A Black New Yorker Describes Life in a CCC Camp
Race and Ethnicity
Luther C. Wandall, an African American from New York City, wrote the following account of life in a segregated Civilian Conservation Corps camp for <em>Crisis</em>, the magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Wandall tells about his first encounter with "Mr. James Crow" (Jim Crow) and offers a candid report of his experiences as an enrollee. While the legislation that established the CCC required that the corps accept men regardless of race, the program was administered at the state level, resulting in widespread segregation. African-American corpsmen confronted racial prejudice and hostility both within the CCC camps and from nearby white communities.
Luther C. Wandall
Luther C. Wandall, "A Negro in the CCC," <em>Crisis</em> 42 (August 1935): 244, 253-54; from the <em>New Deal Network</em>, "African Americans in the Civilian Conservation Corps," http://newdeal.feri.org/aaccc/index.htm.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1935
English
Article/Essay
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
An Angry Citizen Urges FDR to Help "Real Americans"
In this letter to President Roosevelt, the writer provides his own definition of a "real American." His frustration regarding inadequate government relief is expressed alongside racist, anti-semitic, and nativist sentiments. The letter is signed "An American of Fifty years."
Anonymous
Robert S. McElvaine, ed., <em>Down & Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the "Forgotten Man"</em> (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1983), 198.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1936
English
Diary/Letter
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
A Citizen Claims the New Deal is a Path Towards Socialism
This 1934 letter to Senator Robert F. Wagner protests President Roosevelt's New Deal policies. The writer argues for stimulating private business to create employment, and against increasing the role of the federal government. Since the 19th century, some Americans had feared that socialism or communism would upset America's capitalist system and threaten American liberty. These fears had been especially strong since the Red Scare following World War I. The rise of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco and Tojo in the 1920s and 1930s added new worries about the threat of fascism. This letter was reproduced with all of the author's original spelling, syntax, and grammar.
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), 150-1.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1934
English
Diary/Letter
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)
A Black American Asks FDR to End Racial Inequalities in Federal Relief
Race and Ethnicity
Although Franklin D. Roosevelt never endorsed anti-lynching legislation and condoned discrimination against blacks in federally funded relief programs, he still won the hearts and the votes of many African Americans. Yet this support and even veneration for Roosevelt did not blind black Americans to the continuing discrimination that they faced. Indeed, the two views were often combined when they wrote letters to the president asking him to do something about discrimination that they confronted in their daily lives. This letter is one of thousands that poured in to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt from black Americans during the 1930s.
Anonymous
Federal Emergency Relief Administration Central Files and New Subject Files, National Archives; from Robert S. McElvaine, ed., <em>Down & Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the "Forgotten Man"</em> (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1983), 83.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1935
English
Diary/Letter
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
Workers Applaud the New Deal's Works Progress Administration
Work
In this letter to President Roosevelt written in 1936, Michigan workers express their gratitude for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) programs and urge the president to continue WPA efforts. The letter describes how working improves their self-esteem and makes them feel like active participants in society.
Various
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), 127.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1936
English
Diary/Letter
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
A Hotel Worker Requests Labor Laws for Women
Gender and Sexuality
Work
In this letter to Eleanor Roosevelt, an aging Southern hotel worker describes long hours and hard working conditions. Advocating on behalf of women hotel laborers, she requests a six day, 48 hour work week, and an improved pension for older workers. Her letter refers to two popular critics of the New Deal, Charles E. Coughlin and Dr. Francis Townsend. "Father" Coughlin was a Catholic priest who argued for stronger government control and social legislation to combat the evils of industrialism. Dr. Townsend, a California physician, proposed that every citizen over sixty who was not working should receive $200 a month from the government "on the condition that they spend the money as they get it." Both Townsend and Coughlin attacked the unequal distribution of wealth and power, but fell short of advocating socialism. Their popularity with Americans during the Depression impacted FDR's Second New Deal by emboldening the President to pass stronger relief measures.
Anonymous
Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner, <em>"Slaves of the Depression": Workers' Letters about Life on the Job </em>(Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1987), 155-7.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1937
English
Diary/Letter
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
A Utah Observer Praises the CCC
In this letter to a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) recruitment center in Salt Lake City, Utah, a local official describes the positive impact of the program on enrolled youth. The CCC, enacted during the first 100 days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first administration, remained one of the most popular New Deal programs throughout the 1930s.
Nobel L. Chamber
Nobel L. Chambers, "Letter, Cache County Department of Public Welfare," 9 March 1937, National Archives and Records Administration.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1937
English
Diary/Letter
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
New York Girls Ask the President for a CCC of Their Own
Gender and Sexuality
The Civilian Conservation Corps, established in 1933, employed a quarter of a million young men annually who lived in military-style camps and carried out conservation and construction projects. It proved to be one of the most popular New Deal programs, but it did not include women. First lady Eleanor Roosevelt advocated for a comparable program for young women (dubbed "She-She-She camps"). With the help of Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins ninety such camps for young women were established by 1936. This letter, from eight anonymous young women in upstate New York, asked President Roosevelt for just such a program. (The letter's original spelling has been preserved here.) In June 1935, the Roosevelt administration also established the National Youth Administration which helped young men and women stay in school and provided relief and job training to youth out of school.
Anonymous
Robert Cohen, ed., <em>Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression</em> (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007), 222.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1935 (Circa)
1383
English
Diary/Letter
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
A Citizen Reports How the New Deal Has Impacted His Life (with text supports)
This letter was written to FDR after his Fireside Chat radio broadcast of June 28, 1934, in which he explained the "Three R's" of the New Deal: relief, recovery, and reform. While economic data showed that the nation was beginning to recover from the worst of the Depression, FDR also asked his listeners to answer four questions to determine if they personally were experiencing recovery. This letter was reproduced with all of the author's original spelling, syntax, and grammar.
John Pauer
Lawrence C. Levine and Cornelia R. Levine, eds., <em>The People and the President: America's Conversation with FDR</em>, (Boston: Beacon Press, 2002), 103.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1934
1450, 1483
English
Diary/Letter
Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)