World War I Veterans March in Washington (with text supports)
After World War I, Congress passed a bill promising each military veteran of that war a cash bonus that would be paid in 1945. In the summer of 1932, facing unemployment and poverty because of the Great Depression, veterans began demanding that the bonuses be distributed immediately. Nearly 20,000 veterans marched to Washington and camped out in the Anacostia Flats section of the city; newspapers called them the “bonus army.” This <em>New York Times</em> article describes a June march by some of the veterans down Pennsylvania Avenue, the street in Washington on which the White House is located. In late July, President Hoover used the army to force the demonstrators out of their main campground and set fire to their tents. Americans were horrified by this treatment of the poor and desperate veterans.
<em>New York Times</em>
“7,000 in Bonus Army Parade in Capital, Orderly But Grim,” <em>New York Times</em>, June 8, 1932, 1.
1932
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
Unemployed Single Women Demonstrate for Jobs
Gender and Sexuality
Labor Activism
As millions of men lost their jobs during the Great Depression, many began to argue that women (particularly married women) should not be occupying the scarce jobs that remained. When women could find jobs, employers routinely paid them less than men, even for the same work. Women were also more likely to be employed irregularly, which further diminished their wages. This newspaper photo depicts a 1933 protest march organized by the Association of Unemployed Single Women. Organized by the Socialist Party in New York City in 1933, the Association advocated for jobs, housing, and relief for the city's nearly 175,000 single unemployed women. In the winter of 1933-1934, the city reversed its policy and began to offer aid to single women.
<em>New York World Telegram</em>
<em>New York-World Telegram</em> staff photo, in Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division; see also <em>Encyclopedia of the Great Depression Vol. 2</em>, ed. Robert S. McElvaine (New York: Macmillan Reference, 2004), 1001.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1933
1383
English
Photograph
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
FDR's Tree Army: The Civilian Conservation Corps
This short documentary overviews the Civilian Conservation Corps, the New Deal's first relief program. It focuses on the experiences, both positive and negative, of the nearly 3,000,000 "soil soldiers" who labored in CCC camps.
American Social History Program/Center for Media and Learning
American Social History Program/Center for Media and Learning, 2009.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
2009
1383
English
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
Differing Federal Responses to the Great Depression: Letter Analysis
In this activity students read two letters (one from Hoover, one from FDR) to determine different political beliefs that guided the presidents in their responses to the Great Depression.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning, 2009.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
2009
Copyright American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
<div><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License</a>.</div>
English
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
FDR's Tree Army: Personal Turning Points in the CCC
Work
In this activity students learn about the goals of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the opportunities it provided for young men. Students create poster presentations about different aspects of the CCC by combining photographs and quotes from primary sources. Students will need poster-making supplies (including poster board or paper, markers, scissors, and glue/markers).
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning, 2009.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
2009
English
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
Focus Questions: Differing Federal Responses to the Great Depression
On this worksheet, students read letters from Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt to analyze different federal responses to the economic crisis created by the Great Depression.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning, 2009.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
2009
Copyright American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
<div><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license"><img style="border-width: 0;" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" alt="Creative Commons License" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License</a>.</div>
1373, 1374
English
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
Childhood Lost: An Overview of the Great Depression
The Great Depression cut childhoods short as poverty and unemployment soared. Young people struggled to stay healthy. Millions moved--sometimes with their families, sometimes on their own--in search of jobs. Many found relief in New Deal programs after 1933. Student activism also rose during the period. Throughout the period, as this film documents, American notions of childhood were challenged and changed in response to the crises of the 1930s.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning, 2009.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
2009
English
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
Differing Federal Responses to the Great Depression Close Reading Worksheet
This worksheet helps students undertake a close reading of letters from President Herbert Hoover and President Franklin Roosevelt and summarize their different ideas about the role of government during an economic crisis.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
2013
1375, 1373, 1374
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
A Worker Warns Eleanor Roosevelt of Growing Class Unrest
As the Great Depression dragged on through the 1930s, critics on the left blamed the Roosevelt Administration for not going far enough. They maintained that New Deal measures had mostly shored up banks and industries without sufficiently providing for the needs of workers and ordinary people. The ongoing economic crisis was a "powder keg" that could explode into social and political upheaval. The lopsided victories of Roosevelt and the Democrats in the elections of 1936 further indicated that voters wanted more relief programs and an expansion of the social safety net.
Anonymous
Robert S. McElvaine, ed., <em>Down & Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the "Forgotten Man"</em> (Chapel Hill: The University Of North Carolina Press, 1983), 193-4.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1936
English
Diary/Letter
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
Graph of U.S. Unemployment Rate, 1930-1945
Work
The unemployment rate rose sharply during the Great Depression and reached its peak at the moment Franklin D. Roosevelt took office. As New Deal programs were enacted, the unemployment rate gradually lowered. Virtually full employment was achieved during World War II. This graph does not indicate the numbers of people were “underemployed,” meaning those who did not earn enough to adequately provide for themselves and their dependents.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics, <em>Historical Statistics of the United States Colonial Times to the 1970, Part I </em>(U.S. Government Printing Office, 1975), Series D 85-86 Unemployment: 1890-1970, 135.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1975
English
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)