born in the U.S. and were citizens of this country

6. The Indian New Deal John Collier
Collier was a commissioner of Indian Affairs
He was a strong advocate of Native American rights
He helped create the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934
This restored some reservation lands to tribal ownership
Restricted tribal land sales
Put Indians to work building schools, hospitals, and irrigation systems
Encouraged Indian schools to teach Native American history & arts
John Collier

7. The Dust Bowl
100 million acres were turned into a desert; in square miles that is about the size of California
Over plowing, overgrazing, and drought conditions for most of the 1930’s all played a part
“Black blizzards” made life miserable for people on the plains
Animals and people died as a result from inhaling too much dust or dirt into their lungs
Farms were ruined
Some families left, but most stayed and fought through

8. The Grapes of Wrath - 1939 What? – Novel Who? – John Steinbeck
Theme - Difficulties of Oklahomans who leave the Dust Bowl for California

9. Okies Head West
In some areas of the Dust Bowl area as many as 1/3 of the population headed west
California was not welcoming
The Okies were competing with the migrant workers that were already there and poor whites from the area who needed jobs too

10. Arts and Media of the Depression

11. Gone With the Wind What? – Film (1939) or novel (1936)
Theme? – Life among Southern plantation owners during the Civil War
Purpose? – To take people’s minds off of reality!

12. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
What? – Film (1939)
Theme – Honest, kindhearted people winning out over greedy special interests
Purpose – To take mind off of reality and root for good versus evil!

13. The War of the Worlds What? – Radio drama (Halloween 1938) or books
Who? – Orson Wells (or H.G. Wells)
Theme – Martian invasion of earth

14. Arts and Literature during the Depression
Diego Rivera
Inspired American artists to show dignity found in ordinary people at work.

15. American Artist – Edward Hopper

16. American Artist – Thomas Hart Benton

17. American Artist – Grant Wood