1930-1939

1. 1930-1939 Humanities B

2. Facts about this decade • Population: 123,188,000 in 48 states Life Expectancy: Male, 58.1; Female, 61.6 Average salary: $1,368 Unemployment rises to 25% Car Sales: 2,787,400 Food Prices: Milk, 14 cents a qt.; Bread, 9 cents a loaf;

3. The Great Depression By the 1930s money was scarce because of the depression, so people did what they could to make their lives happy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpfY8kh5lUw (Worksheet)

4. 1930-1939 • Movies were hot, parlor games and board games were popular.  People gathered around radios to listen to the Yankees.  Young people danced to the big bands. 

5. Franklin Roosevelt influenced Americans with his Fireside chats http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt9f-MZX-58 (Worksheet)

6. 1930-1939 • The golden age of the mystery novel continued as people escaped into books, reading writers like Agatha Christie, Dashielle Hammett, and Raymond Chandler.

7. Historic Events • In the Great Depression the American dream had become a nightmare. What was once the land of opportunity was now the land of desperation. What was once the land of hope and optimism had become the land of despair. • TheAmerican people were questioning all the maxims on which they had based their lives - democracy, capitalism, individualism. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b1dTvNaL0Q (Worksheet) “The Great Depression: Causes and Effects

8. Historic Events • The best hope for a better life was California. Many Dust Bowl farmers packed their families into cars, tied their few possessions on the back, and sought work in the agricultural fields or cities of the West - their role as independent land owners gone forever. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_ehYkr0NhU , Dust Bowl Refugee by Woody Guthrie • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il849yFmTxw , Dust Bowl Refugees (Worksheet)

9. Historic Events Between 1929 and 1932 the income of the average American family was reduced by 40%, from $2,300 to $1,500. Instead of advancement, survival became the keyword. Institutions, attitudes, lifestyles changed in this decade but democracy prevailed.

10. Historic Events Democracies such as Germany and Italy fell to dictatorships, but the United States and its constitution survived.

11. Historic Events • Economics dominated politics in the 1930's.  The decade began with shanty towns called Hoovervilles, named after a president who felt that relief should be left to the private sector, and ended with an alphabet soup of federal programs funded by the national government and an assortment of commissions set up to regulate Wall Street, the banking industry, and other business enterprises.

12.  The Presidents of the 1930s were Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt

13. People and Personalities • Mary McLeod Bethune   a very influential African American woman educator and friend of Eleanor Roosevelt who, as a board member of the National Youth Administration, was able to extend benefits to African Americans.

14. People and Personalities • Richard E. Byrd   a famous explorer of the Antarctic and Arctic whose 1933-35 expedition to Antartica conducted many scientific search projects.

15. People and Personalities • Mildred Babe Didrikson  considered by many to be the finest woman athlete of all time, she won medals or distinction in such varied sports as baseball, basketball, track and field, and golf

16. People and Personalities • Amelia Earhart  an aviation pioneer who was the first woman and second person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

17. People and Personalities • Jesse Owens an African American athlete who won four gold medals in track-and-field at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and put to shame Hitler's Aryan superiority message

18. People and Personalities • Frances Perkins the first woman cabinet member who advocated the 8 hour day, stricter factory safety laws, and laws for the protection of women and children in the labor force.

19. People and Personalities • Will Rogers a homespun philosopher who began his career as an Oklahoma cowboy.  Well loved and respected radio commentator, film actor, and author

20. People and Personalities • Walter Winchell  a 'gossip' columnist and radio commentator whose controversial stands and scoops on celebrities made him one of the most famous twentieth-century American journalists.

21. Arts and Architecture • The arts, like everything else in the 30's, were dominated by the Great Depression. In the 1930's this discipline was supported by government programs such as the Public Works of Art Project and later the Federal Art Project. The artists employed by these projects (over 5,000 at one period of time) chose themes based on American culture and history.

22. Arts and Architecture • The sculptor,Gutzon Borglum, was able to complete his Mount Rushmore Memorial with funds supplied by the WPA. • Other "starving artists" were able to survive the hard times by painting murals on the lobby walls of government buildings.

23. Arts and Architecture Jackson Pollock Willem de Kooning.

24. Arts and Architecture This decade saw the beginning of the American regionalist style with Grant Wood's famous work, "American Gothic".

25. Arts and Architecture • Artists that adopted this style include • John Steuart Curry • Thomas Hart Benton • Georgia O'Keeffe with her southwestern themes • Edward Hopper with his realistic scenes from city life.

26. Arts and Architecture Many of the nation's most memorable skyscrapers (the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and Rockefeller Center) were completed in the early 30's.

27. Arts and Architecture In 1937 the Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece of home design, "Falling Water", was built.

28. Arts and Architecture In 1932 the word "mobile" was coined to describe the kenetic sculpture created by Alexander Calder.

29. Arts and Architecture In 1935 Andrew Mellon gave his $25 million dollar art collection to the American people and contributed $10 million to the construction of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

30. Education • The 1930's were a perilous time for public education. With cash money in short supply parents were unable to provide their children with the necessary clothes, supplies, and textbooks (which were not furnished in some states) to attend school. Taxes, especially in rural areas, went unpaid. With the loss of revenue, school boards were forced to try numerous strategies to keep their districts operating. School terms were shortened. Teachers' salaries were cut. One new teacher was paid $40 a month for a five month school year - and was very glad for the job! When a rural county in Arkansas was forced to charge tuition one year in order to keep the schools open, some children were forced to drop out for that year. One farmer was able to barter wood to fuel the classrooms' potbellied stoves for his four children's tuition, thus enabling them to continue their education.

31. Education • The famous Dick and Jane books that taught millions of children to read were first published in 1931. These primers introduced the students to reading with only one new word per page and a limited vocabulary per book. All who learned to read with these books still recall the "Look. See Dick. See Dick run."

32. Fads and Fashion With the reduction of spendable income, people had to look to inexpensive leisure pursuits.  President Roosevelt helped make stamp collecting a popular hobby.

33. Fads and Fashion Parlor games and board games became the rage.  In 1935 Parker Brothers introduced the game of Monopoly and 20 thousand sets were sold in one week. 

34. Fads and Fashion Gambling increased as people sought any means to add to their income.  Between 1930 and 1939 horse racing became legal in 15 more states bringing the total to 21. 

35. Fads and Fashion Interest in spectator sports such as baseball grew.  Stars like Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio drew fans into the stadium, and those who could not attend the games gathered around their radios to listen to the play-by-play. The separate Negro League was in its golden years.

36. Fads and Fashion The 1932 Winter Olympics, held at Lake Placid, New York, renewed interest in winter sports. 

37. Fads and Fashion Paris fashions became too expensive for all but the very rich, and American designers came into their own.

38. Fads and Fashion • Hollywood movie stars such as Bette Davis and Greta Garbo set fashion trends in dresses designed by Adrian and Muriel King and hats designed by Lily Dache.  Clothes had to last a long time so styles did not change every season.  The simple print dress with a waist line and longer hem length replaced the flapper attire of the 1920's.   

39. Fads and Fashion The use of the zipper became wide spread for the first time because it was less expensive than the buttons and closures previously used.

40. Fads and Fashion Another innovation of the 30's was different hem lengths for different times of the day - mid calf for day wear, long for the evening.  Men's pants were wide and high waisted.  Vest sweaters were an alternative to the traditional matching vest of the three piece suit.  Hats were mandatory for the well dressed male.

41. Literature Many of America's most distinguished writers produced works of fiction during the thirties. • The list includes such names as F. Scott Fitzgerald,Ernest Hemingway, and Thornton Wilder.  Some of the novels of this period explored what was happening in the country during the Great Depression.   

42. Literature The Cow by Ogden Nash The cow is of the bovine ilk; One end is moo, the other, milk. • John Steinbeck'sThe Grapes of Wrath chronicled the life of a displaced Oklahoma family who had lost its farm to the drought of the Dust Bowl.  • James T. Farrell wrote a trilogy of novels about an Irish-American named Studs Loniganand his attempt to rise above his poor beginnings.  • Richard Wrighttook on the issue of racial prejudice and the plight of blacks in Native Son. • Erskine Caldwell's novel Tobacco Road described the life of poor whites in the rural South.

43. Music "It Don't Mean a Thing (if it Ain't Got That Swing)".  The title of this Duke Ellington song sums up the "in" music of the thirties. • There were popular songs such as "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" that spoke to the hardships of the time, but the young people flocked to hear and dance to the big bands of Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and  Tommy Dorsey. 

44. Music In this same era Broadway produced some of the most famous and lasting American musicals. • George and Ira Gershwin wrote the hits Strike Up the Band, Girl Crazy, and  Of Thee I Sing. • Cole Porter produced such works as Anything Goes, Jubilee, and Red Hot and Blue. • Songwriters and lyricists like Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, and Richard Rodgers composed melodies still being played and sung today.

45. Music The Federal Music Project (FMP) supported the musical arts and sponsored performances of both classical and popular compositions.  • The FMP emphasized American music and promoted the works of Aaron Copland, Roy Harris and Virgil Thomson. 

46. Music • In 1936 the Department of the Interior hired Woody Guthrie to travel throughout the Northwest and perform his folk songs.  During this tour he wrote twenty-six songs in twenty-six days.  By 1938 Guthrie was making appearances in support of labor unions and wrote such songs as "I Ain't Got No Home", inspired by visits to migrant labor camps.

47. Music • It was in 1935 that George Gershwin's American folk opera Porgy and Bess was first performed, still played. • In 1931 Congress designated "The Star Spangled Banner" as the national anthem.  • In 1938 Kate Smith sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" and made the song her own.  • There have been many proponents of making this the national anthem, replacing the hard to sing "Star Spangled Banner". 

48. Music • Mary Martin captivated theatergoers with her rendition of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" in Cole Porter's Leave It to Me.

49. Radio Radio reached its zenith of popularity in this decade. By 1939 about 80 percent of the population owned radio sets.

50. Radio Americans loved to laugh at the antics of such comedians as … • Jack Benny, • Fred Allen, • George Burns and Gracie Allen, • Amos and Andy, and • Fibber McGee and Molly.