Surviving the Great Depression

1. Surviving the Great Depression Lexie Bowen, Sara Lascano, Dallas Smith, Lily Bragg

2. Unemployment • Unemployment at 24.9% by 1933. • American “dream” betrayed now. • Did anything to keep rent paid and food on table. • Soup kitchens a big help! • Life became a daily struggle.

3. The Dust Bowl • Started in Great plains; Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado. • Middle of 1930s. • Drought, loose top soil, and high winds. • Killed many animals, ruined farm land. • Destroyed rivers. • Farmers migrated & lost farms to banks. • Okies: Dust Bowl refugees.

4. Public Assistance • Family service agencies were overwhelmed by unemployment after the stock market crash of 1929. • Public services now had middle class cliental who were jobless, homeless, and hungry. • Most agencies struggled to stay open and by 1932, 1/3 of services were no longer available due to lack of funds

5. Public Assistance • The federal government started working on new programs and new funding techniques • The Department of Special Studies was created to find new methods to end unemployment and other strong issues. • President Roosevelt enacted New Deal welfare programs (creating a safety net for those in poverty, unemployed, and disabled.

6. Public Assistance • 1935- Landmark Security Act was enacted, it included social insurance for children with single parents, the elderly, and disabled workers. • The abundance of new programs and funds created a high demand for social service workers. • Opportunities opened in education, medicine, social justice, etc. • The demand required the knowledge and skills of a social worker causing a shortage of personnel • This forced the federal government to create new associations and training programs to fill the places needed.

7. Soup Kitchen • A soup kitchen is a bread line, or meal center where food is offered to the hungry, for free or at a reasonably low price. Mainly located in a lower income neighborhoods. • Soup kitchens in America, started around 1929, when the Great Depression was starting to affect Americans.

8. Soup Kitchen • When soup kitchens first appeared, they were mainly run by either churches, or private charities. • When the middle of the 1930’s rolled around, federal governments were also operating soup kitchens. • Soup kitchens mainly specialized in manufacturing and selling bread, and soup (Water could be added if necessary)

9. Al capone and his new image • Al Capone started his own soup kitchen, because he wanted to erase the shady image that people had for him. • He served three meals a day to assure that those less fortunate would have food to eat.

10. “Riding the Rails” • Forced to move, many had to illegally hop freight trains • Called hoboes • Bulls-cruel guards hired by railroads to make sure there were only paying riders • Run beside train and hop on, if missed many lost limbs or life

11. “Riding the rails” • Jump off as neared destination so not arrested or beaten by bulls • Many left home because of unemployment, poverty, or simply an adventure • Young kids boxcar kids • Used Signs with other hoboes for information such as were to find food