Historical Committee Welcome Letter

Dear Delegates, Welcome to Harvard and to the Historical Committee, we are so excited to have you! Our names are Michael Wallace and Elijah Suh, and we will be your chairs for this conference. Michael is a sophomore at Harvard College studying Social Studies with a focus on the politics of ethnic division in postwar Europe. Outside of class, Michael is also involved with the Harvard Outing Club, the International Relations Council, and the Harvard College Running Club. He enjoys rock climbing and running along the Charles River in Boston. In addition to HMC Boston, Michael staffs HMC’s sister conference in . Elijah is also a sophomore at Harvard College, studying Chemistry and Integrative Biology. He was a junior staffer for the 2019 HMC Boston conference. Outside of HMC and classes, Elijah is also involved in KDSAP and ASK - two of Harvard’s student health advocacy groups—as well as various intramural sporting programs. He is also a member of Harvard’s ExperiMentors program, where he performs science experiments with public schools in the Cambridge/Boston area. In the Historical Committee this year, we will be traveling back in time to March 4th, 1933. At this time, you have been called to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first cabinet meeting. For the last four years, the American economy has struggled to regain its footing, where unemployment rates and public dissatisfaction are on the rise. As the President said in his inaugural speech, it is certainly a “dark hour of our national life.” Under the previous administration of Herbert Hoover, it seemed impossible that the United States would be able to draw itself out of what he called the “Great Depression.” Now, the nation rests its hopes on President Roosevelt and you, his cabinet. While some of the events in our committee may mirror actual events, many will differ based on actions that you take. This means that your research and attention should be spent focusing on the political, economic, and social environments of 1930’s America—with a specific attention to the events leading up to and following the Great Depression. Please remember that since this is an incredibly fast-paced and exciting committee, it is very important that you have researched in advance and come prepared with potential responses to many different scenarios! Furthermore, since you will be working with a partner during the conference, we recommend that you communicate and share materials and ideas with each other in advance of the conference as well. We look forward to reading your pre-conference assignments soon! We are so excited to meet all of you at HMC Boston this year!

All the best,

Michael Wallace and Elijah Suh