1. Great Depression impact on African Americans and Women
Ms. De La O
English 9

2. African Americans African Americans in the Northeast
African Americans in the South
Harlem renaissance- literature, education, and pride NY
Southern Blacks economic stagnation-
½ of all blacks lived in the South
Compromised many low wage high labor jobs

3. The Great Depression Hits African Americans Severely
Lost farms as cotton prices and other crops dropped
African American Men
African American Women
1932: General Pop 25% unemployment
African American 75%
Men: would be fired from low pay jobs to open the job for white men
Women: would lose domestic servant jobs to white women
40% of workers lost their jobs

4. New Deal and African Americans
African Americans benefited from Federal aid programs
FDR forced nondiscrimination in hiring of Fed jobs
Black Cabinet
African Americans benefited from Federal aid programs
Public Works Administration &Works Progress Administrations
A stipulation in these programs was to hire minorities
Blacks made ¼ of residents in Fed Housing Project
Black Cabinet- Group of African American leaders under Roosevelt.
Advised President on race issues and getting New Deal support to Blacks
Pushed by Eleanor Roosevelt

5. Federal Programs Denying Blacks support
Agricultural Adjustment Act
Federal programs at the local level would deny relief for African Americans
Intimidations and lynching increased
NAACP
South was unsafe for many blacks
Agricultural Adjustment Act- Denied support to tenant farms because they did not own land
blacks
Racist managers at the local level made this choice and would not be caught
NAACP pushed Federal Law outlawing lynching but did not pass
White southern Democrats did not allow it to pass
South was unsafe for many blacks

6. Moving North
Worsening social and economic inequality in the South forced ½ million to move to northern cites to find work.
factories and business began closing down and unemployment continued.
Over all Blacks suffered More during the Great Depression

7. Women During the Great Depression
The View was jobs should go to men
women should remain at home take care of family
Increased responsibility
Women made up only 25% of the work force
Increased responsibility- fend for themselves and family when men went out to find work
Men, unions, and government were not ready to accept working women, and
this bias caused females intense hardship during the Great Depression.

8. Economic necessity for women to work
Lower Class
Middle Class
Working wives also expected to maintain the household
Working Married women increase by 50% 1930’s
Women were pushed out traditional jobs like teaching and into clerical , retail jobs, and domestic work
Poorest- need to keep food n the table for family
Middle Class-women worked to maintain level of life.
Standard of living went up in the 1920’s families had to work harder to keep that standard
Many educated women took positions well below their training
Consumerism and material comforts of the 1920’s

9. New Deal and Women Eleanor Roosevelt championed women's rights
1st Female cabinet member –Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins
New Deal programs also hired many women
Problems
-New Deal policies targeted at Men and primary bread winners
Many jobs were labor intensive
Women were hired in clerical needs in various New Deal Agencies