History of America in 101 Objects© and Then Some

Home , Eisenhower jacket, Maybellene, This Land Is Your Land

Part 1, Session 5

1 Band 10 Great Depression (1929-1940)

2 History Timeline [1929-1940] Great Depression (1929-1940) • 1929 "Black Tuesday" stock markets crashes, Great Depression begins. • 1930 Severe drought marks onset of the Dust Bowl. • 1931 Hattie Caraway of Arkansas becomes the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate; "The Star- Spangled Banner" officially adopted as the national anthem. • 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected president, promises" New Deal"; Amelia Earhart flies solo across the Atlantic; New York City's Empire State Building is completed, becoming world's tallest building. • 1933 Prohibition ends; Adolf Hitler elected chancellor of Germany; Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein leaves Germany and settles in the United States.

3 History Timeline [1929-1940] Great Depression (1929-1940) • 1935 President Roosevelt signs Social Security Act; federal government launches Works Progress Administration; Wagner Act guarantees collective bargaining; Committee for Industrial Organizations founded. • 1936 African American athlete Jesse Owens wins four gold medals at Berlin Olympics. • 1938 House Un-American Activities Committee formed to investigate Communist influence in the United States; Fair Labor Standards Act is passed. • 1939 World War II begins in Europe with Germany's invasion of Poland; Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz are released; Marian Anderson performs at Lincoln Memorial after being refused at Constitution Hall. • 1940 First woman, Frances Perkins, appointed to a U.S. president's cabinet, Secretary of the Department of Labor. 4 Great Depression (1929-1940)

• 57. FRD’s “Fireside Chat” Microphone • 58. John L. Lewis’s Union Badge • 50. Combine Harvester • 59. Marion Anderson’s Mink Coat • 60. Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers • 61. Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”

5 57. FRD’s “Fireside Chat” Microphone A newly elected President reassures the Nation in the midst of economic collapse and war

6 The fireside chats were a series of 31 evening radio addresses given by President Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944. • “Fireside chats" were the first media developments that facilitated an intimate and direct communication between the President and the Nation. • Roosevelt's cheery voice and demeanor worked to his advantage with the citizenry and he soon became one of the most popular presidents ever — Here is the problem and this is what we are doing about it! • On radio, he was able to quell rumors and explain slowly and comprehensibly his reasons for social change. • Radio was especially convenient for Roosevelt because it enabled him to hide his polio from the public eye.

7 The Alphabet Soup of Government Agencies and Programs (Over 100) Formed by the FDR Administration

AAA 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act CCC 1933 Civilian Conservation Corps CCC 1933 Commodity Credit Corporation CWA 1933 Civil Works Administration DRS 1935 Drought Relief Service DSH 1933 Subsistence Homesteads Division EBA 1933 Emergency Banking Act FAA 1933 Federal Aviation Administration FAP 1935 Federal Art Project (part of WPA) FCA 1933 Farm Credit Administration FCC 1934 Federal Communications Commission FDIC 1933 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FERA 1933 Federal Emergency Relief Administration

8 FHA 1934 Federal Housing Administration FLSA 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act FMP 1935 Federal Music Project (part of WPA) FSA 1935 Farm Security Administration FSRC 1933 Federal Surplus Relief Corporation FTP 1935 Federal Theatre Project (part of WPA) FSA 1935 Farm Security Administration FSRC 1933 Federal Surplus Relief Corporation FTP 1935 Federal Theatre Project (part of WPA) FWA 1939 Federal Works Agency FHA 1934 Federal Housing Administration FLSA 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act FMP 1935 Federal Music Project (part of WPA)

9 FWP 1935 Federal Writers' Project (part of WPA) HOLC 1933 Home Owners' Loan Corporation NIRA 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act NLRA 1935 National Labor Relations Act NLRB 1934 National Labor Relations Board/The Wagner Act NRA 1933 National Recovery Administration NYA 1935 National Youth Administration PRRA 1933 Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration PWA 1933 Public Works Administration RA 1935 Resettlement Administration Rural Electrification Administration (now Rural REA 1935 Utilities Service) SEC 1934 Securities and Exchange Commission SSA 1935 Social Security Administration Social Security Board (now Social Security SSB 1935 Administration) TVA 1933 Tennessee Valley Authority USHA 1937 United States Housing Authority USMC 1936 United States Maritime Commission

WPA 1935 Works Progress Administration 10 Two early Profound Bills - 1935 • Wagner Labor Law: The right for Labor to organize, National Labor Relation Board, minimum wages, maximum hours and child labor limitations • Social Security program

11 58. John L. Lewis’s Union Badge

John L. Lewis, one of America's foremost labor leaders, wore this badge at the 1936 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) convention.

Born in an Iowa coal-mining camp, Lewis went to work in the mines at age fifteen. He rose quickly as a labor leader, becoming president of the UMWA in 1920, and later helped found the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

Lewis led a successful struggle to organize industrial workers, improving wages, safety, and benefits. 12 50. Combine Harvester The combine harvester mechanized the farm, and dramatically reduced the need for much farm labor.

It both facilitated and for some crops caused the transformation of the US from a nation of rural agrarian small towns to one of big cities by eliminating jobs. This resulted in migration to the cities providing the labor for the industrial revolution. 13 50. Combine Harvester Unimaginable Bounty • A driver in Agra-business and the mega-farm • It industrialized agriculture • Expanding from the 1930s into the 1940s; it became the engine of the bread basket that supported and feed the allied efforts in WW II

14 59. Marion Anderson’s Mink Coat

An event marred by racial prejudice is transformed into a moment of national acclaim and respect

15 “In this great auditorium under the sky, all of us are free.” Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior • Seventy-five years ago, on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, African-American contralto Marian Anderson performed an unprecedented open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a huge live audience and to millions more over the radio • A mink coat—a recognized symbol of high status for women at the time—also illustrates that despite stereotypes and obstacles, an African-American woman could transcend entrenched social and cultural barriers to achieve fame, fortune, and success. 16 60. Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers From the 1939 Movie the Wizard of Oz A young girl’s fictional quest and her magical shoes remind America that there is “No place Like Home.”

The Ruby Red slippers celebrate the glamor of Hollywood’s escapism, as relief from the troubles of daily life, while reminding us that plain old home isn’t so bad.

MGM correctly sensed that the story would strike a resonant chord in a country struggling with despair and uncertainty in the wake of the dust bowl and the depression. 17 61. Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”

18 61. Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” • Some have called "This Land Is Your Land" an alternative national anthem.

• Others say it's a Marxist response to "God Bless America." It was written and first sung by Woody Guthrie. Over time, it's been sung by everyone from Bruce Springsteen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

• Guthrie recorded "This Land Is Your Land" during a marathon April 1944 session in New York. Guthrie while on shore leave from the Merchant Marines, one of his many occupations during the Depression and war years.

• One song: With very different interpretations — from President Obama’s campaign to anti Gay political activists.

• That’s why “This Land Is Your Land” is still around. Because more than it being a song in reply to “God Bless America,” it is a song that is something for people to grab hold of no matter their background, no matter their beliefs; to keep all of us talking about what it means to be American. 19 History Timeline [1940-1945] Greatest Generation (1940-1945) • 1941 Japanese forces bomb U.S. military installations at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; United States declares war on Japan; war with Germany and its allies follow declarations of war. • 1942 Navajo and Basque code talkers employed in the Pacific Theater to disguise communications; Rosie the Riveter popularized on the home front; Executive Order 9066 leads to forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans; Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons begins. • 1943 Allies invade Italy.

20 History Timeline [1940-1945] Greatest Generation (1940-1945) • 1944 D-Day invasion of Normandy in Europe, major battles in the Pacific; World Bank and International Monetary Fund established; Roosevelt signs GI Bill of Rights. • 1945 Nazi Germany falls; Roosevelt dies; the Enola Gay drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan; a second is dropped on Nagasaki; World War II ends with more than 400,000 American war dead; United Nations is established; concentration camps liberated; Yalta Conference begins negotiations for postwar Europe. • 1946 Philippines becomes an independent republic from the United States.

21 Band 11 Greatest Generation (1941 to 1945)

22 Greatest Generation (1941 to 1945)

• 62. U.S.S Oklahoma Postal Hand Stamp • 63. Spirit of Tuskegee • 64. “We Can Do It” Poster of Rosie the Riveter • 65. Japanese American WW II Internment Art • 66. Audie Murphy’s Eisenhower Jacket • 67. Enola Gay

23 24 Day of Infamy Pearl Harbor Speech December 8 1941 To the Congress of the United States

Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. ••• No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by

Japan on Sunday, Dec. 7, a state of war has existed between the United States and 25 the Japanese empire. 62. U.S.S Oklahoma Postal Hand Stamp

This traditional Navy three-bar cancel device still bears the date “Dec 6, 1941 PM,” the day before the ship capsized and sank early Sunday morning during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

It shows evidence of water damage, and possibly even ash, hallmarks of its tragic past.

At 6 am on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a wave of fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes took off from a series of Japanese warships north of Oahu, Hawaii.

They reached Pearl Harbor just before 7:55 am. Within twenty minutes, the Oklahoma had been hit on the portside a number of times and capsized, trapping several hundred crew members.

Thirty-nine men were rescued through the hull as rescue workers cut through where they could hear tapping from within. Of the ship’s full complement of 2166 men, 415 were listed as either killed or missing in action and 32 wounded. 26 63. Spirit of Tuskegee

The vehicle for African-American flyers to serve their country in WW II paves the way for the integration of America’s Armed Services.

Of all the units in WW II, why select the 332th Fighter Wing?

They had to fight the US military, just to be able to serve and fight. They had to fight their conditions at home, which the war didn’t change. They had to fight the Germans, who were contemptuous of them. — 65 died in combat and as POWs. 27 64. “We Can Do It” Poster of Rosie the Riveter

Rosie, Eastine and thousands more like her worked with air riveters in aircraft assembly factories, and 10’s of thousands more were welders, operated machine tools, ran farms and businesses and myriad other “male” jobs.28 Cathleen Doyle – Model for Norman Rockwell’s Rosie with her lathe in Pittsfield MA

29 th 0630 hours June 6 1944 Omaha Beach Normandy, France 30 Willey and Joe by Bill Mauldin

"I'm beginning to feel "Th' hell this ain't th' “Joe , yesterday you saved my most important hole in life and I swore that I’d pay like a fugitive from the you back. Here is my last law of averages." the world. I'm in it." pair of dry socks.” 31 65. Audie Murphy’s Eisenhower Jacket

Each stripe was 6 months in combat Medal of Honor 32 General Eisenhower talking to paratroopers just prior to their jump into Normandy

General Eisenhower along with all his responsibilities wanted a jacket that could be worn in combat and in training situations that was more comfortable that the formal long jacket.

In 1943 he had his tailor fashion a jacket that “was very short, very comfortable and Natty looking.” In 1944 the shortened jacket was standard issue. It was smart and practical befitting Eisenhower’s persona. A common identity with his troops.

Murphy was the most decorated soldier in WW II. His Medal of Honor ribbon is the single blue ribbon on top. 33 34 Smithsonian Credo

• If nothing else, the Smithsonian is intellectually honest. • Some exhibits are not without controversy, the Smithsonian ties to be historically accurate and lets the chips fall where they may.

35 One of the first released photos of dead American solders in WW II, 1943 in New Guinea.

A Japanese sniper was in The damaged landing craft in the rear.

36 66. Japanese American WW II Internment Art US Citizens and permanent residents, forcibly removed from their homes, express their anguish in confinement and their loyalty to the Nation.

1924 Asian Exclusion Act prohibited Japanese immigrants from becoming US Citizens. Their children born in the US under the 14th Amendment were US citizens. They could enlist and leave the camp and some were drafted from camps, but their families remained in the camps.

Germany and Italy also declared war on the US. While German and Italian enemies were often viewed as misguided victims of despotic leaders, the Japanese were often disparaged collectively in racist wartime propaganda and “Thinking of Loved ones” were expelled from the West Coast. 37 by Henry Sugimoto 38 67. Enola Gay

39 A New Age, the Rubicon On August 6 and 9, 1945, specially had been crossed! modified B-29s, flown by the 509th Composite Group, carried out two of the final strategic bombing missions of the war.

On those days only 6 B-29s flew over Japan.

A single atomic bomb was dropped first on Hiroshima and then later on Nagasaki.

There were conventional 1000 strong B-29 Fat Man explodes over raids flown on the days before, between Nagasaki after being and after these A-bombs were dropped. delivered by the B-29 The Emperor made a political decision and Bockscar. Japan “accepted the Potsdam terms” days later. Ma

40 41 History Timeline [1945-Today] Cold War (1945-1989) New Frontier (1960-1985) Civil Rights (1947- Today) Pop Culture (1929- Today) • 1948 Europe; Berlin blockade by the Soviet Union prompts U.S. airlift; UN promulgates Universal Declaration of Human Rights, championed by Eleanor Roosevelt. • 1949 NATO is established; UN headquartered in New York City. • 1950 Korean War begins; U.S. population is about 161 million, 64 percent urban. • 1952 Puerto Rico becomes a U.S. commonwealth; United States tests hydrogen bombs in Pacific. • 1953 Korean War ends with about 38,000 American war dead. • 1954 Supreme Court decides Brown v. Board Education , ruling that racial segregation violates Fourteenth Amendment; Sen. Joseph McCarthy accuses officials and public figures of being Communists. 42 History Timeline [1945-Today] Cold War (1945-1989) New Frontier (1960-1985) Civil Rights (1947- Today) Pop Culture (1929- Today) • 1955 Jonas Salk's polio vaccine widely available; Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a public bus, leading to Montgomery Bus Boycott; fourteen - year- old African American Emmet Till brutally killed in Mississippi; Chuck Berry releases Maybellene." • 1956 Elvis Presley releases his fast number-one hit, "Heartbreak Hotel." • 1957 Soviet Union launches Sputnik, leading to space race with the US; President Eisenhower sends federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce school integration. • 1958 United States establishes National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Explorer I, First American satellite, launched. • 1960 John F. Kennedy elected first Catholic presi-dent; students conduct sit- ins at the Greensboro, NC, Woolworth's counter; Food and Drug Administration approves "the Pill." 43 History Timeline [1945-Today] Cold War (1945-1989) New Frontier (1960-1985) Civil Rights (1947- Today) Pop Culture (1929- Today) • 1961 East Germany builds the Berlin Wall; United States severs diplomatic relations with Castro's Cuba; Bay of Pigs invasion fails; Alan Shepard 's first manned American space flight; civil rights movement Freedom Rides start; Kennedy establishes Peace Corps. • 1962 Marilyn Monroe dies; Cuban missile crisis; Rachel Carson's Silent Spring published; Lt. Col. John Glenn becomes first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth. • 1963 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers "I Have a Dream" speech on the National Mall; President Kennedy assassinated; Bob Dylan records Blowin' in the Wind"; Julia Child's The French Chef debuts on Boston WGBH PBS television station. • 1964 Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan Show; Civil Rights Act signed by President Johnson; Tonkin Gulf Resolution signed by President Johnson, authorizing U.S. involvement in Vietnam War. 44 History Timeline [1945-Today] Cold War (1945-1989) New Frontier (1960 -1985) Civil Rights (1947-Today) Pop Culture (1929 - Today) • 1965 President Johnson signs act creating Medicare to provide health care benefits to American s over sixty- five; protests against U.S. bombings of "North Vietnam in Washington, D.C.; civil rights march in Selma, Alabama; Cesar Chavez emerges as a leader of farm worker movement with Delano grape strike; Malcolm X assassinated; Immigration and Nationality Act broadens immigration to the United States. • 1967 Thurgood Marshall becomes first African American Supreme Court justice; Muhammad Ali arrested for refusing to enlist, stripped of boxing titles. • 1968 Sen. Robert F. Kennedy assassinated in Los Angeles; Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis; American Indian Movement founded; violent protests at Democratic National Convention in Chicago. • 1969 Woodstock music festival draws nearly half million to upstate NY; Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes first man on the Moon; Stonewall riot in New York; Native American occupation of Alcatraz during the Red Power 45 Movement. History Timeline [1945-Today] Cold War (1945-1989) New Frontier (1960-1985) Civil Rights (1947- Today) Pop Culture (1929- Today) • 1970 Environmental movement celebrates first Earth Day; four students shot by Nation al Guards- men during Kent State antiwar protests. • 1971 NY Times publishes first of the Pentagon Papers, classified history of the Vietnam War; Twenty-sixth Amendment extends vote to 18- year-olds. • 1972 President Richard Nixon visits China and Soviet Union; Watergate scandal begins; pandas come to the National Zoo. • 1973 Watergate hearings are televised; President Nixon impeachment proceedings begin; Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade guarantees woman's right to choose abortion; United States faces Arab oil embargo and energy crisis over support to Israel. • 1975 Last evacuation from Saigon; South Vietnam surrenders to the North, President Ford declares end to Vietnam War with about 58,000 American war dead; Microsoft founded. • 1977 Blackout in New York City; George Lucas's film Star Wars debuts.46 History Timeline [1945-Today] Cold War (1945-1989) New Frontier (1960-1985) Civil Rights (1947- Today) Pop Culture (1929- Today) • 1978 American Indian Freedom of Religion Act; President Carter mediates Camp David accords, with Israel and Egypt signing peace treaty. • 1979 United States establishes diplomatic relation s with China; Three Island nuclear mishap in Pennsylvania almost causes meltdown; Iranian students storm U.S. embassy in Tehran and take Americans hostage. • 1980 United States boycotts Moscow Olympic Games; former actor and California Governor Ronald Reagan is elected president; personal computer (PC) launched by IBM; U.S. Olympic hockey team wins Miracle on lce" gold medal. • 1981 Iranians release hostages as President Reagan is sworn in; first AJDS case recognized by the Centers for Disease Control; Sandra Day O'Connor sworn in as the first woman Supreme Court justice; US. 47 Embassy in Beirut bombed. History Timeline [1945-Today] Cold War (1945-1989) New Frontier (1960-1985) Civil Rights (1947- Today) Pop Culture (1929- Today) • 1982 Vietnam Veteran’s memorial, designed by Maya Lin, dedicated on the National Mall. • 1984 Steve Jobs introduces Apple Macintosh computer ; Soviet Union boycotts U.S. Olympic Games. • 1986 Space shuttle Challenger disaster; first laptop computer available. • 1987 In Berlin, President Reagan urges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to ''tear down this wall"; United States and Soviet Union sign arms control treaty to reduce nuclear weapons.

48 History Timeline [1945-Today] Cold War (1945-1989) New Frontier (1960-1985) Civil Rights (1947- Today) Pop Culture (1929- Today) • 1989 Berlin Wall is dismantled 1990 Congress passes Americans with Disabilities Act. • 1991 Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, President George H. W. Bush launches Operation Desert Storm, the first Gulf War; Soviet Union breaks up, cold war ends; World Wide Web launched. • 1992 Trade Center bombing in New York kills six Americans.