History of America in 101 Objects© and Then Some 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.