civil rights kq3

Around 1933, what type of people made up the Democratic party?

1. “Solid South” white voters who always voted Democrat

2. Urban (mainly Catholic) ethnic voters in the North

3. Workers and middle class liberals across the nation

Increasing numbers of AA voters in Northern cities.

What were some problems with white Southerners in the Democratic party?

• White Southerners were determined to maintain the social, economic and political inferiority of Black Americans.

• Single party system: led to repeated re-election of the same Democratic candidates. Long-serving Southern Democrat senators and representatives gained disproportionate influence in the US Congress. Seniority rules that gave them over half the committee chairmanships and control of the key committees.

• Could block any legislation they opposed. This was important because most Southern Democrats were far more conservative and resistant to change than other Democrats, particularly regarding race.

What was the seniority system in the democratic party?

Seniority system = congress members who served the longest gained the most influence. Senior members got preferred offices, key committee positions and leadership roles.

These committees were important, as they decided which bills were discussed, amended or sent to Congress floor.

What was the political status of AAs in the North?

Black Americans could vote.

• A few black politicians such as Oscar De Priest were elected to office, but black Americans did not win state-wide office because many white people would only vote for white candidates.

• Political position improved, especially in Northern cities.

• Many AAs switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic party because of Roosevelt’s relief programs.

• Growth of urban populations increased AA voting influence in Northern cities.

• Black cabinet became an informal advisory group.

• FDR avoided fully supporting civil rights to keep Southern dem support, anti lynching bills failed, segregation and discrimination was still common.

What was the political status of AAs in the South?

• Some black Americans were allowed to vote

• Many weren’t due to literacy tests, poll taxes, and violence and intimidation. Southern politics was dominated by the Democratic Party, which was steadfastly white and segregationist in the South.

• Democratic Party dominated politics and upheld segregation - Jim Crow Laws prevented meaningful AA political participation.

• Very few AAs held political office.

• New Deal relief increased some AA loyalty to Roosevelt, despite discrimination.

What was the social status of AAs in the North?

• De facto segregation kept the black urban population crowded into ghettos such as New York City’s Harlem and Chicago’s South Side.

• However, this growth of AA communities strengthened AA culture and identity.

• Eleanor Roosevelt supported some AA artists and civil rights campaigns.

What was the social status of AAs in the South?

• Jim Crow laws: black Americans suffered de jure segregation in public places such as schools, transport, hospitals, libraries, parks and restaurants.

• Black males avoided eye contact with white females lest they be accused of harassment, and black people were expected to step aside if a white person approached on the sidewalk.

• Lynchings and racial violence threatened AA communities, and the majority remained poor agricultural workers or sharecroppers.

• Migration to the North offered some escape from Southern racism.

What was the economic status of AAs in the North?

• There was a slowly growing black middle class. E.g. in 1914 A. Philip Randolph had married a wealthy widow who had graduated from one of the few black universities, Howard.

• Economic opportunities were better than in the South, although poor education limited the prospects of most who came North during the Great Migration.

• Some migrants obtained relatively well-paid work in Detroit car factories or meatpacking houses in Chicago or East St Louis, but most black Americans in the North were poor and particularly badly affected by the Great Depression.

• Growth of black urban working class in cities such as Chicago, Detroit and New York.

• Often last hired and first fired; discriminated against in unions.

What was the economic status of AAs in the South?

• Many black Southerners worked in agriculture as sharecroppers or tenant farmers. Some were employed in industry, e.g. in steelworks in Birmingham, Alabama.

• Poor education in segregated and underfunded schools made economic progress difficult.

• Black Americans across the nation constituted the majority of the workers in unskilled occupations such as domestic help, shoeshine boys, bellhops, railroad porters and waiters/waitresses.

• Some new deal agencies reduced demand for AA labour

What was the legal status of AAs in the North?

• Lynching not uncommon in the North.

• Treatment in courts and by the police: Malcolm X’s brother Wilfred Little saw little difference between Michigan and the South in the 1920s and 1930s. The police gave black people little or no protection over lynchings and during race riots.

What was the legal status of AAs in the South?

• Many white people considered violence and even lynching as an acceptable form of race control.

• White people dominated law enforcement and because judges and juries were all-white, black citizens lacked effective protection under the law.

What was the main difference of the discrimination in the North and the South?

South:

Legal segregation under Jim Crow

Voting restrictions led to near-total political exclusion, segregation was enforced in all public life. Widespread lynching and organised racial violence.

North:

Mainly de facto. No formal legal segregation

Housing segregation, job discrimination, police bias.

AAs had voting rights but limited political influence

How many AAs were lynched between 1901-1929 un Georgia and Mississippi?

Georgia: 250

Mississippi: 255

Who was the Republican rep. sympathetic to anti-lynching activists, what did he do and what effect did it have?

NAACP leader James Weldon found an ally in Republican Representative Leaonidas Dyer.

Dyer introduced an anti-lynching Bill into the House of Representatives in 1918. However, his bill got nowhere in the Democrat controlled Congress.

What methods did Southern Democrats use to kill the anti-lynching bill?

The Southern Democrats tried to stop the debate by refusing to come to the House Chamber which prevented the minimum number required for the House of Rep to conduct business.

Under pressure from the NAACP the house passed the Dyer Bill 231-119 but Southern Democratic filibusters killed off the bill.

Dyer tried to reintroduce the bill, but Senate rejected it in 1922, 23 and 24. However, the publicity might have contributed to the decline in lynchings.

How did the Great Depression impact black farmers, 1929 -33?

Already vulnerable due to sharecropping and tenant farming before 1929.

Collapse in crop prices (especially cotton) meant extreme poverty and debt.

New Deal policies often favoured white landowners; many Black farmers were excluded or forced off land.

Mechanisation and evictions increased Black migration to cities.

How did the Great Depression impact black Americans in cities, 1929 -33?

Hit first and hardest by unemployment (“last hired, first fired”).

Faced job discrimination as white workers were prioritised.

Many relied on overcrowded housing and informal work.

Despite hardship, Black communities strengthened mutual aid, churches, and political activism.

How did the Great Depression impact black women, 1929 -33?

Overrepresented in domestic service, one of the lowest-paid and least protected jobs. 90%+

Often dismissed as families cut spending.

Some became main breadwinners through informal labour (cleaning, childcare).

Faced both racial and gender discrimination in relief programmes.

Had unemployment rates estimated at ~40-50% in Northern cities

How did the Great Depression impact the black middle class, 1929 -33?

Included teachers, doctors, lawyers, and small business owners.

Lost savings and clients as the economy collapsed.

Professional opportunities shrank due to segregation and competition.

However, many became leaders in civil rights and community organisation during the 1930s.

What was Hoover’s approach to the great depression?

·A strong believer in ‘self-help’ and ‘rugged individualism’, and a staunch opponent of federal intervention, Hoover was reluctant to use the federal government to intervene in the economy – including in the provision of relief.

He suggested that local governments and charities should address the needs of the unemployed.

There was no effective social security system, so disease and starvation frequently resulted.

What was FDR’s approach to the Great Depression called, and what did it involve?

• The ‘New Deal’

• When he became President in March 1933, his New Deal proposals included subsidies for farmers, help for the unemployed, and welfare payments for the poor and elderly.

• He sought and obtained from Congress unprecedented powers and money necessary to implement his programmes.

• The result was a proliferation of ‘alphabet agencies’ that aimed to lift the nation out of the economic depression and ameliorate suffering.

How did FDR approach the Great Depression in terms of AAs?

Roosevelt also knew that the Depression hit black Americans particularly hard and that they suffered exceptionally unfavourable social and political conditions in the South.

Who did FDR appoint to help AAs situations during the Great Depression?

In 1933, he appointed a liberal white Southerner, Clark Foreman, as his ‘Special Adviser on the Economic Status of the Negro.’ In 1934, Foreman was succeeded by his black assistant, Robert Weaver

When was the CCC created, what was it’s aim and what did it do?

March 1933

Aimed to create jobs for the young and unemployed.

The Department of Labour recruited 17-24 (later extended to 28) year old unemployed, unmarried males to work in the CCC. Around 250,000 worked on reforestation, soil conservation and forest management projects in 1933-4, and 500,000 in 1935

What was the impact of the CCC on AAs?

The CCC was widely praised by white Americans, but many Black Americans saw it as discriminatory and limited in its benefits.

Although about 200,000 African Americans were employed, recruitment was slow and capped at 10%, meaning many unemployed Black people were excluded.

Black workers faced segregation and were usually restricted to low-skilled jobs, especially after a 1935 order enforcing racial separation in camps.

Incidents like those at Fort Dix showed poor treatment, unequal conditions, and racial tensions, with Black recruits often blamed, disciplined, or removed instead of their complaints being addressed.

When was the AAA created, what was it’s aim and what did it do?

May 1933.

Aimed to stop overproduction, which the federal government considered the greatest problem in American agriculture.

Farmers invited to voluntarily reduce their acreage and production in exchange for government subsidies. Farmers were paid to decrease production of staples such as corn, cotton, milk, rice, pigs, tobacco, wheat.

What was the impact of the AAA on AAs?

The AAA offered little real help to Southern Black farmers because it was controlled locally by powerful white landowners who resisted fair treatment.

Landowners often evicted tenants and sharecroppers to qualify for payments, leading to around 200,000 Black sharecroppers being forced off land between 1933–1940.

Compensation rarely reached Black workers, as landowners kept the money or coerced workers into signing over cheques.

AAA policies worsened unemployment by encouraging mechanisation and manipulating welfare, keeping Black labour cheap and insecure despite federal attempts to stop abuses.

When was the TVA created, what was it’s aim and what did it do?

May 1933

Aimed to provide employment, electricity, and improved farming methods along the Tennessee River (which ran through some of the poorest states – Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee)

Constructed dams along the Tennessee River, to control flooding, generate electricity, and provide thousands of construction jobs. By the late 1930s, had built ~20+ major damns.

What was the impact of the TVA on AAs?

• The TVA provided jobs for Black workers, but they faced segregation, poor housing, and were mostly restricted to unskilled labour.

• Many experienced “mis-classification,” where they did skilled work but were paid less, and complaints often resulted in dismissal.

• Excluding Black workers from skilled roles meant they were gradually pushed out once unskilled labour was no longer needed.

• Conditions improved slightly after J. Max Bond exposed discrimination to the NAACP, leading to congressional pressure on the TVA.

• Cut electricity prices by up to ~50% in some rural areas. Electrification in the region rose from 10% of rural homes in the early 1930s, to over 40% by the early 1940s.

When was FERA created, what was it’s aim and what did it do?

 May 1933

 Aimed to provide relief and work projects for the poor.

Spent over $4000 million to help the unemployed through relief and work projects. Overall effectiveness limited because of views of many state authorities (poverty result of idleness), funds were limited, and FERA officials were often overburdened.

What was the impact of FERA on AAs?

In some ways, it served black Americans well. Prior to ND, state and local welfare agencies usually ignored black needs, but 1/3 of Black Americans benefitted from the FERA. In 1935, 3.5 million received help from it.

However, distribution of FERA relief was frequently characterised by discriminatory practices at local level. White officials in the South made it harder for unemployed black people to get on the welfare rolls, and paid black welfare recipients less than white recipients, arguing that as black people had a lower standard of living, they could survive on less money.

Atlanta gave monthly relief checks of $32.66 to white people, but $19.29 to black people. ~

In some rural areas in Georgia and Mississippi, black relief payments were 30% lower than those of white people.

FERA was closed down in 1935, but WPA continued some of its work.

When was the NRA created, what was it’s aim and what did it do?

June 1933 

Aimed to help business and industry recover.

Introduced codes that encouraged employers to establish minimum wages and maximum hours for workers. Companies that adopted the codes were allowed to display the govt. seal of approval, a blue eagle symbol.

Eg. the Cotton Textile Code: set minimum wages of $12/week. Limited working hours to 40-48 hours/week. Abolished child labour in textile industries.

What was the impact of the NRA on AAs?

Some workers benefitted more than others. NRA codes allowed regionally differentiated wage rates and excluded workers in agriculture and in domestic service (areas in which ¾ of black workers were employed).

Often paid ~20-50% less than white workers.

Black workers in industries that were covered by the codes often had their job classification redefined so that employers could avoid the set wage levels.

The NRA was famous amongst the black population for its unfairness, which prompted many jokes as to what the NRA stood for (e.g. Negroes Rarely Allowed, Negro Removal Act, etc.).

When was the PWA created, what was it’s aim and what did it do?

June 1933.

Aimed to create jobs through public works programmes.

With $3.3 billion of federal funding, the PWA employed hundreds of thousands of workers who constructed roads, schools, hospitals, and dams.

Funded 34,000 public projects.

Built or improved 70%+ of new schools and hospitals, creating or supporting ~2-3million jobs indirectly.

What was the impact of the PWA on AAs?

It was particularly helpful to black Americans.

It spent over $65 million on the construction and improvement of black schools, homes, and hospitals.

Its Housing Divisions used quotas to ensure construction jobs for black workers, and by 1940 black Americans occupied over 30% of PWA-constructed housing.

Harold Ickes (its head) ensured that black PWA workers got equal pay.

Only 29,000 units of public housing built – this was not that many, and this part of the project was considered a failure.

When was the FHA created, what was it’s aim and what did it do?

June 1934

Aimed to help homeowners pay mortgages

Helped homeowners pay the lower-interest, long-term mortgages provided by the government since June 1933 for those buying new homes.

Had insured over 4million home mortgages by 1940

Expanded homeownership from ~44% in 1930 to ~50% in 1940.

What was the impact of the FHA on AAs?

These measures were of little help for impoverished inner-city areas where many black families lived

FHA maps often marked black neighbourhoods as high risk, reducing lending.

The federal government refused to guarantee mortgages for houses purchased by black families in white neighbourhoods.

Federal housing loans deliberately preserved the racial composition of neighbourhoods.

Less than 2% of FHA backed loans went to non-white families

When was the WPA created, what was it’s aim and what did it do?

 April 1935

Aimed to create jobs through public works programmes.

Given $45.5 billion to spend on public works. At any time, employed roughly around 2 million workers. The $52 monthly wage was greater than relief, although a lower wage than in industry. The WPA built 8,000 schools and hospitals, 1000 airport landing fields and 12,000 playgrounds.

 

What was the impact of the WPA on AAs?

The WPA employed around 350,000 Black Americans each year, but most remained in low-paid jobs with little chance of promotion.

Its education programmes helped over 250,000 Black Americans gain basic literacy and employed 5,000 Black teachers, improving access to better jobs and voting.

The WPA introduced racial quotas and increased Black participation from 8% to 15%, creating important data to expose discrimination.

However, very few Black workers held supervisory roles, and most earned too little to achieve real economic or political equality.

When was the NYA created, what was it’s aim and what did it do?

1935

 Aimed to help unemployed youths.

 Assisted students and provided them with part-time jobs while they completed their education.

Part time student jobs typically $10-$40/month

What was the impact of the NYA on AAs?

Mary McLeod Bethune (educator and civil rights activist) lobbied NYA to give greater aid to black Americans, and was appointed to work for the agency. Appointed by FDR to head the Negro Division of the NYA IN 1938. She was a leading member of FDR’s ‘Black Cabinet’.

Bethune encouraged state officials to ensure that black youths signed up for programmes. She became a close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt.

NYA gave aid and taught skills to 500,000 young black Americans.

It was exceptionally fair in its distribution of money, but it accepted segregation.

10-15% of NYA participants were AAs

When was the Social Security Act created, what was it’s aim and what did it do?

August 1935

Aimed to insure the unemployed, pensions for the elderly

To be funded by contributions from employers and employees. Act also established programmes for the physically disabled, those who had been injured in industrial accidents, blind people, and for families with dependent children.

By 1939: ~25million Americans were covered by some form of Social security programme.

 

What was the impact of the Social Security Act on AAs?

• Social Security benefits were limited and slow, with low pensions, short unemployment support, and uneven aid depending on the state.

• Many Black Americans were excluded because common Black jobs (domestic and farm work) were not covered by the scheme. Around 60-65%.

• This exclusion was partly practical rather than openly racist, but it still disproportionately harmed Black workers.

• Despite flaws, Social Security marked a major shift by creating the first national welfare system run by the federal government.

When was the Wagner Act created, what was it’s aim and what did it do?

1935 and 1938 respectively. Introduced to assist workers after the Supreme Court declared the NRA unconstitutional.

Wagner Act forced employers to allow unions and collective bargaining

 Fair Labour Standards Act fixed the minimum wage at 25 cents per hour, and maximum number of hours weekly for workers (44hrs) in several industries. As a result of the FLSA, 300,000 workers had an immediate wage increase and 1.3 million had their work hours reduced.

What was the impact of the Wagner Act on AAs?

· In order to get Southern Democrats to accept this legislation, Roosevelt had to make crucial exemptions.

· Waiters, cooks, janitors, domestic and farm workers were excluded from the provisions of the Wagner Act and the FLSA – and most of those workers were black.

Many unions excluded black workers and NAACP lobbying failed to persuade Congress to include a non-discrimination clause in the Wagner Act.

How did Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ impact voting patterns?

AAs shifted political loyalty from the Republicans to the Democrats, especially in the North.

Strong Urban New Deal coalition - strengthened Democratic dominance in national elections from 1932 onwards

Increased voter turnout in the North: roughly doubled from early 1930s - 1940 election period.

Who was Mary McLeod Bethune and what did she do?

• Founded the National Council on Negro Women in 1935, to voice AA women’s concerns to New Deal policymakers

• Founded a school for black girls in Florida (1904); strong advocate for Black education, women’s rights and racial equality.

• Was later appointed head of minority affairs for the NYA

Who were Robert Weaver and John Davis, and what did they do?

• Harvard educated AA economist and lawyer. Formed the N Industrial League, and lobbied congress to rectify racial discrimination in New Deal agencies.

• Summer 1933: Weaver appointed Assistant Secretary for the Interior

What did FDR do in 1936 for AAs?

Established a ‘Black Cabinet’ of AA business and political leaders, who et regularly to discuss racial issues.

Included Bethune, Weaver, Hastie, A Phillip Randolph

Who was A Phillip Randolph and what did he do?

• President of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters - a labour union organised by AA employees of the Pullman company.

• Chairman of the national N congress

• 1941: Directed the March on Washington

What was the National N Congress and what did it do?

Formed in 1936, aiming to unite all existing political, fraternal and religious organizations and push for policies designed to bring about full socio-economic recovery of the black community.

Spearheaded by Ralph Bunche, professor of poli-sci at Howard Uni, and John Davis, executive secretary of the Joint Committee on National Recovery.

Phillip A Randolph was the first president.

How did radical social movements impact voting patterns?

Most worked hard to broaden their participation in the New Deal coalition.

While Republicans continued to take black votes for granted, AAs increasingly turned toward the Northern wing of the Democratic Party.

Record number of AAs voted Democrat; Roosevelt received 76% of northern black votes in 1936.

When did Randolph meet with Eleanor Roosevelt, and why?

1941; presented a list of grievances regarding the Civil Rights of AAs, demanding for an executive order to be issued to stop job discrimination in the defence industry.

What was Executive Order 8802, and why was it instated?

• Randolph threatened to bring thousands of black people to protest if their demands weren’t met.

• Passed Order 8802: There shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defence industries and Gov because of race, creed, colour or national origin.

What other branch was established thanks to order 8802?

Fair Employment Practices Commission established to investigate incidents of discrimination.

What did Eleanor Roosevelt do to defy segregation laws at the Southern Conference for Human Welfare?

She refused to sit on the white side and opted to sit in the middle of the aisle, bridging the gap between black and white people.

What other things did Eleanor Roosevelt do to help the AA Civil rights cause?

She would often meet with AA leaders when her husband was too busy, and sometimes acted as a go-between, using her influence over FDR to further the AA cause.

She accepted an invitation to speak at a rally marking the 25th anniversary of the National Urban League on December 13th, 1935, addressing the criticism of the New Deal.

What were Eleanor Roosevelt’s main focuses with her approach to Civil Rights?

Eleanor Roosevelt came to civil rights gradually, but once committed, she approached it with persistent advocacy, public pressure, and direct intervention. She focused heavily on:

• Challenging racial discrimination within federal programs (FERA, the Subsistence Homestead Administration, Navy assignments).

• Improving education for African Americans, insisting that low educational standards reflected structural inequality.

• Exposing racial violence, especially lynching, and pushing for federal anti-lynching legislation (e.g., Costigan-Wagner Bill).

• Using her platform (“My Day,” speeches, NAACP events) to publicly attack racism and highlight civil rights issues.

• Insisting that civil rights were essential to American democracy, especially by the early 1940s, when she argued that the US could not claim democratic values while excluding Black citizens.

Which key figures did Eleanor Roosevelt work with?

• Walter White (Executive Secretary of the NAACP) – constant collaborator and adviser.

• Mary McLeod Bethune – close friend and major influence, worked with ER in the NYA.

• Paul Murray (Pauli Murray) – civil rights activist whose critiques shaped ER's thinking.

• Richard Wright – ER helped publicise his works and supported his fellowship.

• Thurgood Marshall – worked with ER during a race riot investigation in Columbia, Tennessee.

• NAACP – central organisation she worked with on anti-lynching campaigns, public events, legal strategy.

• DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) – she resigned in protest over their racism.

• Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) – she supported wartime investigations into discrimination.

• Congress on Racial Equality Board (post-war) – where she continued her work.

• United Nations – where she advocated for civil rights within the context of human rights

What sort of obstacles did Eleanor Roosevelt face?

Political obstacles

• FDR’s political caution: He feared alienating southern Democrats, so he refused to back anti-lynching bills even when he supported their aims.

• Hostility from southern politicians (e.g., Senator Talmadge), who attacked her for opposing segregation.

• White House tension: aides like Steve Early were frustrated by her activism.

Public hostility

• Racist backlash:

○ Accusations that she had Black ancestry.

○ Hate mail, threats, and public attacks.

○ Newspapers (e.g., The Alabama Sun) mocking her as “Eleanor and Some Niggers.”

Institutional resistance

• DAR’s refusal to allow Marian Anderson to perform.

• Military and federal agencies resisting her attempts to integrate or end discriminatory practices.

• FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who disliked her racial views and spread rumours.

Social and cultural obstacles

• Widespread nationwide racism, including lynching, discrimination in federal programs, and segregated education.

• Grassroots violence, such as the Detroit and Columbia riots, which exposed the limits of federal protection.

Despite these barriers, she repeatedly used her public profile to press for change.

How did WW2 influence Eleanor Roosevelt’s approach?

• She believed the war made American democracy’s contradictions impossible to ignore: the US was fighting fascism abroad while denying rights to African Americans at home.

• The war strengthened her view that civil rights were fundamental to democracy, not optional.

• She supported the FEPC and wartime investigations into discriminatory treatment of Black workers and soldiers.

• Wartime race riots (Detroit, Columbia) pushed her to speak more forcefully, often clashing with the White House.

• Public interest in civil rights grew, giving her a wider platform for her speeches, journalism, and advocacy.

The war also made international human rights more relevant, contributing to her later role at the United Nations and shaping her belief that racism undermined America’s global leadership.

What was the position of AAs by 1941?

Strengths:

• Slightly more political power; 50 AAs in positions of government

• Support from powerful figures like Eleanor Roosevelt

• Slightly more voting

• Became a nationally recognised issue

• FEPC and alphabet agencies established

Weaknesses:

• Still widespread racism and criticism of those who fought against it.

• Lynchings and violence against AAs common

• Poll taxes still stopped lots of AAs from voting

• Very low voting registration in the South

• Still had to rely on congress to make changes

• FEPC had little power

 

Example of a lynching case where police mishandled a case in the South:

1938, Duck Hill lynching:

• Two AA men were arrested and lynched by a mob after being removed from jail

• Local authorities failed to provide them with protection, and there was n meaningful intervention.

What percent of law enforcement in the South were white?

Almost 100% in most counties and towns.

AAs excluded from police forces, sheriff departments, courts and jury systems.

When was the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill introduced, and what happened to it?

1922; passed the House but was blocked in the senate by Southern Democrats (filibuster).

Figures for how the great depression impacted black farmers from 1629-33:

Cotton: ~18 cents/lb in 1929 to ~6 cents/lb in 1932.

Around 2 million AA workers affected

Up to 1/3 of AA farmers lost land or tenancy

Black farm wages fell by over 50%

Black rural incomes were among the lowest in the US economy in the early 1930s.

Figures for how the great depression impacted black farmers from 1629-33:

Black professionals and skilled employment fell by ~20-30%.

Black teachers hit by pay cuts of 10-25%

In Chicago, Black business ownership declined by around 15-20%

Who was Robert Weaver?

Economist

• One of the first AAs to earn a Harvard economics doctorate

• Worked in government during the New Deal on housing and labour issues.

• Was an advisor in federal agencies focusing on housing policy and urban conditions.

• Became the First Black U.S Cabinet member in 1966.

How much money was distributed by the AAA in total from 1933-36?

~$1.5 billion