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From the Dust Bowl to The Arts in Depression-Era America by Dean Schneider

hen I think of the Great Depression, the dust bowl first comes to mind; Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, ’s W“Migrant Mother,” Woody Guthrie wandering the country, guitar slung on his back; an image of grayness, heaviness, and hardscrabble existence. But the and were also Harlem, the Cotton Club, the Savoy Ballroom, and the swing era. It was Grant Wood’s American Gothic and his odes to lush land and vibrant Iowa farm life. In short, times were hard, but times were what they always are––full of life, determination, and the impulse to make art, music, and literature.

Bonnie Christensen offers an image of folksinger and songwriter Woody Guthrie “strolling / In wheat fields waving” in her book Woody Guthrie.

B o o k L i n k s J u n e / J u l y 2 0 0 3 43 What a rich education awaits leap from his pages. Robert Andrew there even was a cultural life in such children who are exposed to the Parker’s is captured a difficult time. But just as the New literature, art, and music of that mid-sling. Bill Robinson tap dances Deal government provided jobs and time, including the big band music across the cover of Leo and Diane food and initiatives that changed of and Benny Dillons’ Rap a Tap Tap. The Dillons the American landscape in many Goodman, and the beginnings of and Pinkney both acknowledge ways, it also supported the arts bebop with and Aaron Douglas, so teachers might through the Works Progress Admin- Charlie Parker. Students could organize a mini-unit: look at the art istration (WPA). Artists were paid to explore the folk songs and protests of of Aaron Douglas and see what do their art and, in many places, to Woody Guthrie, as well as learning influences appear in the illustrations teach children. Ashley Bryan, in all of the verses of “This Land Is of Pinkney and the Dillons. The Leonard Marcus’ Ways of Telling Your Land.” The Great Depression same could go for two new books (Dutton, 2002), says, “Thanks to included the Harlem art the WPA, there were scene of , free art and music , and William H. Johnson, and the fascinating mix of influences on their art: Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, African art, jazz, and Harlem community life. As much as was an influence on the art of this era, it was the experiments of artists such as Jackson Pollock, dubbed Jack the Dripper, The famous poet of the that led to a new way of art in the postwar looks up from his work, generation, when, in Tony Medina’s Love according to art critic to Langston, illustrated John Russell, there was, by R. Gregory Christie. for the first time, “an independent, self- generating and specifi- cally American art.” It’s the modern dance of , the range of great photogra- phers, from Dorothea Lange to Margaret Bourke-White and Ansel Adams. It’s at the end of his career, classes in the com- and at the munity where we beginning of hers. It’s the lived and throughout poetry of Langston the country. . . . The Hughes and the novels of John about : contrast WPA teachers were very exciting for Steinbeck. R. Gregory Christie’s acrylic illustra- me as a nine-, ten-, and eleven-year- Students can study the art of the tions in Tony Medina’s Love to old. I might paint an apple red or Depression era and literature about Langston with Bryan Collier’s green, for instance, and then the the era. Brian Pinkney’s hand-tinted watercolor and art in Willie instructor would show us works of scratchboard illustrations of Ella Perdomo’s Visiting Langston. the Impressionists and explain how Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington fairly It’s interesting to wonder how a fruit could be explored in many

44 B o o k L i n k s J u n e / J u l y 2 0 0 3 different colors, while still giving the Guthrie, Woody. This Land Is Your short biography, and an afterword impression of its color. I was fasci- Land. Illus. by Kathy Jakobsen. by Pete Seeger. nated and would play around with 1998; reissued 2002. Little, Brown, these ideas.” $19.95 (0-316-06564-1). Includes Hartfield, Claire. Me and Uncle For many teachers, it may not be CD. Romie. Illus. by Jerome Lagarrigue. realistic to do an entire study on the Gr. 3–6. This well-researched, 2002. 32p. Dial, $16.99 (0-8037- cultural life of the Depression era. nicely illustrated edition of the 2520-5). What teachers might do with this classic song includes a CD of some K–Gr. 3. This fine picture book bibliography is to create small units. of Guthrie’s best-known songs, a features illustrations by the Coretta If reading aloud Duke Ellington, play some of his music, and then com- pare and contrast Charlie Parker’s bebop, the next generation of jazz. If reading aloud Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan’s Action Jackson, show examples of Pollock’s work, perhaps tracing the development of his art from the 1930s into the . You might watch one of the four Shirley Temple movies with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson after reading Rap a Tap Tap. A whole Woody Guthrie or Random dust bowl unit could be created with the many new Guthrie biogra- 1/2island ad phies, perhaps pulling in Dorothea Lange’s photographs. A reading of 4COLOR Christopher Paul Curtis’ Bud, Not Buddy might include listening to music of the time and sharing the Margaret Bourke-White photograph of the billboard mentioned in the book. A reading of Gail Carson Levine’s Dave at Night ought to include tracking down some of the literary and artistic references to the Harlem Renaissance, such as Langston Hughes and Aaron Dou- glas. A great adventure in literature, art, music, and history awaits those who explore the following resources!

Picture Books

Carter, Don. Heaven’s All-Star Jazz Band. 2002. 40p. Knopf, $15.95 (0-375-81571-6). Gr. 1–3. Jazz fan Grandpa Jack arrives in heaven, and heaven it is: Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, and others perform on cloud stages. This is an excellent introduction to jazz for young readers.

B o o k L i n k s J u n e / J u l y 2 0 0 3 45 Scott King Award–winning artist. Raschka, Chris. Mysterious Levine, Gail Carson. Dave at Night. Included are a brief biography of Thelonious. 1997. 32p. Orchard. 1999. 288p. HarperCollins, $15.95 Romare Bearden and a how-to $14.99 (0-531-30057-9). (0-06-028153-7); HarperTrophy, section on creating storytelling Gr. 1–up. Jazz fans of all ages will paper, $5.99 (0-06-440747-0). in the style of Bearden. enjoy this homage to pianist Gr. 4–7. Though the time is Thelonious Monk, which attempts 1926 in this novel about an orphan Miller, William. Rent Party Jazz. to make the text and colors of the in Harlem, the figures of the Illus. by Charlotte Riley-Webb. page represent the sounds of jazz. Harlem Renaissance mentioned 2001. 32p. Lee & Low, $16.95 here––including Aaron Douglas, (1-58430-025-6). Novels Countee Cullen, and Langston Gr. 1–4. Set in New Orleans in Hughes––all exerted an influence in the 1930s, this family story features Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not later decades as well. A good match colorful illustrations that fit the Buddy. 1999. 256p. Delacorte, with Curtis’ Bud, Not Buddy (see upbeat theme of rent parties and $16.95 (0-385-32306-9); Yearling, above). jazz. Pair this picture book with paper, $5.99 (0-440-41328-1). Levine’s Dave at Night (see below). Gr. 4–8. This Depression-era Nonfiction novel follows a boy in search of his Raschka, Chris. Charlie Parker father on back roads and through Aronson, Marc. Art Attack: A Short Played Be Bop. 1992. 32p. Orchard, Hoovervilles to Grand Rapids, Cultural History of the Avant-Garde. $15.95 (0-531-05999-5); paper, where he finds a jazz musician and 1998. 192p. Clarion, $22 (0-395- $5.95 (0-531-07095-6). club owner who just might be his 79729-2). Preschool–Gr. 2. Rich illustra- father. A great novel to teach or read Gr. 11–up. This excellent art tions and lively, onomatopoeic text aloud, linking some of the other history for older readers includes a make this an effective tribute to the resources here. section on the art world in the alto saxophonist. 1930s and 1940s, focusing on Piet Mondrian and Jackson Pollock. Mondrian was a “bridge between the European and American avant-garde,” and Pollock was very American. The De- pression era was a time

Besides his daughter Edith, no one liked the new kind of music that Charles Ives was creating. From Mordicai Gerstein’s What Charlie Heard.

46 B o o k L i n k s J u n e / J u l y 2 0 0 3 when Pollock learned all he could about him. It might be fun to watch Richard J. Powell’s Homecoming: The from artists such as Thomas Hart one of the four Shirley Temple Art and Life of William H. Johnson Benton, so he could later follow his movies he did: The Littlest Rebel (Rizzoli, 1991) a valuable resource. own vision. (1935), The Little Colonel (1935), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), Freedman, Russell. Kids at Work: Collier, James Lincoln. Jazz: An and Just around the Corner (1938). Lewis Hine and the Crusade against American Saga. 1997. 144p. Holt, Child Labor. 1994. 112p. Clarion, $18 (0-8050-4121-4). Duggleby, John. Artist in Overalls: $20 (0-395-58703-4); paper, Gr. 5–up. This lively and inter- The Life of Grant Wood. 1995. 60p. $9.95 (0-395-79726-8). esting history of jazz is a good Chronicle, $15.95 (0-8118- Gr. 5–9. This profile of Hine resource for dipping into when 1242-1). shows his work as a reformer- students have questions about the Gr. 5–7. Wood’s photographer and chronicles the topic. was quite a contrast to much of state of child labor in the early years the work of his contemporaries–– of the twentieth century. Hine’s Damon, Duane. Headin’ for Better impressionists, cubists, and work in the early 1930s photo- Times: The Arts of the Great others. But he became a superstar graphing the construction of the Depression. 2002. 96p. Lerner, with the appearance of American Empire State Building led to images $25.26 (0-8225-1741-8). Gothic in 1930. This biography that are considered classic photo- Gr. 6–8. Marked by attractive and Duggleby’s biography of graphs of the Depression era, and a illustrations, this title in the People’s Jacob Lawrence (see below) would section on this part of his career is History series broadly surveys the make an interesting mini-unit on included here. arts during the Depression and gives the range of art being done during background on the circumstances of the Depression. Freedman, Russell. Martha Graham: the times while covering music, A Dancer’s Life. 1998. 176p. literature, poetry, painting, theater, Duggleby, John. Story Painter: The Clarion, $18 (0-395-74655-8). movies, radio, and , and Life of Jacob Lawrence. 1998. 64p. Gr. 7–up. This excellent photo- introducing John Steinbeck, Chronicle, $16.95 (0-8118- essay portrays the woman who Dorothea Lange, Ginger Rogers, 2082-3). revolutionized modern dance. In Milton Meltzer, Benny Goodman, Gr. 5–8. This is an accessible 1945 Woody Guthrie married , and others. biography of Lawrence and features Marjorie Mazia, a dancer in the 50 color reproductions. It’s an Martha Graham Dance Company, a Biographies excellent look at the art scene in connection made in Partridge’s This 1930s Harlem, where Lawrence Land Was Made for You and Me (see Christensen, Bonnie. Woody Guthrie: quickly grew in stature, to the point below). Poet of the People. 2001. 32p. Knopf, of becoming one of America’s $16.95 (0-375-81113-3). leading artists by age 30. Gerstein, Mordicai. What Charlie Gr. 3–5. Mixed-media Heard. 2002. 40p. Farrar/Frances woodcutlike illustrations and fine Everett, Gwen. Li’l Sis and Uncle Foster, $17 (0-374-38292-1). writing make this an outstanding Willie: A Story Based on the Life and Gr. 3–5. This biography of picture-book introduction to Woody Paintings of William H. Johnson. Charles Ives is as vibrant as his Guthrie. The complete lyrics to 1991. 32p. Rizzoli, o.p. music. The musical innovator’s work “This Land Is Your Land” are Preschool–Gr. 2. This is the only was mostly prior to the Depression included, along with a time line of biography of William H. Johnson era, but it was widely performed in Guthrie’s life. for a younger audience. Johnson, the 1930s and 1940s, and he Jacob Lawrence, and Romare received the Pulitzer Prize in 1947. Dillon, Leo, and Diane Dillon. Rap Bearden were active in Harlem a Tap Tap: Here’s Bojangles––Think during the Depression. It was in Gherman, Beverly. Ansel Adams: of That! 2002. 32p. Scholastic/Blue Harlem in the late 1930s that America’s Photographer. 2002. 128p. Sky, $15.95 (0-590-47883-4). Johnson moved from his early Little, Brown, $19.95 (0-316- Preschool–Gr. 2. A beautifully European influences to the colorful, 82445-3). illustrated picture book that intro- two-dimensional paintings for Gr. 5–9. Adams’ career spanned duces the great dancer Bill which he is known––images of many decades, including the 1930s “Bojangles” Robinson to children street musicians, children playing, and 1940s. Gherman includes an who are not likely to know anything and cafés. Teachers also will find interesting contrast of Adams’

B o o k L i n k s J u n e / J u l y 2 0 0 3 47 photographs of the Japanese Ameri- Kelley, True. : Breaking Partridge, Elizabeth. This Land Was can internment camp at All the Rules. 2002. 32p. Grosset & Made for You and Me: The Life and with those of Dorothea Lange, Dunlap, $14.89 (0-448-42879-2); Songs of Woody Guthrie. 2002. 224p. discussing the quite different paper, $5.99 (0-448-42862-8). Viking, $21.99 (0-670-03535-1). perspectives and goals of the two Gr. 2–4. This lively introduction Gr. 6–up. One of the best books photographers. to Picasso, who exerted a large of 2002, this is a hugely interesting influence on American art during account of Guthrie’s life and music, Gherman, Beverly. Norman the 1930s and 1940s, is part of the and a good companion to Partridge’s Rockwell: Storyteller with a Brush. Smart about Art series. biography of Dorothea Lange. 2000. 64p. Simon & Schuster/ Lange’s photography and Guthrie’s Atheneum, $19.95 (0-689- Medina, Tony. Love to Langston. music will enliven any study of the 82001-1). Illus. by R. Gregory Christie. 2002. Depression era. Gr. 3–7. This is a lively biogra- 32p. Lee & Low, $16.95 (1-58430- phy of the famous cover artist for 041-8). Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Duke the Saturday Evening Post. One of Gr. 2–6. Medina’s original poems Ellington: The Piano Prince and His the highlights of the book is focus on themes and events in Orchestra. Illus. by Brian Pinkney. Rockwell’s effort in 1935 to illus- Langston Hughes’ life. The notes at 1998. 32p. Hyperion, $15.95 trate Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry the back offer further information (0-7868-0178-6). Finn. about Hughes and provide context K–Gr. 3. This biography of for each poem. Christie’s illustra- Edward Kennedy Ellington fairly Greenberg, Jan. Romare Bearden: tions are a perfect accompaniment. jumps to the beat of the big band Collage of Memories. September era and was named both a Coretta 2003. 48p. Abrams, $17.95 Neimark, Anne E. There Ain’t Scott King Illustrator Award Honor (0-8109-4589-4). Nobody That Can Sing Like Me: The Book and a Caldecott Honor Book. Gr. 4–8. Greenberg’s thought- Life of Woody Guthrie. 2002. 128p. Pinkney’s tinted scratchboard ful text and a vibrant page design Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, illustrations are gorgeous. featuring many color reproduc- $17.95 (0-689-83369-5). tions of Bearden’s work mark this Gr. 5–9. Here’s another good Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Ella accessible biography. A time line, biography of Guthrie––for an Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal glossary, notes, and a list of places audience older than Christensen’s Virtuosa. Illus. by Brian Pinkney. to see Bearden’s work are in- (see above), but younger than 2002. 32p. Hyperion, $16.99 cluded. Partridge’s (see below). Together, the (0-7868-0568-4). Guthrie resources listed in these K–Gr. 3. A good one-two punch Greenberg, Jan, and Sandra Jordan. titles can be a good starting point with the Pinkneys’ Duke Ellington Action Jackson. Illus. by Robert for an in-depth unit on the (above), this picture-book biography Andrew Parker. 2002. 32p. Roaring folksinger and his times. Also see covers the life and career of the great Brook, $16.95 (0-7613-1682-5). Karen Mueller Coombs’ Woody scat singer. Gr. 1–5. Some artists paint Guthrie: America’s Folksinger people and places; Pollock painted (Carolrhoda, 2002), part of the Reef, Catherine. John Steinbeck. “energy and motion made visible.” Trailblazers Biography series. 1996. 176p. Clarion, $17.95 Moving to in 1930 (0-395-71278-5). to study with Thomas Hart Partridge, Elizabeth. Restless Spirit: Gr. 7–up. This solid biography Benton, Pollock worked for the The Life and Work of Dorothea includes interesting anecdotes about WPA. This wonderful picture Lange. 1998. 128p. Viking, $22.99 Steinbeck’s most famous works and book traces Pollock’s creation of (0-670-87888-X); Puffin, paper, many photographs of the Depres- his abstract expressionist work $10.99 (0-14-230024-1). sion era. Lavender Mist, painted in 1950. Gr. 6–up. This is nonfiction at its Also see Greenberg and Jordan’s best––a beautifully made volume Rubin, Susan Goldman. Margaret superb The American Eye with many photographs by Lange, Bourke-White: Her Pictures Were Her (Delacorte, 1995), which includes and many of her by the author’s Life. 1999. 96p. Abrams, $19.95 biographies of Romare Bearden, father, Ron Partridge. See the May (0-8109-4381-6). Stuart Davis, Thomas Hart 1999 issue of Book Links for an Gr. 5–8. Bourke-White was one Benton, Jackson Pollock, and article by Partridge about how she of the great photographers of the David Smith. came to write this biography. twentieth century, and some of her

48 B o o k L i n k s J u n e / J u l y 2 0 0 3 photographs may well be familiar to is a solid introduction to Pollock. Lawrence. This series could be a readers. She did covers for Life Other books in the series include great basis of a classroom arts magazine, famous photographs of volumes on Georgia O’Keeffe, Diego program for younger students. the Holocaust, and the billboard Rivera, Grant Wood, and Frida mentioned in Curtis’ Bud, Not Kahlo. The series also includes Walker, Alice. Langston Hughes: Buddy (see above). This study would Picasso, Matisse, and Cezanne, American Poet. Illus. by Catherine be a good match with Restless Spirit, artists who influenced such Ameri- Deeter. 2001. 48p. HarperCollins, Partridge’s biography of Dorothea can artists as Romare Bearden, $16.95 (0-06-021518-6). Lange (see above). William H. Johnson, and Jacob Gr. 2–6. Written by an author

Ryan, Pam Muñoz. When Marian Sang. Illus. by . 2002. 40p. Scholastic, $16.95 (0- 439-26967-9). Gr. 2–6. This picture book about the African American singer Marian Anderson could be a part of units on biography, music of the Depression era, and the civil rights movement. This work focuses on Anderson’s historic performance on the steps of the Clarion in 1939. 1/2 island ad Schwartzman, Myron. Romare Bearden: Celebrating the Victory. 2Color (MATCH 4C) 1999. 144p. Watts, $20 (0-531- 11387-6). Gr. 6–12. In this shorter version of his mammoth Romare Bearden: His Life and Art (Abrams, 1990), Schwartzman offers a fascinating personal account of Bearden, best known for his collage work of the 1960s and later. In the 1930s and 1940s, Bearden did political car- toons, rural and city scenes, and religious subjects; it was a time of experimentation in the heady days of the Harlem art scene. Bearden and his friend Jacob Lawrence would make a great study: two artists influenced by French impres- sionists, cubists, Matisse, African art, and the neighborhood life of Harlem.

Venezia, Mike. Jackson Pollock. 1994. 32p. Children’s Press, $24 (0-516-02298-9); paper, $6.95 (0-516-42298-7). Gr. 2–4. One of many good books in the Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists series, this

B o o k L i n k s J u n e / J u l y 2 0 0 3 49 who was inspired by him, this is an Poetry Hughes, Langston. The Dream excellent portrait of Hughes. The Keeper and Other Poems. Illus. by colored-pencil-on-canvas illustra- Hughes, Langston. The Block. Illus. Brian Pinkney. 1994. 96p. Knopf, tions add elegance to this beautiful by Romare Bearden. 1995. 32p. $14.99 (0-679-94421-4); paper, volume about an important Ameri- Viking, $15.99 (0-670-86501-X). $8.99 (0-679-88347-9). can writer. Gr. 6–up. Though the art comes Gr. 3–up. First published in from Bearden’s 1971 six-panel 1932, this collection of Hughes’ Winter, Jonah. Once upon a Time in collage now in the collection of the poems is a must for classrooms. Chicago: The Story of Benny Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pinkney’s scratchboard illustrations Goodman. Illus. by Jeanette Winter. Hughes’ poems will give readers a are a perfect accompaniment to the 2000. 32p. Hyperion, $14.99 feel for the exuberance of Harlem poetry. (0-7868-0462-9). during the Harlem Renaissance. See Gr. 1–3. This is a colorful, lively the Dec. 2001/Jan. 2002 issue of Lawrence, Jacob. The Great biography of the King of Swing. The Book Links for an article celebrating Migration: An American Story. 1993. mother-and-son duo have also Langston Hughes. 48p. HarperTrophy, paper, $8.95 collaborated on Diego (Knopf, (0-06-443428-1). 1991), a biography of , Hughes, Langston. Carol of the Gr. 4–up. In 1940–41 Lawrence and Jonah Winter wrote and illus- Brown King: Nativity Poems. Illus. by painted 60 panels for his Migration trated a picture-book biography of Ashley Bryan. 1998. 32p. Simon & series, showing the migration of Frida Kahlo called Frida (Scholastic/ Schuster/Atheneum, $16 (0-689- southern to Arthur A. Levine, 2002). Also see 81877-7). northern industrial cities around the Jeanette Winter’s My Name Is All ages. These six poems of time of World War I. Included here Georgia (Harcourt, 1998), about Christmas are illustrated with with reproductions of the panels is a artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Bryan’s beautiful paintings. poem by Walter Dean Myers. The picture book Harriet and the Prom- ised Land (Simon & Schuster, 1968; reissued 1993) also features “Elegant, attractive and accessible to young readers. Gherman Lawrence’s art. gives the reader a sense of Ansel Adams, the artist.” —Contra Costa Times Perdomo, Willie. Visiting Langston. Illus. by Bryan Collier. 2002. 32p. Revered throughout the world for Holt, $15.95 (0-8050-6744-2). his majestic photographs of tower- Gr. 1–3. This introduction to ing mountains and incredible vistas, Langston Hughes is framed by a Ansel Adams led a rich life inspired young girl’s poem about him. by nature. ANSEL ADAMS: Collier’s collage and watercolor AMERICA’S PHOTOGRAPHER, illustrations are the highlight of this by Beverly Gherman, takes young volume. readers from the earthquake that broke his nose to the valley that Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My shaped his world, revealing the Sister Kate: Looking at the Harlem humorous, thoughtful, and artistic Renaissance through Poems. Edited by man behind the legendary images. Nikki Giovanni. 1996. 208p. Holt, A WARDS $17.95 (0-8050-3494-3). • Orbus Pictus Nominee Gr. 7–up. This is a superb (NCTE Committee) introduction to the poets of the • California Library Harlem Renaissance and later. Association Beatty Award Besides a selection of poems, each Visit our Web site at www.lb-kids.com • CBC: Notable Social Studies Trade Book section contains a substantial essay Nonfiction Picture Book • SCBWI Golden Kite Honor about the poet. 10 x 10 for Nonfiction 128 pages with black-and-white photographs Dean Schneider teaches seventh- and eighth- Ages 9–12 • Grades 4–7 LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY grade English at the Ensworth School in ISBN: 0-316-82445-3 Children’s Publishing 1 8 3 7 Engaging  Educating  Entertaining Nashville, Tennessee. $19.95 (In Canada: $27.95) An AOL Time Warner Book Group Company

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