3: The Great Depression 1930’s

Causes of the Great Depression

• Long, severe economic collapse starting after the 1929 stock market crash

• ALSO CAUSED BY:

  • Prolonged Agricultural Depression (low crop money)

  • Decline of “sick” industries (textiles, mining)

  • Unequal distribution of wealth (40% earned 12.5% of income)

• LASTED LONG BC:

  • Once unemployment rose, people spent less, businesses earned less, more layoffs, poverty rose, even less spending

• Unemployment rose 25-30%, banks collapsed, homes and farms lost

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

• Major New Deal program that paid millions of unemployed Americans to work on government funded jobs

• New Deal agencies (including WPA) nearly doubled federal employment, expanding clerical jobs for women

• Helped women access jobs in sewing rooms, education, clerical roles

The Dust Bowl

• Huge environmental disaster when the Southwest suffered years of drought

  • Soil so dry, massive windstorms blew dirt everywhere destroying farms, forcing families out their homes

• Farmers were already struggling from low crop prices

• Caused massive migration West (California)

• Added to Depression effects: Unemployment 30% loss of homes and farms

Dorothea Lange

• Famous Woman photographer who took the famous “Migrant Mother” photo

  • photo showed one of many families forced to migrate bc of the poverty and The Dust Bowl drought

• Helped spread awareness of the crisis, highlighted how suffering varied by class and race

  • African Americans first ones fired

  • Mexican/Asian Americans workers faced discrimination and deportation

Emilia Castaneda

• Mexican American girl who was deported along with her family despite being a US citizen

• Apart of the mass removal of Mexican American families

• Relief agencies refused aid and pushed for deportation

Mexican American “Repatriation”

• “Repatriation” refers to the forced removal of Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans who were US citizens

• Driven by discrimination and refusal to give relief funds to unemployed Mexican workers

• LA lost 1/3 of its Mexican population; many being children

• Caused family separation, loss of homes, economic devastation

Election of 1932

• Franklin D. Roosevelt ran against existing President Herbert Hoover

• Hoover believed in limited government and didn’t provide large scale federal aid, seen doing too little

• FDR promised a New Deal to provide relief, jobs, and recovery

• FDR won, his New Deal programs opened new opportunities for women in public life

Franklin D. Roosevelt

• Elected in 1932, created the New Deal to help. the country recover from the Great Depression

• Passed huge amounts of legislation through congress

• Created the National Industrial Recovery Act which reinforced assumption that women held lower-status jobs

• Reshaped federal government, expanded social welfare, influenced labor and gender roles

The New Deal

• FDR’s plan to fix the Great Depression, it was a set of huge government laws, programs, and jobs

• Programs often discriminated against women

• Reinforced traditional gender roles but some women benefited through increased labor protections

Eleanor Roosevelt

• First lady during FDR’s presidency

• Called herself the “Eyes and Ears of the New Deal” because she traveled nationwide to report on poverty and inequality

• Advocated for women, children, and African Americans

• Resigned from Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in protest of Marian Anderson, helped organize her own concert at the Lincoln Memorial

• Brought human rights issues into the national spotlight

Marian Anderson

• Famous Black Contralto singer who was denied the right to perform because she was black

• Eleanor R. resigned from DAR in protest and arranged for her to sing at the Lincoln Memorial — 75,000 people

• Awarded the Spingarn Medal by Eleanor for outstanding achievement by an African American

Frances Perkins

• First Woman to serve in the US cabinet— secretary of labor

• Worked for years on issues affecting workers

• Helped create New Deal labor reforms

  • Minimum wage, max hours, end child labor

• Was a major force in social security

Emma Tenayuca

• Young Mexican American labor activist who fought for rights of poor Mexican American workers

• Known for leading the 1938 Pecan Shelters Strike where women worked long hours for extremely low pay

  • strike lasted 37 days and involved thousands of workers

• Faced police violence, racism, and accusations of being “radical”