Discovering the Legacy of the War on Poverty 20

Home , Food Stamp Act of 1964, Great Society, Job Corps

Social Studies Skill Builder ACTIVITY Discovering the Legacy of the War on Poverty 20

Overview Materials

This Social Studies Skill Builder introduces students to the goals and legacies • Transparencies of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, a set of programs devised to 20A.1–20A.3, decrease poverty in the United States. Students examine images and corres- 20B.1–20B.6 ponding written information related to six War on Poverty programs—Federal • Placard Masters Food Assistance, Legal Services, the Job Corps, Head Start, the Office of Eco- 20B.1–20B.6 nomic Opportunity, and VISTA. By recording notes about and discussing each • Student Handouts program and its effects, students assess the degree to which the programs have 20A–20C affected contemporary American society. • CDTrack 17

Procedures at a Glance

• Post halves of Student Handout 20B on the walls to create 18 stations. • Divide students into mixed-ability pairs. Use the diagram at right to direct students to move into their correct places. • Explain to students that they will learn about programs from President Johnson’s War on Poverty to understand their influence on American society. • Play CD Track 17 to introduce students to the Great Society. • Next, pass out Student Handout 20A and have students read it. • Project Transparencies 20A.1, 20A.2, and 20A.3. Review the salient information from the handout and the Teacher’s Guide with students. • Give each student a copy of Student Handout 20C and each pair one of Placards 20B.1 through 20B.6. • Have pairs examine their placard, locate the corresponding station, read the written information, and record notes on Student Handout 20C. • When a group finishes at a station, have one student bring both copies of Student Handout 20C to you. Check their work. Then give them a new placard. Continue this process until pairs have visited most of the stations. • Project Transparency 20B.1 and have students share their answers. Use the Teacher’s Guide to give students additional information. Repeat this process for Transparencies 20B.2 through 20B.6. • Finally, have students stand on spectrums to represent the degree to which the programs influenced contemporary American society. 11 Procedures

Procedures in Detail

1 Before class, create 18 stations—each of which represents a War on Poverty program—by making three copies of Student Handout 20B and cutting apart and posting sections of it on the walls of your classroom. Then decide how you will divide students into mixed-ability pairs. Use the diagram found below the Materials List to determine where students should sit. 2 In class, direct students to move into their correct places. Then tell them they will learn about various programs from President Johnson’s War on Poverty to understand their influence on American society. 3 Play CD Track 17: “Johnson’s State of the Union Address,” a four-minute Student Handouts 20A –20B excerpt from Johnson’s address on January 4, 1965. (Note: The text of the speech appears in the Teacher’s Guide.) After students listen to the speech, have them write answers to these questions: • How would you describe Johnson’s speaking style and tone? • What are the primary features of Johnson’s Great Society? • What proposals does Johnson make? • What governmental efforts would be required to fully achieve Johnson’s proposals? • How do you think Congress responded to Johnson’s message? • How do you think the American people responded? Transparencies 20A.1 –20A.3 4 Pass out Student Handout 20A: Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society, and have students carefully read it. Then project Transparencies 20A.1, 20A.2, and 20A.3. For each, review the salient information from Student Handout 20A with students. Also use the Teacher’s Guide to give students more information. 5 Next, give each student a copy of Student Handout 20C: Notes on War on Poverty Programs and each pair one of Placards 20B.1 through 20B.6. Have pairs carefully examine their placard and then locate the station with the corresponding written information. Have students carefully read the written information. Then ask them to use Student Handout 20C to summarize the goals of the War on Poverty program, write a brief description of it, and Student Handout 20C record its influence on American society. 6 When a group finishes at a station, have one student bring both copies of Student Handout 20C to you. Check their work for accuracy and thorough- ness. Then give them a new placard. Continue this process until pairs have visited most of the stations. 7 When pairs have visited most of the stations, tell them that the War on Poverty program on which they are currently working is the one they will present to the class and place on a series of spectrums. Give them a few extra minutes to make sure they thoroughly understand that program.

Placard Masters 20B.1 –20B.6

12 Activity 20 Procedures

Wrap Up

1 Have students return to their seats. Project Transparency 20B.1, which shows a poster for the Federal Food Assistance program. Ask the students who worked on the Federal Food Assistance program to come forward and share their answers with the class. Use the Teacher’s Guide to give students additional information about the transparency. 2 Repeat this process for Transparencies 20B.2 through 20B.6. 3 After the class discusses all the programs, create a spectrum by placing a 10- to 15-foot piece of masking tape across the floor. On the board behind the spectrum, label the ends of the spectrum as shown below. Transparencies 20B.1 –20B.6

Least Impact Greatest Impact on LifeToday on LifeToday

4 Explain to students what a spectrum is. Tell them they will explore the degree to which War on Poverty programs have influenced contemporary American society. Have each pair take two to three minutes to discuss where on the spectrum they would place their program. Then ask one student from each pair to stand on the spectrum where the pair thinks its program belongs. Have students hold their placards in front of their chests. 5 Once students are standing on the spectrum, allow students to question the placement of the programs. Assume the role of devil’s advocate by challenging students to defend their placements using evidence from their notes. Encourage lively discussion about the relative effects of the War on Poverty programs on American society. 6 Repeat this process using the following two spectrums:

Program Still Program Does ExistsToday Not ExistToday

Program the Federal Government Program the Federal Government Should Not Be Involved In Should Be Fully Involved In

Discovering the Legacy of the War on Poverty 13 Procedures

Idea for Student Response

After you have completed this activity, have students design a poster for a government program they would like to see created. Tell students their posters should include visuals and an engaging slogan. Also ask students to write a paragraph describing the program and explaining why it should be established. A poster might look like this:

14 Activity 20 Teacher’s Guide

Transparency 20A.1 Transparency 20B.1

In this transparency, In this transparency, we see a we see a photograph poster for the Federal Food of Lyndon B. Johnson Assistance Program. It shows being sworn in as pres- an elderly woman looking ident of the United directly at the viewer. The aim States. He is aboard the of this poster was to attract the airplane returning from elderly to the Food Stamp Dallas after John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Jacqueline Program. Toward the bottom Kennedy stands by Johnson’s side as he takes the oath. of the poster, a second message asks for volunteers for Project FIND. In this program, volunteers sought and identified older Americans who needed help in getting Transparency 20A.2 services such as federal food assistance. In this transparency, we see a poster for the Peace Corps. Transparency 20B.2 It shows four ethnically diverse Americans looking directly at In this transparency, we see a the viewer, and the slogan poster for Head Start. Playing advertises that the Peace Corps on both World War I and World is prejudiced in favor of ethnic- War II Army recruitment posters, ally diverse Americans. The aim the slogan at the top of this of this poster was to recruit underrepresented minorities poster reads, “Head Start wants to the Peace Corps. You.” The poster features pic- tures of four children with insis- tent expressions and pointing fingers. The children, an Transparency 20A.3 African American girl and boy and a white girl and boy, In this transparency, we see a are all pointing at the viewer just as Uncle Sam does in political cartoon of President Army recruiting posters. Johnson playing a piano that represents Congress. The Transparency 20B.3 cartoon implies that Johnson convinced Congress to pass In this transparency, we see a many of his legislative measures poster for the Job Corps with ease; he was a master at program with the slogan “Who “playing” Congress. The cartoonist was aware that cares? Job Corps!” The poster pianos have 88 keys and used this symbolism to subtly and slogan encouraged disad- represent the 88th Congress, which was in session while vantaged young people to take Johnson was in office. advantage of the training services provided by the program. Enrollees in Job Corps centers received room and board, health coverage, a cash allowance, and, in some cases, work clothes. They could stay in a Job Corps center as long as two years. Both during and after that time, they received assistance in finding a job.

Discovering the Legacy of the War on Poverty 15 Teacher’s Guide

Transparency 20B.4 CD Track 17: Johnson’s State of the Union Address

In this transparency, we see a On this track, we hear excerpts from President Lyndon B. poster for the Legal Services Johnson’s State of the Union address on January 4, 1965. program. Using bold colors and We worked for two centuries to climb this peak of prosperity, a stirring quotation from Sargent but we’re only at the beginning of the road to the Great Shriver, director of the Office Society. Ahead now is a summit where freedom from the wants of Economic Opportunity, this of the body can help fulfill the needs of the spirit. We built poster intended to encourage this nation to serve its people. We want to grow and build law students to work with the Legal Services program. and create, but we want progress to be the servant and not The program’s appeal for justice was meant to strike a the master of man. We do not intend to live in the midst of responsive chord among idealistic law students and get abundance isolated from neighbors and nature, confined by them to volunteer their services for a summer. blighted cities and bleak suburbs, stunted by a poverty of learning and an emptiness of leisure. The Great Society asks not how much, but how good—not Transparency 20B.5 only how to create wealth but how to use it, not only how fast In this transparency, we see we are going but where we’re headed. It proposes as the first test for a nation the quality of its people. This kind of society a poster for the Office of will not flower spontaneously from swelling riches and surg- Economic Opportunity—the ing power. It will not be the gift of government or the creation centerpiece of Johnson’s War of presidents. It will require of every American for many gene- on Poverty—focusing on its rations both faith in the destination and the fortitude to make programs supporting American the journey. And like freedom itself it will always be challenge Indians. Such programs were and not fulfillment. And tonight we accept that challenge. intended to counteract poverty I propose that we begin a program in education to insure on American Indian reservations by stimulating educa- every American child the fullest development of his mind tion, business, and services. By quoting Chief Joseph of and skills. the Nez Percé tribe, this poster evokes the legacy and I propose that we begin a massive attack on crippling and strength of American Indian culture. killing diseases. I propose that we launch a national effort to make the Amer ican Transparency 20B.6 city a better and a more stimulating place to live. I propose that we increase the beauty of America and end the In this transparency, poisoning of our rivers and the air that we breathe. we see a poster for I propose that we a carry out a new program to develop Volunteers in Service regions of our country that are now suffering from distress to America (VISTA). and depression. It shows a poverty- stricken child looking I propose that we make a new effort to control and prevent crime and delinquency. directly at the viewer. VISTA was a full-time volunteer program for men and women of all ages and backgrounds I propose that we eliminate every remaining obstacle to the who were committed to improving the living conditions right and the opportunity to vote. of low-income and disadvantaged Americans. Recruits I propose that we honor and support the achievements of usually volunteered for one year. thought and the creations of art. I propose that we make an all-out campaign against waste and inefficiency.

16 Activity 20 Student Handout 20A

Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society

and economic hardships that still existed for many Americans three decades after the Great Depression. As a plainspoken “country boy” from the central Texas hill country, Johnson felt he could never measure up to Kennedy’s polished and aristocratic style. Regard- less, in 1964, he was reelected in a landslide victory over Republican Barry Goldwater. Johnson viewed his win as a mandate to accom- plish many things. With the help of a large Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, he set out to push through the most ambitious legislative social programs since the Depression. He referred to his domestic program as the “Great Society.” Johnson modeled some of his Great Society programs on the spirit of volunteerism John F. Kennedy Johnson Becomes President When John F. Kennedy’s had inspired. For example, Kennedy had founded the presidency came to a shocking, tragic end in November Peace Corps. This program trained volunteers to assist of 1963, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson suddenly other countries with became president. As majority leader in the U.S. Senate their development during the 1950s, Johnson had wielded great power. efforts. Peace Corps But as vice president, Johnson had held a traditionally volunteers were mostly frustrating position in the government. The primary college graduates. For responsibility was to assume the presidency if anything two years, they lived impaired the president. It was rare that anything did. overseas and worked While the country was still in a state of shock on with locals in fields the day of Kennedy’s assassination, Johnson was quick such as education, agri- to get to work. He immediately set out an agenda for his culture, health, trade, administration. He focused on continuing Kennedy’s and technology. They most important legislative goals. The most significant of took on such jobs as these was the Civil Rights Act, which Kennedy had pro- teaching English to posed in 1963. children in the Johnson succeeded in pushing through Congress Philippines, helping poor African villagers obtain both the civil rights bill and a major Kennedy bill on tax adequate water supplies, and providing better health cuts. Subsequently, Johnson added proposals for what care to sick people in South American hospitals. he hoped would become the cornerstone of his legislative legacy—a billion-dollar War on Poverty. The War on Poverty Johnson stated that his top priority for the Great Society was putting “an end to poverty in The Great Society Lyndon Johnson came to Congress our time.” He used government organizations and volun- in 1937, at the height of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New teers to help him reach this goal. In 1964, the Economic Deal. Born in poverty himself, Johnson was a strong Opportunity Act established the federal Office of Econo- supporter of the New Deal measures. As president, he mic Opportunity (OEO). The OEO became the adminis- became intent on eliminating the widespread poverty tration’s showcase in the War on Poverty.

The OEO established many innovative programs. It set up both Head Start and Upward Bound to support low-income children. Head Start provided free nursery schools to help prepare preschool ers for kindergarten. Upward Bound taught teenagers both the skills and the motivation to go to college. The OEO also founded the Job Corps and the Neighborhood Youth Corps. Both programs provided jobs as well as vocational training to young people. Another OEO program, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), trained young people to conduct community service projects in impoverished rural and urban areas.

Major Legislative Efforts Johnson combined such volunteer-based federal programs with government-funded efforts to help needy Americans. From 1964 to 1966, his administration submitted a steady stream of legislation to Capitol Hill. Congress approved almost all of it. For example, for the first time, the federal government began to subsidize the arts. The new National Endowment for the Arts offered grants to artists. Simi- larly, the new National Endowment for the Humanities provided grants to scholars. The Johnson administration also initiated social programs focused on education and health care. The The Legacy of the Great Society These ambitious Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 Great Society pro grams represented a tremendous com- authorized $1 billion in federal funds to benefit poor mitment of federal funds. At the same time, they raised children. That same year, Johnson signed the Higher the hopes of millions of Americans that great social Education Act, which provided the first federal scholar- change was at hand. ships for college students. In addition, Congress created Within two years, however, most of the resources the first federal health insurance programs. It established for these programs began to dry up. By 1966, the admin- Medicare to provide health care to the elderly and Medi- istration faced another huge drain on its resources—the caid to provide the same to the poor. expanding war in Southeast Asia. That year, the govern- To administer low-income hous ing, lawmakers ment spent nearly $20 billion on the War on Poverty and created the Department of Housing and Urban Develop- another $27 billion on the war in Vietnam. In the words ment. Legislators also passed a variety of measures that of Martin Luther King Jr., before long, Johnson’s Great benefited middle-class Americans. These included home Society had been “shot down on the battlefields of mortgage assistance, Medicare assistance regardless of Vietnam.” However, despite significant cutbacks in the need, and federal aid for education. programs, many of them have continued to influence American society through the present day.

18 Activity 20 © Teachers’ Curriculum Institute Student Handout 20B

Federal Food Assistance

The Federal Food Assistance—or Food Stamp— Since that time, the program’s goal has been Program began in 1939 during the Great Depression. to ensure that disadvantaged Americans of all ages Lawmakers initiated it to enable the poorest Ameri- obtain at least the minimum diet of nutritionally cans to get enough to eat at a time when many Ameri- balanced foods. The United States Department of can farmers were producing a surplus of food. The Agriculture distributes food coupons to individuals government halted the program in 1943, when the or families who can demonstrate that their income is nation’s economy had recovered from the Depression. too low for buying an adequate amount of food. Studies conducted during the 1950s showed By 1970, 4 million needy Americans were par- that millions of American were living in poverty and ticipating in the Federal Food Assistance Program. not eating nutritionally balanced diets. Therefore, in That number grew to 15 million by the middle of the 1961, President John F. Kennedy resumed the pro- decade. Despite budget cutbacks during the 1980s, the gram. And as part of his War on Poverty, President program has continued uninterrupted for more than Lyndon B. Johnson requested that Congress make 40 years. By 2005, the program was helping feed the Food Assistance Program permanent. It did so by almost 26 million disadvantaged Americans, from passing the Food Stamp Act of 1964. the youngest children to the oldest senior citizens.

Legal Services

The federal government designed the Legal Services Initially, Legal Services had one of the smallest program to help disadvantaged Americans dealing budgets of any of the War on Poverty programs that with civil legal problems. The Office of Economic the OEO administered. In 1965, Congress allocated to Opportunity (OEO), a federal agency created by it only $20 million in funds. The budget slowly grew Congress in 1964, ran the program. over the next few years. By 1968, the program had Legal Services initially had two goals. It would established about 250 local legal services agencies. assist poor people with various legal problems, and it In 1974, Congress created a nonprofit company, would work to change and reform laws that were the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), to administer harmful to the disadvantaged. the program. Under the LSC, the program concen- The lawyers for the program sought to make trated on providing legal assistance to those who laws simpler and more accessible to the poor. They could not afford it. It no longer attempted to reform also fought legislation that punished or harmed the legal system itself. In the early 2000s, the LSC’s Americans who lived in low-income communities. annual budget was about $330 million. This money The Legal Services program recruited lawyers in funded about 140 local programs, which provided cities and towns throughout the country to work as legal assistance to more than 5 million Americans advocates for the poor. each year.

Job Corps

The federal government established the Job Corps tion centers, trainees learned to repair roads, build as a national job-training program. The Office of firebreaks, and help manage natural-resource and Economic Opportunity (OEO), a federal agency conservation efforts. The urban centers focused on created by Congress in 1964, operated the program. youths who had only a basic sixth grade education. The goal of the Job Corps was to help disadvantaged These centers taught trainees skilled crafts such as youths, ages 16 to 24, find work in a variety of fields carpentry, plumbing, welding, and electrical wiring. by giving them training in technical, social, and edu- Trainees could stay in a Job Corps center as long as cational skills. two years. Afterward, they received assistance in Enrollees in the Job Corps typically underwent finding a job. three to twelve months of technical training. They In 1967—the peak year of the program during also learned social skills and, if necessary, basic the 1960s—the Job Corps operated 123 centers, with academic skills such as reading and writing. They a total of 42,000 enrollees. Since that time, nearly received room and board, health coverage, a cash 2 million economically disadvantaged youths have allowance, and, in some cases, work clothes. gone through the program. In the mid-2000s, the Job The Job Corps established conservation and Corps operated more than 120 centers, with an enroll- urban centers throughout the country. In conserva- ment of more than 60,000 students each year.

Head Start

The federal government established Head Start as The first Head Start project began in summer an educational program for disadvantaged children. of 1965. It enrolled more than 500,000 children in The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), a fed- almost 2,400 communities. The program cost the eral agency created by Congress in 1964, adminis- government about $84.5 million. It was so success- tered the program. Head Start’s main goal was to ful that the president decided to make it a yearlong, improve the overall school performance of poor permanent program. He intended it to ben efit about children by entering them in a two-month-long pre- 350,000 poor children, ages three and up. kindergarten program. With funding from the federal government, While enrolled in the program, the preschool- local school districts, activists, and civic groups in ers took part in various experiences designed to cities and towns throughout the country operated increase their intellectual awareness. They visited individual Head Start programs. They held their local museums, railroad stations, zoos, and working programs wherever they could find the space—in farms. They were introduced to various aspects of schools, churches, stores, and civic centers. culture, such as art, music, and theater. They also By the early 2000s, Head Start was enrolling played with intellectually challenging puzzles, games, more than 900,000 children a year, and its annual and toys. And the program worked to support the budget was more than $6 billion. Since Head Start’s children’s health. It gave them hot meals and immu- founding, more than 21 million preschool children nizations against many childhood diseases. have benefited from the program.

Office of Economic Opportunity

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson submitted and In the OEO’s first year, Congress allocated to Congress approved the Economic Opportunity Act. it $800 million. The next year, Congress nearly dou- This piece of legislation established a large federal bled that figure, providing $1.5 billion. The OEO’s agency called the Office of Economic Opportunity budget stayed above $1.5 billion through the 1960s. (OEO). The OEO was the centerpiece of Johnson’s By the early 1970s, the OEO lost control of War on Poverty. some of its major programs to full cabinet depart- The purpose of the OEO was to administer, ments. For example, Head Start became part of the coordinate, and guide various programs intended to Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and reduce the number of poor, uneducated, and jobless is now a program of the Department of Health and people in the United States. It administered govern- Human Services. The Job Corps moved into to the ment programs such as Head Start, VISTA, and the Department of Labor. Soon, government support for Job Corps. Headed by a director whom the president maintaining the OEO as a separate agency began to appointed, the agency employed hundreds of govern- dwindle. By the mid-1970s, the OEO ceased to exist ment officials at the federal, state, and local levels. as a separate government agency.

VISTA

The federal government established Volunteers in economics, and the culture of poverty. They then Service to America (VISTA) as one of the programs moved to one of a number of designated poverty administered by the Office of Economic Opportunity areas around the country. For a one-year period, (OEO). The OEO was a federal agency created by volunteers taught classes in English and office skills, Congress in 1964. set up food cooperatives, advised local residents Lawmakers designed VISTA as a domestic ver- about legal problems, helped tenants with landlord sion of the Peace Corps. It aimed to improve the liv- problems, and organized local youth clubs. ing conditions of poor and disadvantaged Americans. More than 177,000 volunteers have served in VISTA volunteers lived and worked in areas of pov- VISTA since the program’s founding. In 1993, erty throughout the United States. VISTA hoped to VISTA became part of the Clinton administration’s recruit the same idealistic young people who were newly established AmeriCorps program. In the early drawn to the Peace Corps but who did not wish to 2000s, nearly 6,000 VISTA volunteers served in reside in a foreign country. It accepted volunteers of cities and towns across the United States. These all ages, but the majority were ages 18 to 25 and had volunteers worked together with about 1,600 non- at least some college education. profit or public agencies that sponsored VISTA Volunteers enrolled in VISTA’s six-week train- projects in local communities. ing course, which emphasized psychology, sociology,

Notes on War on Poverty Programs

At each station, carefully read the information about the War on Poverty program. Then summarize the goals of the program, and write a brief description of it in the appropriate spaces below. Finally, discuss with your partner and then record the ways in which the program has influenced contemporary society.

War on Poverty Goals of Program Description of How Program Program Program Has Influenced Contemporary Society