Post Info TOPIC: The Great Depression Project
Kelsey Smith

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RE: The Great Depression Project
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Photo 2

This image shows how people were still confused and baffled by the sudden loss of the money they had been saving. People were left with no savings and a closed bank in New York.

Photo 5

This photograph of Bud Fields and his family in Alabama shows how people were left with nothing once the depression occurred. Families were left with little or no clothes, were dirty and became very underweight due to the fact that they had little or nothing to eat.

Photo 9

This image shows the life of a farmer and his sons who didn’t travel to get out of the dust bowl. Showing how people who didn’t travel had no idea if it was day or night living in a shack and trying to make the best with what they had and the random dust storms.

Photo 11

This image shows the poor living conditions that people lived in due to the fact that they had nothing else. This shows the live style of most of the people living on a pea camp.

Photo 12

This photograph captures a life of a migrant mother and her four children. Showing the hard life style that they had to adapt to, with the little they had.

Photo 14

This image is of a freight car that was turned into a house, people became so desperate they would sleep anywhere.

Photo 20

This photo shows how people packed as much as they possibly could and moved. The children showed wouldn’t even have a chance to go to school because of the frequent moving.

Photo 21

This photograph shows how intense poverty was during the depression. Showing the way two peopled lived, how poor they really were.

Photo 25

The men in the picture above packed what they found valuable and left. Many people during the depression picked up their things and went out in search for a better life.

Photo 31

The photo above is of a strike picketer during the depression, most strikes looked the same but showed that there were people that cared, showing people that they like it.



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Brandi

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I don't know if I did this right... can you tell me if this is how we're supposed to do this mr e before I continue with the rest???

 

Mr. President, I have chosen this photo that I took of the average family during this time of crisis. You may look at it and view this family as lowly, but look once again and you will find that this is an average family trying to pull through life through this horrible depression. This family of six is living in a small house, probably only I room.  They do not even have enough money to clothe their children properly. Most don’t have shoes and what they do have is far from sanitary to live in. If they do not have enough money for clothes, how will they have money to educate their children? These children are our future and they are growing up in a nightmare.

My picture isn't showing up right now, but is my description the way you want us to do it?



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Brandi

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And do we HAVE to use that website for the pictures??

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Brandi

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 ANOTHER PHOTO..                     Mr. President, this photo shows the racism that is taking place during the depression. During a time of struggle for everyone, when all should be trying to work together and make things easy for one another, people are beginning to build themselves up by putting others down. The depression is not the only issue this country has on its hands Mr. President, for racism is still the center of many of our problems.

I'm going to put all my stuff together later, but I can't email it to myself right now.


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Brandi

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Mr. President, I have chosen this photo because it truly goes straight to the heart. Two little boys standing in line to get their one helping of soup for the whole day is not something you want to see, but these things have to be seen in order to understand the situation. Some of these people that go to these soup kitchens are barely hanging on, and this is the only thing that gets them through the day.  A small cup of soup each day is not going to keep this country going strong, but it will give them hope that maybe they can make it out of this depression alive.



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Jarred

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Part 3

Letters to First Lady Roosevelt

 

Dear Miss L.H.,

            Thank you for writing to me with your problem. I am truly honored. I have to tell you that I do not have any soiled cloths left. You see when I became First Lady I set up programs in which I give thousands of pairs of old cloths to people all over the country, including my own. However I will look into bringing the program to you so you may have some close as well.

 

Sincerely yours,

Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

First Lady of the United States of America

   

Dear M.A.,

            Thank you for writing to me. I am sorry to inform you that I can’t help you in your situation because of the huge amounts of others who ask me for similar things. Please remember that you are forever in my thoughts.

 

Sincerely yours,

Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

First Lady of the United States of America

  

Dear C. B. S.

            Thank you for turning to me in your hour of need. However I regret to inform you that I cannot help you because of all of the similar letters I receive on a daily basis. My advise to you would be to contact any organizations possible to see if they could help you. Please remember that you are forever in my thoughts.

 

Sincerely yours,

Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

First Lady of the United States of America

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L. Gonzalez

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Events:
As a judge I have been able to encounter new things almost on a daily basis. Since the Depression, many things have continuously changed in society and just keep changing as time goes by.  The depression caused many to lose their jobs and even become homeless.  That’s where I would come into the stories.  Many were slowly being kicked out of their apartments or places where they lived because they couldn’t pay rent for the places where they lived.  That was a very sad thing to be confronted with because that showed that even though all these hard times were happening, the rich would still become rich and demand the money that they needed.  They just couldn’t calm down when it came to times like these and many that were living paycheck by paycheck to survive found themselves going deeper into their financial hole until they had nothing.  The Wall Street Crash was one that was very hard to bear as a citizen of the United States.  Stocks were slowly going down and causing many to lose a whole lot of money that they had invested into these stocks.  The stock market attracted many because there was always a good chance that the money you put into it would multiply.  But many forgot to think about the other chance, the chance that you could also lose a whole lot of money if it was to go down and possibly crash. The crash was almost the number one cause of many of the citizens losing their jobs and homes. Our depression wasn’t just caused by us in the US; it was caused by other depressions that were happening all over the world, including the Depression in Europe. With the closing of banks, about 50% of all savings accounts were completely lost. As a judge, you might think that that would have nothing to do with me because I was pretty much well off but you’re wrong.  I was greatly affected by these hard times and even lost my job as a judge for 21 years because I had tried to help out many that were suffering greatly as a cause of this depression. This was very difficult to see even if you were among the wealthy because it is easily seen that as a result of this our nation would never be the same. 



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Brandi

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Part 3- Photo Essay

Photo 5
Mr. President, I have chosen this photo that I took of the average family during this time of crisis. You may look at it and view this family as lowly, but look once again and you will find that this is an average family trying to pull through life through this horrible depression. This family of six is living in a small house, probably only I room. They do not even have enough money to clothe their children properly. Most don’t have shoes and what they do have is far from sanitary to live in. If they do not have enough money for clothes, how will they have money to educate their children? These children are our future and they are growing up in a nightmare.


Photo 43

Mr. President, this photo shows the racism that is taking place during the depression. During a time of struggle for everyone, when all should be trying to work together and make things easy for one another, people are beginning to build themselves up by putting others down. The depression is not the only issue this country has on its hands Mr. President, for racism is still the center of many of our problems.


Photo 42

Mr. President, I have chosen this photo because it truly goes straight to the heart. Two little boys standing in line to get their one helping of soup for the whole day is not something you want to see, but these things have to be seen in order to understand the situation. Some of these people that go to these soup kitchens are barely hanging on, and this is the only thing that gets them through the day. A small cup of soup each day is not going to keep this country going strong, but it will give them hope that maybe they can make it out of this depression alive.


Photo 41

Mr. President, in a way, this photo shows how many people are trying hard to keep their dignity through the depression. Many are selling apples just so they will not have to feel the embarrassment that comes with panhandling. They would rather keep their dignity before they were to beg. But it is very hard to sell apples and it hardly ever pays off. These people shouldn’t have to be in a situation that may cause them to beg for money because they cannot support themselves.



Photo 37

I chose this photo because it shows how not only Americans are being affected by the depression but also other ethnic groups, such as Mexicans. No matter where there are from, no one should have to live in conditions like this. Many Mexicans can not find work at this time and people are trying to force them back to their homelands, so their only choice is to lively miserably as shown in the picture. No one, not anyone, deserves to live like this.Photo 34

I chose this picture specifically because of where this man is living. This is an old abandoned warehouse. This goes to show how hard the depression has hit. People are being forced to find places to stay no matter where it is. The huge dust storms are ruining peoples’ homes, causing them to find housing elsewhere. If they are not able to find homes, then where will they stay. This warehouse does not even have a door. The conditions are not suitable for someone to be able to survive there.



Photo 34
I chose this picture specifically because of where this man is living. This is an old abandoned warehouse. This goes to show how hard the depression has hit. People are being forced to find places to stay no matter where it is. The huge dust storms are ruining peoples’ homes, causing them to find housing elsewhere. If they are not able to find homes, then where will they stay. This warehouse does not even have a door. The conditions are not suitable for someone to be able to survive there.




Photo 9

Mr. President, I don’t think anyone can truly grasp the conditions of the depression until they’ve seen a photo like this. This shot shows a farmer and his sons on what used to be their home. The dust bowl totally took over everything they had. During these dust bowls you cannot even tell whether it is day or night because of the extensive dirt and dust in the air. It is a horrendous thing to view. Not only is it bad for homes, but it is bad for your health. Many people have died from this because of the dust being stuck in their lungs.


Photo 13

I chose this picture because of a different reason than all the others. I didn’t choose this one because of the surroundings, but I chose it because of the expression of heartache and grief on this mother’s face. She shows in her face alone how hard it is to raise a family and survive during this time. I chose this picture because it actually focuses on the individual and their feelings specifically.




Photo 14

Mr. President, I think you’ll agree that this photo catches your eye in a different way than all the others. The depression is causing people to live like they’ve never lived, and not in a good way. This shows a freight car that was turned into a home. This photo also shows the strength of your country. They have been able to use their minds in a way they never have before to find ways to survive. The citizens of this country certainly are survivors.Photo 40

Mr. President, the depression has gone so far that people are scrounging for food no matter where they find it. This is a picture of a man making soup out of a turtle. In the soup kitchens, people got one cup of soup a day. That is all some ate for the whole day. So for some who did not have access to these soup kitchens, they were on their for a quest to survive.

Photo 40

Mr. President, the depression has gone so far that people are scrounging for food no matter where they find it. This is a picture of a man making soup out of a turtle. In the soup kitchens, people got one cup of soup a day. That is all some ate for the whole day. So for some who did not have access to these soup kitchens, they were on their for a quest to survive.



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Brandi

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woops.... In my photo essay thing, under picture 37 it also has the caption for picture 34, but then i posted picture 34 again right under it. So you can just disregard that extra paragraph under picture 37 if you don't mind mr e.  Oh ya, and my pictures wouldn't post, I don't know why, but I put the picture number and I printed all the pictures out with their captions underneath it.

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Brandi

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ahhhhhhhhh I did the same thing for picture 14 too, so you can disregard that extra paragraph under picture 14 as well. Thanks! Sorry about that!

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Krystal

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ok so my computer is half retarded. i was just about to post all the letters and responses, and everything just decides to close. so now i have to do it all over.   it didnt even ask me if i wanted it to close. lol.

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L. Gonzalez

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Issues: (Sam Heller)
I have been able to experience many issues during my time as a judge. But during the time of our nation’s depression many new issues were starting to rise up. Justice is something that as a judge I am solely deciding on cases based on how they are justified for either side.  Politics is another thing that basically defines my job. I am almost always dealing with stuff that have to do with politics or how certain issues can either favor or go against the politics of our government. Rights are what I base most of my decisions on.  I have to favor both sides in a case and give them deserved rights as a citizen of the United States.  Equality is another big part of my job. During the depression I have been able to see how equality isn’t as important to some people as it is to others. Rich people, or the wealthiest, don’t really try so hard to fight for their equality because they are already doing so good that they don’t find it an importance as it would be to someone that was living their lives paycheck by paycheck.  The poor have constantly been fighting for the equality that they believe they deserve seeing that they are living in the same country so they should go under the same equalities. These are just some of the issues that are confronted to me as a judge and as a regular citizen of the United States.



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Amanda

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Part 3

Great Depression Photo Essay

1.) Photo # 3
This is an image of men who were unemployed during the Great Depression at an employment office in Los Angeles. This is important to remember because it shows how so many people were unemployed at the time and how competitive they became over getting new jobs.

2.) Photo # 6
This is an image of a squatter’s camp in Arkansas. This is important because it shows how poor the living conditions were for the average American in the Great Depression since they had to live in shacks such as this one.

3.) Photo # 12
This is an image that is known as “Migrant Mother.” It is an important image because it shows how poor and depressed so many people were in the Great Depression and it affected families and especially children.

4.) Photo # 4
This photo was taken during the Bonus March in 1932. It shows how dissatisfied WW1 veterans were with the treatment they received from our government after they came back to America and they were willing to fight for what was owed to them.

5.) Photo # 15
This is an image of a political poster for the Communist Party whose membership tripled during the Great Depression. The fact that membership grew so much shows that a lot of people felt that Communism would be a way to improve their conditions and end their poverty.

6.) Photo # 16
This is an image of a rally of the unemployed. This shows how big of a problem unemployment had become for the country and that people were ready to do something about their unemployment.

7.) Photo # 20
This is an image of a family on a highway in New Mexico. This family is standing on the highway trying to sell their belongings in order to get money to buy food. Many families at the time had to resort to things like this so they would be able to eat, which shows just how destitute they were.

8.) Photo # 26
This is an image of two men waiting for their relief checks in California. This is an important image because many of the people who received relief checks were migratory farmers who moved around too often to be permanent residents anywhere so when they had no work, they also had nowhere to go.

9.) Photo # 33
This is an image of the line that formed outside of the Employment Office in Tennessee. This is important because lines such as this one happened daily at employment offices around the country since work had become so scarce.

10.) Photo # 35
This is an image of two people who were a part of a union picketing at the King Farm strike. This is important because it shows that despite the heavily racist ideas of the time, many unions worked together and fought against these racist ideas.


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L. GONZALEZ

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PART III: (LETTERS)
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt

I am writing to you for some of your old soiled dresses if you have any. As I am a poor girl who has to stay out of school. On account of dresses & slips and a coat. I am in the seventh grade but I have to stay out of school because I have no books or clothes to ware. I am in need of dresses & slips and a coat very bad. If you have any soiled clothes that you don't want to ware I would be very glad to get them. But please do not let the news paper reporters get hold of this in any way and I will keep it from geting out here so there will be no one else to get hold of it. But do not let my name get out in the paper. I am thirteen years old.

Yours Truly,
Miss L. H.
Gravette, Ark.
R #3
c/o A. H.

Dear Ms. L.H, I am writing back to you in response to your request for some clothes. I understand the situation you must be going through.  My heart truly goes out to you and your family.  I just wanted to let you know that you should be receiving a box full of clothes in a few weeks.  I hope you like the clothes. I also included some shoes and a few coats for you to pick from.  I was able to get a hold of the school you should be attending and was also able to order you some books so that you could go to school. I hope you enjoy what I gave you.  May God bless you!! And to the mother of Ms. L. H., I wanted you to know that I felt in my heart to do all of these things. I hope you help her to go to school and make sure that she gets a good education. I wish you all the best in the world.  May God bless you and your family! Sincerely, Mrs. Roosevelt

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L. GONZALEZ

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LETTER #2
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt:
I am a poor colored girl who thinks quite a lot of you and your family, and I know you have done a lot for my race and we appreciate it immensely. Now I am going to ask you two personal favors which I hope you can do. The first is: will you find my daddy a job as caretaker and gardener on an estate or as a janitor of a club or theater? He can't find one
and we can't afford to put an advertisement in the papers. He has sixteen years experience. The second thing I want to ask you to do for me is a big favor but I do hope and pray you will do it. My situation is as follows: I am a girl who lives in this small town called Old Saybrook. I was born here and have lived here all of my life. In June of 1935, I was graduated from the Old Saybrook High School and in June of 1936, I was post graduated from the same high school. Now I desire to continue my education by studying "theology" at the "Moody Theological College" in Chicago. Upon graduation from Moody College I would like to become a foreign Missionary or professional quoir singer or teacher. I am ambitious and determined to succeed, and because I am determined to succeed and ambitious I am writing to ask you if you will and could please finance my expenses for me. You don't know what it would mean to me if you would do it for me. You see, I couldn't bring my self to ask just any body to do this. I had to ask some one who has money and some one who is good and kind to colored people and does not hate them. You know as well as I do that a lot of the white people hate the colored people, so I couldn't ask just anybody like a white girl could. Therefore I was doomed until I thought if you. I hope you won't think I am bold in asking you to do this for me. I would try to complete my course in about 2 1/2 years. There is no charge for tuition. But I must pay for my room and board which would be about seven (7) dollars a week. Then I must pay for incidentals etc. I figure that if you would allow me ten (10) dollars a week I could make my ends meet. We go to school from setember to the first week in August. Negros are not allowed to stay at the dormitories so I would have to room and boad outside. The superintendent said that he would find me a suitable place to stay. Then I would need about eight dollars ($8) extra to have four of my teeth fixed before I can get my doctors certificate in and checked by Moody College. I would like to go this fall in September so I wish you would let me hear from you right away. I have been out of school 2 years already and would not like to keep waiting. I tried to get a job but none of the people wanted me because I have no experience in housework. Now it is too late for me to get a job because August is here and it will soon be September. I don't feel smart enough to work my way through and keep up with my studies at the same time. Therefore, now that it's so late I am asking you for help. I want you to understand that I would be willing and glad to pay you back after I had been graduated and received a position. I would like to pay you so much at a time until I had it all paid up. I beg and implore you please do not give my name to the newspapermen and please do not give them this letter to print. I would be very hurt and embarrassed; this is a personal matter between you and me. I do not want my name in the papers because I live in a small town and everyone knows me, and they would make fun of me, I know. So, once again I beg you do not let the newspapermen hear of this. Thank you very much. Hoping you will get my daddy a job so that he can pay his bills and hoping that you will lend me the money for my schooling so that I may go in September, I am,
Yours affectionately,
W. B.
Dear W.B,
Hi! How are you doing? I’m writing you this in response to your letter. I’m deeply sorry for what’s been going on with your father. I will do everything in my power but I don’t know if I can find your father a job. What I did do was write a request for a job in your town’s newspaper and I also wrote down that he has 16 years of experience. Now for your college, I can see that you’re very serious about going to college and I really like to hear that from kids. So I have spoken to my husband and he has given me permission to pay for your time in college. I will just need the information of the college so that I can make the arrangements. I am glad to be part in your getting your college education. Please get back to me as soon as possible with the information of the college. May God bless you and your family! Take care!
Yours Truly,
Mrs. Roosevelt

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L. GONZALEZ

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LETTER #3:
Kismet, Kansas Nov. 3, 1937
Dear Mrs. Rosevelt: I am 13 years old and will be 14 the 27 of this month. I am a victim of a shut in. I have been sick ever since the 12 of July. And have a very lonely place to stay. My parence's are very poor people. I cant even go to school yet with the other kids. And doubt if I can this year. I have nothing I can do but set around and I get so lonely I don't know what to do. And if you want to cheer me up and make me one of the happies boys in the world just send me some money to get a cheap raido. Ihave got proof by the neighbors that I am sick and have nothing to do. My parence names is Mr. + Mrs. A. J. M. My name is F. M. I live at Kismet. Many, many thanks if you would cheer me up that way I wouldn't spend it for nothing but a radio. It would pass my lonely time a way so much faster. I only ask for a cheep one. F. M. Kismet, Kansas P.S. If I had any thing to do I wouldent ask you of it. It will be highly appreached. I am in the dust bowl. We didn't raise any crop this year. And we have to live off of the releif and theres no injoyment out of that. But were thankful for it. My mother is sick and under the doctor's care most of the time and my Grandma that lives with me is very poorly. And that keeps my heart broken all the time. And nothing to amuse myself with. thanks alot
Dear F.M,
I just recently got your letter. I am very sorry about your sickness and wish you all the best. I can only imagine what it would feel like to be 13 years old and not be able to do almost anything. About the radio I just called and one should be getting to your house any day now. I got one of the newest models so I hope you like it and are able to enjoy it. I wish you and your family all the best! Along with the radio I included some money that can be used for food because of the dust bowl. I hope you enjoy it!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Roosevelt

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Brandi

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haha Krystal I totally agree. Your computer DEFINITELY should have asked you if you wanted it to close or not before it did. =]  Sorry bout that though =[  Have you written your story yet? Because me, melissa, and melanie didn't have time in class so I don't know how we're going to do that because we all have things we're doing tonight. ahhhhh

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Brandi

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well melanie and melissa, this is what we started with in class... melanie's guy wanted to be in the bonus army but he couldn't because of his age. He had to go find a different job and he met my guy who was looking for a job as well at the docks. My guys couldn't get a job there because you need a college degree in order to work at the docks. (This is now all taking place in San Fransisco) Then I dont know, they end up in the same line lookin for the same job??? Wow this is boring and going no where. Ummm... I dont even know who Melissa's guy is. Well all I know is my guy ends up singing with some quartet thing that's campaigning for Upton Sinclair... Maybe my guy could make up a fake college degree, go work at the docks, something falls on him, melanie's guy jumps in and saves him and gets an award hahaha!! jpjp I have NOOOOOO idea what we should do. Maybe they could meet and find out they're distant relatives or something and they decide to try to make a living together and they build a house beside a road where we meet Melissa's guy who is selling apples. LOL I have nooo clue what her person is, what we should do... SO I know you said you'ds going to check this Melanie and we'll make a story on the forum, so give me some ideas when you get home, and maybe you could call melissa or something and see who her person is???? Thanks!!

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Brandi

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MELANIE... READ THE LAST POST I JUST POSTED!!!

I figured now you wouldn't have to go looking for the post =]

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L.GONZALEZ

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PART III: (IMAGES)
1. This image (image 3) seems to be showing how these groups of men are trying everything in their power to find a job.  It looks like they are actually auctioning off jobs because of the many loss of jobs. It is important to remember this because it showed how bad things had actually gotten as a result of the stock market crash and the closing of many businesses during the Depression.

  

2. This image (image 5) shows a poor family during the Depression.  It seems that they had also been affected by the many loss of jobs during the depression.  They seem to have not had any food in a long time because they are very skinny and look almost sick. This also shows how bad things had become and how it affected so many people.

 

3. Image 6 shows how many people had to build their houses with anything that was available in order to survive and to at least have a roof over their heads.  In the picture we can see a young man who seems to have been working for a long time but in a way looks satisfied with the work that he has done. We should remember that a lot of this was happening because many people during the time of the Depression couldn’t afford to pay rent so they had no other remedy than building their own homes unless they wanted to be homeless.

 

4. Image 9 shows how the results of the dust bowls that were also taking place during this time.  Many homes were permanently destroyed as a result of these torrential storms. This picture shows a man, I believe, trying to run away from the storm and get inside to get cover from it. Many times these storms would even kill many that were caught in its tracks.

 

5. Image 10 shows a bunch of migrant pea pickers outside of their camps.  We can also get the idea that these pea pickers were just being used to get the job done.  The thing was that any job during this time was better than no job.  They even had to live in these little tent-like things. 

 

6. Image 13 shows what they would call the “Migrant mother”. This was one of a bunch of pictures having to do with this mother and her children.  She was one of the pea pickers that had to live in those campers that I had mentioned before.  Prior to this picture she had to sell her camper in order to get money for food for her and her children. This shows the measures that many people had to go to in order to nourish them and their families.

I'LL FINISH THE REST LATER! I'M LATE FOR CHURCH!! SORRY!!



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Krystal

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Granette, Ark.
Nov. 6, 1936

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt

I am writing to you for some of your old soiled dresses if you have any. As I am a poor girl who has to stay out of school. On account of dresses & slips and a coat. I am in the seventh grade but I have to stay out of school because I have no books or clothes to ware. I am in need of dresses & slips and a coat very bad. If you have any soiled clothes that you don't want to ware I would be very glad to get them. But please do not let the news paper reporters get hold of this in any way and I will keep it from geting out here so there will be no one else to get hold of it. But do not let my name get out in the paper. I am thirteen years old.

Yours Truly,
Miss L. H.
Gravette, Ark.
R #3
c/o A. H.


Dear Miss L.H.,
I am sorry to hear about your horrible situation.  I wish I could help, but the thing is, I have no soiled clothes to give.  I've already given them away to people in the same situation as you.  I get letters like yours every day, and I just wish there was something else I could do.  I am terribly sorry, and I hope things get better soon.  I will be praying for you.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt
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Indian Bayou, Louisiana
April 3, 1935

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt,

I am a senior in high school this year and expect to graduate may the thirty-first. My daddy is sixty-five years old, a poor farmer and isn't able to supply the necessary articles which graduation calls for. I am determined to get an education, so that I can help him in the very near future. I am asking you to send me, out of your personal funds thirty-five dollars ($35) to purchase these things such as invitations, class ring, graduation dress and shoes and other small articles.

In September I'll be prepared for College and will need some help in financial conditions as well as suggestions as to which college a poor girl should attend. Send only enough in September for my freshman year in College, and maybe the next year times will be better.

If you will take notice of my letter and answer as soon as possible, it will be highly appreciated, for without help I can go no further into the step of education, nor can I reach the requirements of a high school graduate. I thank you.

For reference you may refer to Rev. J. Knight, pastor of the Indian Bayou Methodist Church, Indian Bayou, Louisiana,

Sincerely yours,
J. R. D.

 
Dear J.R.D.,
I am writing back to you to say that I cannot exactly give you money for those things.  Graduation money and financial aid is needed by many girls your age.  I can give you some helpful suggestions, though.  I know this is hard for you, and I'm trying my best to help everyone.  I'm sorry for the inconvenience.  I will be thinking of you always.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Metheun, Mass.
Mar. 31, 1935

Dear President and Mrs. Roosevelt.

The favor I am about to ask you is one which I consider a great one. I am asking if you could possibly send me a girl's bicycle. The school which I attend is very far and I am not very healthy I often get pains in my sides. My father only works two days a week and there are six in my family, it is impossible in almost every way that I can get a bicycle! I am in the eighth grade and am very fond of school. Sometimes I have to miss school on account of the walk so far. I have often thought things would pick up and father might be able to get me a bicycle, but instead they have grown worse. I assure you that the bicycle shall not be used as a pleasure but as a necessity.

I shall be waiting patiently, for my greatest wish to be granted, as I feel sure that you cannot and will not turn me down. Please try to send it to me.

I shall remain

Sincerely yours,
M. B.


Dear M.B.,
I am glad to inform you that I am trying my best to get you a bicycle.  I understand that this is hard on you and your family.  Since your health is at risk, I am more than happy to help.  Best wishes to you and your loved ones.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt



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Amanda

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Part 3

Letters to children

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt

I am writing to you for some of your old soiled dresses if you have any. As I am a poor girl who has to stay out of school. On account of dresses & slips and a coat. I am in the seventh grade but I have to stay out of school because I have no books or clothes to ware. I am in need of dresses & slips and a coat very bad. If you have any soiled clothes that you don't want to ware I would be very glad to get them. But please do not let the news paper reporters get hold of this in any way and I will keep it from geting out here so there will be no one else to get hold of it. But do not let my name get out in the paper. I am thirteen years old.

Yours Truly,
Miss L. H.
Gravette, Ark.
R #3
c/o A. H.

Response:
Dear Miss L. H.,

I am writing in repsonse to your letter in which you requested that I share some of my old dresses with you. I would be more than happy to give you a few of my old dresses. I normally send them to different charities around the country, but I have set a few aside just for you. I hope these dresses will help you go back to school so you can move on to a successful career as an adult. Thank you for writing to me and I will keep you in my thoughts.

Yours truly,
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

Milltown, N.J.
March 25, 1935

My dearest President and Mrs Roosevelt;

Just a few lines to let you know, I am in good health, whishing this letter will fined your all well.

Mrs and Pres. Roosevelt, in the first place I must tell you my name, O.C. - 14 years old.

I am writing to you Pres. and Mrs Roosevelt, to ask if I may ask one question, but I must first tell you my story.

Well you see Pres. and Mrs Roosevelt, I was doctering for a while, with out my Mother and Dad knowing it, in fact they don't know it yet, & I owe Dr. Forney, $7.50. I haven't any idea how to earn this amount, I was doctering for an infected arm. Every time I went the Dr. charged me $1.50, & I went 5 times.

Could you kindly please help me Pres. and Mrs Roosevelt. Please don't write to my parents about me owing this money. But if you will kindly help me I will greatly, & certainly appreciate it. If you help me Pres. and Mrs Roosevelt, send my note or your letter, to this address.
O. C.
Milltown Public School
Milltown, N.J.

I will certinally appreate your help.

Let me tell you one more thing, Pres. and Mrs Roosevelt, this summer aunt Joan, is going to take me on a vacation down at West Virginia, & while were going, I'll stop in and visit you, and then you can see who I am. Hows that?

Pres. and Mrs Roosevelt, could you please send this amount by April 5. I'd like to pay this out, before my parents receive a bill from the Docters office. O.K. Please.

Sincerely, yours,
O. C.

Response:
Dear O.C.,

I am sorry to hear about your arm. It saddens me to see that so many Americans can not afford medical treatments. I would be glad to send you $7.50, since I don’t think that any child should have to lose medical treament due to the cost. Thank you for writing to me and I hope you enjoy your vacation this summer.

Yours Truly,
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

Metheun, Mass.
Mar. 31, 1935

Dear President and Mrs. Roosevelt.

The favor I am about to ask you is one which I consider a great one. I am asking if you could possibly send me a girl's bicycle. The school which I attend is very far and I am not very healthy I often get pains in my sides. My father only works two days a week and there are six in my family, it is impossible in almost every way that I can get a bicycle! I am in the eighth grade and am very fond of school. Sometimes I have to miss school on account of the walk so far. I have often thought things would pick up and father might be able to get me a bicycle, but instead they have grown worse. I assure you that the bicycle shall not be used as a pleasure but as a necessity.

I shall be waiting patiently, for my greatest wish to be granted, as I feel sure that you cannot and will not turn me down. Please try to send it to me.

I shall remain

Sincerely yours,
M. B.

Response:
Dear M. B.,

I am writing in response to your letter in which you asked that I send you a bicycle. I would be glad to give you a bicycle because I believe an education is one of the most important things a young person can get. Since your poor health does not allow you to attend school without a bicycle, I will send you a bicycle so you can complete your education. Thank you for writing to me and I hope this bicycle helps you.

Yours Truly,
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

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Kristen

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Photo 44 This picture is an example of how some families had to live during the depression.  Many rooms in the house were falling apart and families didn’t have enough money to fix them up.  Rooms were very plain and usually just had a bed to sleep on and there were usually many children to one bed. This picture is important to remember because it shows us how bad things were and still are. It can grab people’s attention who might want to help. Photo 9 This picture shows what would usually happen after a dust storm during the dust bowl.  Many houses were sometimes completely gone underneath all the dirt that was spread during the dust storm.  A lot of people were left homeless because of this.  This picture is symbolic because it was able to show people what was really happening and how the dust bowl was affecting people’s lives.   Photo 1 This picture is showing the trading floor just after the crash.  It’s showing us how crazy it was after the crash and how many people freaked out and wanted to sell their stock.  It’s symbolic because it allows us to see the effect the crash of 1929 had on people and how serious it actually was.   Photo 3 The Great Depression hit everyone hard and many people didn’t have enough to get by.  This picture is just one example of how desperate many people were.  Men would wait in line all day just to get a job no matter what the job was as long as it paid.  This picture shows us what really happened and what went on.   Photo 4 In 1932 during the depression, many WWI veterans didn’t want to wait until 1945 to get their payment.  They wanted an early payment and tried to pressure Congress and the White House for it.  It symbolic of the time because it shows just how bad things got during the depression and how severe things became.  Photo 25 The Dust Bowl got so severe in the Great Plains that many people just gave up and abandoned their homes in the South and when on the road. It’s symbolic of the time because more then 2.5 million people left there homes because the dust storms were so bad and completely destroyed some people’s homes.   Photo 23 During the Great Depression, unemployment was high. Workers were upset with the working conditions and the lack of job security and formed unions to try and help these conditions.  This photograph is just one example of how bad things got.  Workers started going on strikes and even damaging the places they worked at. Photo 21 The Depression hit many people really hard and many were left with nothing.  Some didn’t even have enough to get by. This picture shows just how bad things got and how some people had to live. Many had to live in beaten down shacks that were barely standing up anymore with nothing to eat. Photo 20 Children suffered greatly during the depression.  Many had to quit school to work to help to take care of their family.  By 1930, nearly 3 million abandoned school.  Many children actually left home by themselves in order to find something better for them and their families.  This picture shows us one case of nine children leaving their home.  Photo 42 Soup kitchens opened up during the Depression to try and help feed the people that didn’t have enough money to buy food.  For millions of people, this was the only food they would get to eat. 

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kp

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Hello, my name is Peggy Terry and I live the life of a female factory worker. I was born in 1922 to a loving, Kentucky family who lived in poverty for most of my early years. Life was hard during the Great Depression, my father lost his job and at times I believed that even my family’s love could not get us through the hardships we faced.


My mother began to send me and my sister to soup lines on a daily basis, and when we could not go we settled for whatever we could find in our house, sometimes all we had was an old bottle of mustard. Back then we didn’t know any better than the fact that we were hungry and we were getting food. I don’t remember ever being ashamed of being poor, but I do remember waking up and being scared of what the day would or wouldn’t bring.


As my 18th birthday came around the corner so did the reality of a second war, World War II. By this time I was already married and my husband was working for the Works Progress Administration which was created through the New Deal. We began hitchhiking soon after because we had no place to live. We never minded it much, it actually seemed like a grand adventure to us and we learned a lot along the way. We met many nice folks who provided us with food and shelter every once in a while and learned that we could get paid by doing the simplest jobs around their houses. We also met with a few black folks working on the field and learned an incredible lesson in racism. It didnt matter if you were black anymore, poor white southerners like ourselves were treated just as bad, if not worse.


One day my father was able to get us back to Kentucky in a old car he had bought with money he had been saving up. When we got to Kentucky we realized how lucky we really were, even livin’ on the road like we had. My father shown us the "hoovervilles" that had been built; people living in the bodies of cars and some even in boxes. It was a sad site and I never quit understood why no one could help them, not even the damn president.


Before the war it was almost impossible for my mother, my sister, and myself to find work simply because we were woman, but now that jobs faced worker shortage new doors opened up for us all. Equality became present in the workplace and we found work on the home front along with 19 million other woman. My first job was working at a shell-loading plant in Viola, Kentucky. The work was time-consuming but boring, but even still I did my job and I made my money.


Mr. Roosevelt said it was important that we woman and men support the war, little did I know that the shells we were making were to kill people. I guess you could call me naive, maybe even stupid.

The thing we workers hated the most though was the fumes. They gave us some remover to wash paint off the shells and let me tell you, the fumes were like nothing else, my eyes burnt for days and my cough lasted for weeks every time we used it. We was thirsty and when we weren’t thirsty we needed to use the ladies room. But we weren’t allowed no water only coca cola that we bought, and we had no break to relieve ourselves. Yet, all us ladies was like a family and somehow we pulled through.


I think the worst part of this whole mess wasn’t just the war itself but the fear you saw in the eyes of those people who lived in the "hoovervilles," and the sorrow you saw in the women who’s husbands were soldiers. I was one of them woman, and it was horrific. Thankfully, my husband came back to me in one piece, his outlook was different though and he was never the same man again. None of us were though. The war changed everyone, me especially. Still today I believe that the killing was never worth it and somehow I know someone could have stopped it.



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Kristen

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Biography 

My name is Emma Tiller.  My husband and I were sharecroppers.  We made a lot of crops that year but our owner took all of it.  This horrible way of living lasted until
Roosevelt came to office.  During the thirties I didn’t suffer for food because there were people out there that were suffering a lot more then I was.  Because I went through a lot I was in better condition to survive through these kinds of things.  I picked cotton and only got thirty-five cents a hundred but I was able to make it because I worked other people’s homes and they sometimes gave us old clothes and shoes.  I also worked in private homes a lot.  In 1934 my town, Texas, the farmers were all out of food.  The government would give us a slip to where we could pick up food.  But when we got there we saw that people had been there for a week standing in line and could not get waited on.  And if they did it was usually spoiled meat.  We had been there about two days when men walked in with three shotguns and a belt of shells.  We were all scared but they told us that they were here to see that everyone goes home with food that day.  One went to the counter and said he wanted meat and had some in his hand.  He said it was spoiled meat and asked the guy behind the counter if he would feed that meat to his dog.  So he got good meat and gave it the person in line.  Then a black man was next and went to grab the spoiled meat but they guy told him not to take it and the boss said he was going to call the police.  When the other guy heard this he reached behind the counter, grabbed his tie, and chocked him.  Someone had to cut the tie and they boss fell to the ground.  Then the guy said that everyone there was going to leave with food and wouldn’t leave until we did.  And we all did.  The government sent two men and found out that this man and a few others had a huge warehouse that was stacked with food.  That was the food that was supposed to be issued to us.  They were sent to the pen.  We were finally able to get work when the WPA came in. I was bothered when Roosevelt said that you had to plow a certain amount of your crop, especially cotton.  I didn’t understand this.  And seeing all this cattle killed bothered me.  I grew up raising cattle and had kind of a human feeling toward them. I’d go down to look at the cows after they had been killed.  They reminded me of humans because they would groan when they were killing them and weren’t dead.  It reminded me of war.  When I saw this I realized how terrible war must be.  I ran up to my house and would sit up there and cry because of what they were doing to the cows.   


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Tanya

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Part 2:

People: (autobiography)


My name is Larry Van Dusen and I am 55 years old. For most of my life I was involved in labor unions, organizing them mostly. I was also a social worker in Kansas City in the early thirties. Organizing unemployed councils, participating in strikes, and getting arrested were some events of my life. The conditions in jail weren’t too great, especially in the heat. I once developed a rash that still comes back every now and then from when I was in jail in whether that was over a hundred degrees. This was a most uncomfortable experience, and so now I make sure that I am clean shaven just in case I get picked up by the cops. The jails were also brutal. They were even more so brutal to the unemployed, but especially those of darker color. There was even this one black man that died in the cell next to our the day after he came in. We tried getting him medical attention, but it didn’t work.

I also spent some days in a Chicago jail, which was rougher than my experiences at the ones in Kansas City. They would transfer you to different jails, which made it harder for you lawyer to find you. I came to be in this jail because of the organizing I was a part of. Here, they kept us six to eight per cell, which again is uncomfortable. Police stations also had electric seats, which was something new to me.


I believe that unemployed councils helped start the New Deal legislation. The first strike I ever saw was in St. Louis by the unemployed council people. They were miners who wanted better prices. The strike got lots of publicity from the St. Louis ‘Post-Dispatch’ and other papers like it. They showed the miserable conditions of the miners.


I was one of six kids, and like other families, there was a special feeling between myself (being the oldest) and my father. He was an individualist and would often get jobs that he considered beneath him. We also had arguments about the new idea going on at the time (like about the WPA). This put a dent in family relationships. My father also drank a lot during the Depression. He took off, going to different places, like Chicago, looking for work. It was always nice to see him come home with a week’s pay, and to smell sawdust on his clothes. It was disappointing to see him come home with his toolbox, however. This meant that the job was over.


I left home when I was nineteen. Many years later I came back home, but as if to a different house. My parents weren’t wealthy, but pretty well off, and the mood of the house itself was completely different. Roast Beef was the meal I had come back to on that day. This brought back memories of when I was a kid and the only kind of steak we would eat was round steak. We were always hungry after the meals because we could only have one piece each. I am reminded of this day every time I see my wife trying to force our kids to eat something. This had a great effect on me. I wanted to get out of the house as quick as I could, so I could find a job with decent pay. I hope that the kids now will learn to appreciate what the have and how easily it can be taken away from them by a mere stock market crash.



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Tanya

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Part 2:

Events:


-the Great Depression - my family wasn’t that wealthy to begin with, and the Depression made everything worse - during the Depression, we would only get steak one day a week, if luck was on our side, and since there were six of us kids, we each only got one piece, which left us hungry after the meal


-unemployed councils (helped the new deal arise) - attracted people who became labor organizers

-people of the unemployed council in St. Louis taking part in a tiff miners’ strike in southern Missouri was the first strike I ever witnessed, maybe this is why I got involved in organizing labor unions, myself


- what affected his relationship with his dad…(we often disagreed with issues that were new to us like…):

*Roosevelt making relief available

*whether the WPA was a good idea or not

(I hope I did this right)



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Tanya

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Part 2:

Issues:


-politics:

*papers like the St. Louis ‘Post-Dispatch’ pointed out the poor conditions for the miners, this brought public opinion and thought to the issue - the left-wing organizers blew the issue way out of proportion, and this was later reflected in the New Deal


-equality:

*so many people were already just getting by in America with the money they brought home, but when the Depression hit, many families, mine included, were hit even harder and struggled even more with putting food on the table (as earlier mentioned, my parents could only afford one round steak a week if luck allowed it)


-rights:

*unemployment unions fought for their rights of having better wages and better working conditions - I am happy to have been a part in organizing unemployment unions - something needed to be done for us to get the rights we deserve


-racism:

*that day the black man in the cell next to mine was killed, I thought about it later and I believe it was the cops that killed him - they treated blacks worse than inmates, and I don’t think it was a coincidence that this one was killed - I the cops racism overtook them, and they got to a point where they just ended up beating him dead


-economic power:

*miners were trying to get better prices, so they decided to go on strike; they tried to withhold their product from the market; the strike was broken up by the police - witnessing this made me want to fight for workers rights, so I became involved in labor unions and participated in many strikes, which is why I got arrested so much

*poor families - children like me want to leave their homes earlier to find jobs to make our living conditions better, the Depression brought about a greater poverty than was already around


okay, these have to do with economy, but not so much economic power so idk if this would be right…but they wanted to increase their wealth and become higher on the economic scale, increasing their power with the economy?

(again, I hope I did this right) *sigh*



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C.Santos

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Part 3. Pictures
Picture 3:
In this picture it depicts the rush of men in the Unemployment Department and the chaos erupting for the fight for a job. The men are all young and are looking for a job opportunity in this time of trouble in the nation. The tellers in this place had only a few jobs and in most cases there would be riots for these job opportunities. These men would take any job for any wage during this time for money to support their families and survive.
 Picture 4: In this photo it is depicting the Bonus Army rallying on the steps of the Capital over the issue for their bonuses. The picture shows the anger and the chaos erupting in the Capital because these veterans wanted the money for their service in the army. The importance of the picture depicts how important it is to take care of the people because with their rights they can pick-it and form groups outside to fight for their cause. These men stood here until the army and the police pushed the veterans out and burned the houses they built. Picture 5: In this picture it depicts Bud Fields and his family. This picture depicts how people are living through this hard time. The people seem weak and are all dirty. All they have to their names are the clothes on their bodies and for now the home over their head. Picture 6: In this picture it depicts a Squatter’s Camp which were very common to find during the Great Depression. These little shacks were made with wood, branches and garbage at times and used as homes by many a people. With no home do to the seizure by the banks many people took anything they had a built their own shacks in a park or other rural area. Picture 8: In this picture it depicts a little store where people could buy fish and fruit for a very cheap price. Many shops like this existed but the fact is that money was hard to have or get period. These shops though were very helpful to the community and would always have food. Picture 12 and 13: Shows a woman known as the “Migrant Mother” with her children inside what looks to be a little tent. This picture is to depict the hardships faced by the people at the time, American and Immigrants in the United States. Picture 17: This shows the land of a sharecropper and as u can see by the picture the whole idea of sharecropping was destroyed in the Great Depression. Those who worked on these lands would get no money from any crops sold because no one was buying these crops. Picture 20: The following picture depicts a family of a migrant worker from Iowa on a highway in New Mexico. The children of these migrant families didn’t usually attend schools and would live a rough life through the Depression. Picture 21: This picture is the homes people in the West lived. With Dust storms picking up living conditions were worse in the West then they were in the East. The Dustbowl was the worst place to live because at times you could wake up to sand at your door up to 4 feet tall or higher. Picture 23: This picture shows unemployed workers and people who were laid off outside a building with all the windows cracked. The people would actually sometimes break into these factories and raid everything in search of money or anything worth selling.

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Kristen

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Events

 


WPA- The Works Progress Administration helped me and most people in my town to were able to work again and get some money to help support us.

 


Relief stations- These were set up by the government to help get food because we were all out. Instead we usually got spoiled meat and had to wait in lines for days or even a week at a time.

 


AAA(the Agricultural Adjustment)- They told us that we would have to plow a certain amount of crop a day, especially cotton.  I didn’t get this because it was good cotton.

 


War- This had a big effect on me.  Just seeing things like other farmers killing cows would make me think of war and why we had them.

 


Sharecropping- This is what I did for a living.  It was a horrible way of living and lasted until Roosevelt. He helped us.



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Kristen

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Issues 

Politics-The government helped to set up the WPA in my town and was able to help me to get back into work.

 

Racism-The black man would usually have to wait longer at the relief stations then we would.  They would usually get the spoiled meat and there were sometimes only 5 in the line with us.

 

Economic Power- Sometimes it seemed like the government wanted to have more control over us like when the AAA came about. I didn’t like how we had to plant a certain amount of crop a day.

 

Rights- Farmers with more money thought they could do more and had the right to. Like when the farmers started killing cattle for no reason. I didn’t like that very much.

not sure if I did that right.



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kathryn

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Part III:  

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt – Letters from Children of the Great Depression
Source:
http://newdeal.feri.org/eleanor/index.htm, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eleanor/
Assignment:
Imagine yourself as Eleanor Roosevelt.  You’ve toured most of the country, visiting injured factory workers, climbing down mine shafts, ate dinner with dispossessed sharecroppers and listened to countless stories of unemployed and homeless Americans.  You return to the White House late at night from another trip abroad to a small mountain of letters.  You notice they are all from children.  You begin to imagine the Depression through their eyes as you read their letters… Choosing three of the letters available on the website, write a response for each in detail both to the child and to the parent explaining your efforts & feelings. [50 points]
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt

I am writing to you for some of your old soiled dresses if you have any. As I am a poor girl who has to stay out of school. On account of dresses & slips and a coat. I am in the seventh grade but I have to stay out of school because I have no books or clothes to ware. I am in need of dresses & slips and a coat very bad. If you have any soiled clothes that you don't want to ware I would be very glad to get them. But please do not let the news paper reporters get hold of this in any way and I will keep it from getting out here so there will be no one else to get hold of it. But do not let my name get out in the paper. I am thirteen years old.

Yours Truly,
Miss L. H.

Dear Ms. L. H. 
 

I greatly acknowledge your letter and I fear that there are hundreds of 13 year old girls and hardworking parents like yours who are in the same situation.  I am sad to say that I have given away all of my soiled, old dresses, slips and coats, along with many new outfits which I have donated to people suffering from the depression.  We are working tirelessly to help people in need for necessary items such as clothing.  It is hard for me to believe that well-to-do people in your town will not help their neighbors in need.  However, as the President’s New Deal starts taking place, your parents will have their jobs and earn money once again.  You will get your cloths soon enough… I promise.
 

Very sincerely yours,
Mrs. Roosevelt 
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt,

I am writing this letter in hopes that you will answer in my favor.
My father H. C. has been in bed from a stroke for almost a year. We have no money and my brother works but makes $3.00 a week and there are eight in our family. My step-mother is very good to me and I try to help her. She takes in washings and I have to walk for six or eight blocks and then carry the washings home. I have to go of a morning before school and it has been very cold here. If you could send me a bicycle to ride when I go after washings for her I shall appreciate it. I am in eighth grade at school and work very hard to make passing grades. The Principal of the school bought two of my sisters and me a pair of slippers so we would not have to stay at home. If you would do this for me I shall be able to help my step-mother more. If you send me one I would like a girls bicycle. I am about 4 feet 3 inches tall so if you send me one you can judge as to what size.

Loving and appreciating-
A. L. C.
 

Dear A.L.C.,

I acknowledge your letter and I am very sorry for you and your parent’s difficulties.  However, I am regrettably unable to comply with your request because I have been receiving hundreds of letters by the hour begging similar needs.  Our efforts to end this economic nightmare are endless here at the white house and the President himself guarantees your parents that there will be a new factory managed by the federal government in your little town of Sikeston, Missouri.  Your brother and any other family member may sign up at the factory for a better job with better wages if they wish to do so.  I send my condolences and I wish your father health in the near future.

Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Roosevelt
STANTONVILLE TENN
DEAR MRS. PRESIDENT

I AM A LITTLE GIRL 5 YEARS OLD I HAVE A LITTLE BROTHER HE CALLS ME SISTIE I CALL HIM BUZZIE. AFTER YOUR LITTLE GRAND CHILDREN. I WISH I HAD A SHIRLEY TEMPLE DOLL. DADY CANT NOT BUY ONE

I LOVE YOU
P. A. C.

Dear P.A.C.

I acknowledge your letter and unfortunately cannot comply with your wishes.  I am sad to say that almost no one can buy a Shirley Temple Doll this year because prices are high and money is low.  I am sure your father will buy you one in the near future if you are a good girl, since times are getting better as we speak.  Our efforts here are tireless and we are trying so hard to make little girls like yourself and their families very happy.  I hope you get everything you’ve always wanted.

I Love You Too,
Mrs. President
    

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kathryn

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I need anyone to ask me a question on how the great depression affected the classes for part I..... my descriptive essay is on page 3 at the very top.  I need to answer a question!!!

thanks.



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C.Santos

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Ok Katie ill help you out...."Was the Depression harder on certain social classes becuase of their race nationality, etc. or was it basically the same for each type of people (poor,normal,rich)?" If so how were they affected differently and why?

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kathryn

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C. Santos Wrote:
Ok Katie ill help you out...."Was the Depression harder on certain social classes becuase of their race nationality, etc. or was it basically the same for each type of people (poor,normal,rich)?" If so how were they affected differently and why?
________________________________________________________

Oh thank you so much Curt.

The great depression affected just about everyone in the US, especially people who were not white males.  White, middle aged men were usually allowed jobs, which were already extremely scarce, over women, african americans, and people of other nationalities because America was an already greatly segragated society.  No one was really affected the same because there was such a huge space between poor and middle class versus the wealthy class.  The wealthy may have lost millions of dollars in the banks but were wealthy enough to have just as much money stashed somewhere else.  Unfortunately, the poor and middle classes lost most of their money when banks closed.  they suffered greatly, having little money to buy the necessities in life like food, clothes, etc.


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Jarred

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Part 2

People

Max R. Naiman              Max Naiman was an old man at the time of his interview with me, 65. However I would never take on this man if you paid me because he looks like a forty-five year old wrestler. He was born in 1904 in Colorado to a poor farm family along with fifteen brothers and sisters.             Throughout his life he did anything to get money for himself. At the age of fourteen he stocked and thrashed grain at his home farm for days at a time. At the age of sixteen he left home and started to harvest grain in farms in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. He became a hostler, a person who services the train engines at the end of a run, in southern Colorado. He met the Wobblies in Chicago and lived in the jungles of the city. Then he lived in the literal jungle of the Washington Rainforest for three years.            As a farm worker the farm owners frequently victimized him. One owner even went so far as to beat him when he demanded his pay for his work. He was poor so where was he going to find a lawyer to defend him?            He put himself through Princeton Law School and graduated in 1932. For years he worked with cases for people who were evicted from their homes. People like that could include anyone from people who were once rich and are now poor to people who were always poor. Most people couldn’t pay right away so they would take loans, an I-owe-you, or (if you were a woman) payment in some other way.             Max was not a well-to-do man. In fact for the first few years of his practice he had to take loans just to do anything. He would do just about anything for his clients, one time he even went hundreds of miles to free five of them from prison and with only $1.57 bought them all food.             When the Spanish Civil War broke out he had hundreds of clients come into his office before they went to Spain to fight with the Loyalists. They were there to do their wills.             Naiman prided himself on helping the poor and needy in anyway possible and he did that as a lawyer for the rest of his life.  

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Brandi

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well mr e, I guess we can't write our story because no one is responding and it's due tomorrow and I have no clue who their people are. So any chance we can work on it tomorrow or you can extend this one part a little longer??

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Brandi

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Oh ya, and what parts are we supposed to respond to other ppl's things for? It's not every part is it?

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kathryn

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PART III Photo Essay of the Great Depression
Source: http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depression/photoessay.htm
Assignment: Imagine yourself a photographer during the Depression. You’ve been given a position working for the government documenting the effects of the economic crisis. Your supervisor visits you one day completely disheveled and speaks to you in a hurry. You have been asked to bring your photos to the President himself. He wishes to know more about your work and how it may help him create policies to help the nation. You have to select ten of your best photos and explain why they are symbolic of the times. Visit the website and choose ten images. Explain what message each image tells and why it is important to remember. [50 points]

Photo 1. The picture symbolizes the sad reality that such a small room full of people can be such a major factor in destroying a nation’s economy hurting millions of Americans. The photo displays the frenzy after the stock market crash in 1929 in which 16 million shares were traded in one day. It is important to remember this day, time, and place because it drastically changed the United States in such a short amount of time.

Photo 2.The picture symbolizes million’s of people’s hard work gone down the drain after banks close. In front of the bank are two men reading the signs on the window. It greatly shows the concern of people as banks continued to close. It is important to remember this because as more banks closed, more people lossed their money.

Photo 4. The picture symbolizes the sadness and desperation of people hurt by the depression. A family of six pose of a picture wearing dirty cloths in a small room. It is important to keep in mind all those who faced such hardships.

Photo 5.The picture is a squatters camp, one of thousands in the US. The camp looks like it could collapse at any moment, however, people were lucky to even live in shelters at the time.

Photo 8.The picture symbolizes not only the economic problems at the time, but the ecological problems that were occurring in the US. The picture depicts a farmer and his very young suns running into a half buried shack to escape a dust storm. It is important to remember the Dust Bowl because it was such a huge problem that lasted 6 years, affecting the lives of everyone, in which dirt was carried from central US all the way to the east coast.

Photo 10.One of the largest pea camps in California. It conveys the truly pathetic conditions that people had to endure due to the great depression. In the picture are 3 little boys standing at the edge of the tent talking, wearing dirty cloths. There is no sight of their parents. It is important to remember the young children who lived during this era, because many of the people are still alive today... such as some of our grandparents.

Photo 11.It is known as the “Migrant Mother” depicting a woman with 2 children by her side and an infant in her arms sitting under a tent covered with dirt and dust. The picture symbolizes the complete destituteness of people living in America at the time and also shows how mothers had to stay strong for their children and suffer the conditions.

Photo 14.It is a poster advertising for people to vote for the Communist party. This symbolizes the opposition to the class difference during the depression, while the working and middle class suffered and the wealthy class continued to live in luxury. It is important because communism was a huge political issue during the 1930s and in the future. However, this poster gives communism a positive advertisement.

Photo 22.It is a picture displaying the huge unemployment in only one specific area. This is only a small fraction of unemployment throughout the entire country. It is important to understand that so many people throughout the nation were just like these men, and a minute fraction of people could keep their jobs. This does not include women and African Americans.

Photo 23.Even during the great depression people were going on strike. Many company managers thought it was the perfect time to take advantage of the extremely desperate workers.


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Jarred Rose

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Part 2

Events

 

The Great Depression – The Great Depression was a world wide economic crisis that began on “Black Tuesday”, October 29th, 1929 in the United States and spread to every other part of the world. International trade declined everywhere and along with it went personal incomes, prices, taxes, and profits. Homelessness soared everywhere especially in cities that depended on industrialization, which virtually stopped.

 The International Labor Defense – A legal defense organization that was associated with the Communist Party USA. It was active in civil rights and anti-lynching movements, defended Sacco and Vanzetti, and participated in the defense of the Scottsboro Boys. Max Naiman was a member of this. It broke up in 1946 and merged with National Federation for Constituational Liberties to form the Civil Rights Cngress. The Spanish Civil War – During the Spanish Civil War several thousand of Americans went over to Spain to fight in the War there. Max Naiman was directly involved with many of these people as he was their lawyer. Memorial Day massacre of 1937 – This was an event that happened as a police response to “Little Steel Strike”. Ten people were shot and killed there when the police ordered them to get out of the field. 

p.s. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right. I could use some help thugh because I can't find many issue Max talking about.


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Tanya

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Part 3: (Letters)

Letter:

Granette, Ark.
Nov. 6, 1936

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt

I am writing to you for some of your old soiled dresses if you have any. As I am a poor girl who has to stay out of school. On account of dresses & slips and a coat. I am in the seventh grade but I have to stay out of school because I have no books or clothes to ware. I am in need of dresses & slips and a coat very bad. If you have any soiled clothes that you don't want to ware I would be very glad to get them. But please do not let the news paper reporters get hold of this in any way and I will keep it from geting out here so there will be no one else to get hold of it. But do not let my name get out in the paper. I am thirteen years old.

Yours Truly,
Miss L. H.
Gravette, Ark.
R #3
c/o A. H.

Response:
To child:

Dear Miss H.,

I am very sorry to hear of your unfortunate state. I think having an education is very important, and poverty shouldn’t be the thing getting in the way of that. It gives me great pleasure to see that you are anxious to learn and attend school. I will try everything I can to get some clothes to you so you will be able to go to school. I will also send some money so you will be able to buy books. That you for writing to me, and I will try to send the clothes as soon as I can.

Sincerely yours,

Mrs. E. R. Roosevelt


To parents:

To the parents of Miss H.,

I recently received a letter from your daughter asking me to provide old clothes I have. Her reason for doing so was because she can’t attend school without clothes and books. As I told her, I was greatly pleased to see that she wants and education, especially being so young at 13. I am sad to see that the Depression has hit such kind people, as your daughter seems. I am quite busy at the time however, visiting factory workers and others in the country who have also been hit by this ordeal. I am going to send clothes and money for books to your daughter as soon as I get a chance to, as I just got back to the White House and have many other things to sort out. I hope everything works out with your family.

Sincerely yours,

Mrs. E. R. Roosevelt


Letter:

Indian Bayou, Louisiana
April 3, 1935

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt,

I am a senior in high school this year and expect to graduate may the thirty-first. My daddy is sixty-five years old, a poor farmer and isn't able to supply the necessary articles which graduation calls for. I am determined to get an education, so that I can help him in the very near future. I am asking you to send me, out of your personal funds thirty-five dollars ($35) to purchase these things such as invitations, class ring, graduation dress and shoes and other small articles.

In September I'll be prepared for College and will need some help in financial conditions as well as suggestions as to which college a poor girl should attend. Send only enough in September for my freshman year in College, and maybe the next year times will be better.

If you will take notice of my letter and answer as soon as possible, it will be highly appreciated, for without help I can go no further into the step of education, nor can I reach the requirements of a high school graduate. I thank you.

For reference you may refer to Rev. J. Knight, pastor of the Indian Bayou Methodist Church, Indian Bayou, Louisiana,

Sincerely yours,
J. R. D.

Response:

To child:

Dear Miss D.,

I am sorry to hear this news. It makes me glad to see that you are so set on finishing your high school career and going to college. Wanting to help your dad is very nice of you. I believe that everyone should experience their high school years with all of the things you described. Unfortunately at this time the Depression has crippled many families, such as yours, financially. Maybe you could join the National Youth Administration. I just set it up and it would give you part-time work. This could help with your expenses for schooling. I will send you the $35 you need to graduate, and will be happy to pay your first years tuition. I think it’s wonderful how you want to help your father. I wish you the best of luck in completing your education. And as for which college you should go to, I say whichever your hear desires. I will be glad to pay for whichever college you decide to go to, as long as you promise to try your hardest while attending.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. E. R. Roosevelt


To parents:

To the parents of Miss D.,

It gave me great pleasure to read your daughters letter. From it I can tell that she is set on being a bright individual and helpful to others. She told me that she wants to get an education to help you out in the near future since you are now 65 years old. Her generosity touched me, as she is still young. Knowing that she is so set on continuing her education, not only to help her, but those that she loves, I will be sending her the $35 she needs to graduate. I only ask that you make sure she tries her hardest while attending college, which I will also pay for, for her. It seems like you have raised a wonderful soon-to-be adult. Whatever you’re doing as parents, keep it up, because it seems to be working.

Yours truly,

Mrs. E. R. Roosevelt


Letter:

Metheun, Mass.
Mar. 31, 1935

Dear President and Mrs. Roosevelt.

The favor I am about to ask you is one which I consider a great one. I am asking if you could possibly send me a girl's bicycle. The school which I attend is very far and I am not very healthy I often get pains in my sides. My father only works two days a week and there are six in my family, it is impossible in almost every way that I can get a bicycle! I am in the eighth grade and am very fond of school. Sometimes I have to miss school on account of the walk so far. I have often thought things would pick up and father might be able to get me a bicycle, but instead they have grown worse. I assure you that the bicycle shall not be used as a pleasure but as a necessity.

I shall be waiting patiently, for my greatest wish to be granted, as I feel sure that you cannot and will not turn me down. Please try to send it to me.

I shall remain

Sincerely yours,
M. B.


Response:

To child:

Dear Miss B.,

It saddens me to hear of your families unfortunate situation. I can assure you however that I will do everything in my power to get you a bicycle. Although getting it to you might be a little hard. Perhaps I shall hand deliver it myself to you. It is so wonderful to see the young generation is interested in their education. I am also glad to hear that you will be using this bicycle for traveling to your destination of school, and not just for mere entertainment. I hope the future looks brighter for your family, and I will try to get the bicycle to you as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. E. R. Roosevelt


To parents:

To the parents of Miss B.,

After reading your daughters letter, I felt refreshed of knowing that her generation cares so much about education. I am sorry to hear about your current working state. Hopefully my husband’s New Deal will help you out and you will be able to get a got squared away. Your daughter seems so polite, and I thank you for bringing her up with manners, America needs more children with manners such as your daughter has displayed. I told her that I would be happy to send her a bicycle, and that perhaps I would deliver it myself. She told me that the bicycle would be for traveling to school, and not for pleasure, but please tell her that once in a while going on a ride wouldn’t do too much harm. I look foreword to seeing you soon. Good luck with the job search.

Sincerely yours,

Mrs. E. R. Roosevelt



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steven

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i second brandi's motion to extend

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sarah

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Letter:

Star Route One
Albertville, Ala.
January 1, 1936

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt,

For some time I have wished to be aqainted with you. Or merly to receive a letter from you. I haved wish much to see you, but as I am a poor girl and have never been out of our state that will be impossible I guess.

Mrs. Roosevelt since I have been in high school I have been studying modern things and conveniences. I took your family for my study. I have found the study to be the most interesting subjects I could have found. In the study I, at all times know where you are, by reading all papers I find at school and elsewhere. I find what you are doing. You may never had given this a thought, but to think over our daily lives there is a good story to it.

My life has been a story to me and most of the time a miserable one. When I was 7 years old my father left for a law school and never returned. This leaving my mother and 4 children. He left us a small farm, but it could not keep us up. For when we went back to mother's people the renters would not give us part. and we were still dependent. I have been shoved to pillow to post that I feel very relieved to get off to my self.

I am now 15 years old and in the 10th grade. I have always been smart but I never had a chance as all of us is so poor. I hope to complete my education, but I will have to quit school I guess if there is no clothes can be bought. (Don't think that we are on the relief.) Mother has been a faithful servent for us to keep us to gather. I don't see how she has made it.

Mrs Roosevelt, don't think I am just begging, but that is all you can call it I guess. There is no harm in asking I guess eather. Do you have any old clothes you have throwed back. You don't realize how honored I would feel to be wearing your clothes. I don't have a coat at all to wear. The clothes may be too large but I can cut them down so I can wear them. Not only clothes but old shoes, hats, hose, and under wear would be appreciated so much. I have three brothers that would appreciate any old clothes of your boys or husband. I wish you could see the part of North Alabama now. The trees, groves, and every thing is covered with ice and snow. It is a very pretty scene. But Oh, how cold it is here. People can hardly stay comfortable.

I will close now as it is about mail time. I hope to hear from you soon. (ans real soon)

Your friend,
M. I.


Response:


Dear Miss M.I,

I am deeply sorry to hear of your hardship. During this time, it is so difficult for so many people. I have recieved many requests such as this from many children your age. I will of course try my best to relieve some of your troubles. My boys are growing quite quickly, and many of their clothes no longer fit, though they are barely used. I will send a few outfits along to your brothers, and as for you, a few of my dresses from when I was a much smaller, younger lady. They are a bit old-fashioned, but I think with a little work you could make them quite fashionable again. My secretary also would like to help. She has offered a few pairs of her shoes to send to you. Im sure these will fit far better than mine could.

As for your schooling, thank you so much for taking such an interest in my family. You seem very intelligent and strong-willed, and I hope to see you succeed. I do hope you are able to finish school, because a good education is so very important, especially for young ladies.

The best of luck and wishes to you and your family, and a happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Ms. Elanor Roosevelt



Letter:

Port Morris N.J.
March 20, 1934

My Dear Mrs. Roosevelt,

Do you realize that "Easter" is at hand? Do you realize how many hearts are broken on this account? Do you realize how hard its going to be for most people? Like me, for instance, I am a young girl of fifeteen and I need a coat, so bad I have no money, nor any means of getting any. My father has been out of work for two years.

My brother works on the C.W.A. but he is, or rather has been, insane in an asylum and has taken most of our money. My mother gets 'fits' when I ask her to buy me something new. Poor mother, I sypathize with her because it has been very hard on her, this depression, and having no money at all but debts piling up on us. I want to tell you something: We were once the richest people in our town but now, we are the lowest, considered, the worst people of Port Morris.

For Easter some friends of mine are thinking of getting new out-fits and I just have to listen to them. How I wish I could have a least a coat. That would cost about $5.00 at least. I need a dress. I want one and it only cost $.79 cents. Dear Eleanor how I wish I had this coat and dress for Easter I would be the happiest girl. I love you so much.

Please send me about $6.00
I thank you so much.

A. C.
Port Morris
N.J.



Response:

Dear Miss A.C,

I am very sorry to hear about your father's inability to find a job. I am even sorrier to hear about your brother. It is a very trying thing on all families to have a member become sick. I understand the pressures upon you from your friends to continue to keep up your appearance, and I also understand how that is nearly impossible because your family cannot afford it.

I have recieved many, many requests for clothes and money from many people. And, I am trying my best to comply as much as I can. I have chosen your letter to answer in the affirmative. I will be sending along the money as soon as I can. You will have your dress and coat for Easter. I hope you will attend church on that holy Sunday and be proud of yourself for being so humble and gracious that you would accept charity. I know that your family must have taken a great deal of pride in their status in your community, and to be lowered so must be very difficult. However, my dear, you should not let the opinions of others affect you too deeply. As I have always said, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Remember that, and you will go far.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Elanor Roosevelt



Letter
:

Bangor, Mich.,
April 27, 1935.

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt:

I am appealing to you because I know you might be able to help me. I graduate this year and I haven't enough money to buy a dress. I give all I earn for food for the family.

I have been worried and this is the only solution I could come to. I need a light dress and as I am quite little I would need about size 14 or 15 in dresses. I would think it was the grace of God if I received just a plain little graduation dress.

I'll have to get along without white shoes although I've always craved a pair of pumps size 51/2 or 5's that I never will get until I get a job which I will work very hard to get.

If I had a lot of money I would take up a nurses course and work for charity. Just to get the pleasure of healing people.

Graduate May 28, "35"

P.S. It's only because I hate to go on the stage with the other girls in my shabby dress. My father works when he is able.

Your Pleaing Friend
Miss E.B.
Bangor, Michigan
 

Response:

My dear Miss E. B,

Congratulations on completeing your high school career! A good education is very important. Now, I do understand that appearance is important as well.

My secretary has read your letter, and she has been moved to donate one of her daughter's own dresses to you. Her daughter is grown now, she graduated from high school about 5 years ago. She also has a pair of white heels, in your very size. She hardly ever wears them, and she would feel honored if you would wear them to walk across the stage to accept your diploma.

I am very proud in your accomplishments, Miss E.B. I hope you continue to succeed, even in these most trying times.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Elanor Roosevelt




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Amanda

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Part 1- Essay

Alf Landon

Alfred Landon was a Republican politican from Kansas, he was born September 9, 1887. He was a wealthy man, who had made his money from his work in the oil industry. He was a supporter of Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Party and came to be known as a leader for the liberal Republicans in Kansas. Landon was elected the governor of Kansas in 1932 and served as the governor from 1933 to 1937. He came to be known for reducing the taxes in his state and balancing the budget. He was most known, however, for running against Franklin D. Roosevelt in the presidential election of 1936. Landon did support certain parts of Roosevelt’s New Deal although he had always been against labor unions. At the 1936 Republican National Convention, Landon won the nomination over Herbert Hoover and a newspaper publisher from Chicago, Frank Knox, was chosen as his running mate. He however proved to be a bad choice for the Rebublican Party, he rarely made appearances to promote his campaign, he made absolutely no appearances in the two months following his nomination. He didn’t even make his own political attacks on Roosevelt, all of the attacks he used against Roosevelt and social security were created by Pepublican campaigners, rather than he himself. Although Landon had been a supporter to some aspects of Roosevelt’s New Deal, he later accused it of being harmful to businesses and even accused Franklin Roosevelt of corruption. He called the Great Depression “a mere excuse” for the New Deal and stated that the Administration’s policy “violates the basic ideals of the American System.” When the presidential election came in 1936, Landon received nearly 17 million votes, losing the popular vote by 10 million. For electoral votes he only won Maine and Vermont with eight electoral votes, while Roosevelt received 523 votes. After such an enormous defeat, Landon finished his term of governor of Kansas. He later returned to the oil industry and never ran for elective office again. He, however, continued to work close with politicians, such as Lyndon Johnson, and within the Republican Party, to end the conflicts that had erupted from the defeats they had faced in 1932 and 1936. Landon died on October 12, 1987 in Topeka, Kansas and at the time of his death he was the oldest U.S. governor of any state that was still living.


source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alf_Landon

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Kelsey Smith

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Prejudice- Members of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and other organizations were often called Bolsheviks or left wings due to many communists holding power in the union.

Rights- Other workers who were laid off from other companies beyond the American Express Company with me fought against the decision and joined the AFL or the CIO and other unions, and even striking.

Justice- I bring justice to many citizens working as a Sergeant, I helped many men who were tricked by Mr. Parsons in their desperate time for work.

Gender and Race- After joining the force i paid no mind to the small indifferences of the victims that came into the staion, I treated everyone the same and gave justice to all. I never abused my power as Sergeant and made racial actions or disrespectful moves.

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Julia

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10 Facts:

 
  1. Out of all the groups of people in the United States, Farmers were the first targeted in the Great Depression in the 1930s.
  2. Banks foreclosed mortgages on houses in order to raise funds during the Great Depression.
  3. The black unemployment rate was triple the amount of whites.
  4. The Dust Bowl forced many Americans to migrate to different parts of the country because of the destruction of their homes, crops, etc.
  5. In 1932, the average American income was half of what it was in 1929.
  6. The Civilian Conservation Corps combined work relief and the preservation of natural resources.
  7. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 was one of the main reasons of the Great Depression.
  8. The New Deal allowed more women to take part in the government and even allowed some to hold positions
  9. Roosevelt supported segregation whereas his wife Eleanor did not.  She tried her hardest to speak out for the rights of African Americans and women.
  10. Both marriage and divorce rates dropped at the time of the Great Depression.


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Julia

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For our story, me and Butchie were talking about how our characters met because my character, Jane Yoder was studying to be a nurse.  Butchie's character could get injured somehow and that's how they could meet. What else should we add grouppp?

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CRYSTAL

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Dorothe Bernstein- Biography

When I was ten years old, I went into an orphanage, in 1933. I was fortunate enough to have plenty to eat and clean clothes to wear. We’d go through the park when we walked to school. Men on the railroad tracks waited for us to go through and hand them our lunches in little brown paper bags. These were food that the dietitian had prepared for us that we didn’t like. These guys didn’t have work, and would probably work if there were any jobs available. I didn’t fear them because in those days, no one was really your enemy. They were nice men, and you would never think that they would do any harm to any person. They weren’t bums, just hard luck guys. On Fridays, we’d give them our lunches, about 125 of us going to school, carrying brown paper bags containing mashed sardine sandwiches and mayonnaise. The sardines still have an affect on me to this day, thirty some years later. I am now a waitress and I still hold my nose when I serve sardines. I didn’t know anything else about these men, like where they were going or where they stayed. We’d say hi to them and they’d say hi to us, that’s all. However, they knew we were friends, and we felt the same. I don’t know why people refer to those days as the good old times, when nothing about it was good. It was not good that men wanted to work but couldn’t. When kids wanted milk and you had to go scratch for it. One of my friends I went to the store with was really ashamed because they had food stamps. Louise was her name; she was a Bohemian girl. Her mother owned a grocery store where they lived behind. Louise used to do the books and people were always owing. She never asked the people for the money, she just wrote it in the book because they needed the food. She wasn’t giving the food away because the store would be paid eventually. This store was much less impersonal that supermarkets. The faith people had in each other was different. There are many people ashamed of where they came from. I never knew any real millionaires who were diving out of windows because they lost all of their money. I would read about it as if it was fiction. Who would have so much money that they would kill themselves because they had lost it? To me it’s easier to have to work a little bit and get up. It’s like when you get sink so low that you can’t sink any deeper, there’s no where else to go but up. You either lay down and die, or get up and start over.

 

Events

The effects of the stock market crash of 1929 influenced my life greatly. Effects of the stock market crash caused banks to shut down, had people close business, people were evicted from their homes, people lost their job, and their money had been lost because of bank failures. The men I gave food were severely affected by what had happened. This was the reason why they could not find jobs when they wanted to work, the reason why they didn’t have money for food or to stay any place. I wouldn’t have been able to witness the effects of the depression if it wasn’t for these men whom I’ve tried to help because they were forced out of their homes, lost their jobs and their money.

 Issues

I showed patriotism by helping fellow people in my country who needed help, by giving then food when they needed aid. I believe that people should have the right to work when they want to so that they can help themselves and their families to provide food and shelter for themselves and their families. Economic Power was very important because this was a time where economy was low and people struggled to get food and people needed jobs. This was the LACK of economic power. Gender is also important because I’m a little 10 year-old orphan girl and I contributed in helping these men survive during such a difficult time in society.


ha, i skipped college writing for this. now the bell is going to ring, so i rushed the last part.


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Tanya

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Part 3:  Photo Essay of the Great Depression

1. Image 1: This photo is symbolic of the Great Depression, because it is a picture of the trading floor of the New York stock exchange. The room is busy and many people were trading their stocks because of the crash of 1929. This image tells the message that many people panicked over losing money and resulted in the whole country’s economy dropping drastically. It is important to remember this photo because we need to remember not to panic if a lot of stocks are being sold, as the people did in 1929; another Great Depression is something we would be better without.


2. Image 2: This picture symbolizes how many people lost all of their life savings due to the stock market crash of 1929. It tells the message that many people grew worried about their state of well being and how they would be able to survive with all the money they lost, as the three men in front of the bank are reading the window. It is important to remember this because people should be aware that investing in a stock is risky, and all you have could vanish, as happened to the people with stocks in 1929, and who lost everything they had in their bank accounts.


3. Image 3: This photo symbolizes the need of survival during the Great Depression. The Depression put many people out of work, so even more were in search of a new job, like these unemployed men at the American Legion Employment Bureau in Los Angeles. This image tells the message that people are going to compete, especially during hard times, to survive and provide for their families. It is important to remember this because we need to realize how bad the Depression affected the people of this country and how desperate they were to get whatever money they could to survive.


4. Image 5: This image symbolizes how hard some of the families were hit during the Depression. This particular family is shabbily (if that’s a word) dressed, have no shoes, except for one of them, and look rather dirty. None of them look happy either, which is how most of America was during the Depression. This image tells the message that lots of people were effected badly by the Great Depression. It is important to remember because we shouldn’t take for granted the things we have, especially the things we have in excess. We should also remember how much these people had to go through and how much it affected their lives.


5. Image 13: This image symbolizes the poor conditions of pea pickers. There are two children near a women, whose heads are turned down and away, as if they were crying. The people in the photo had to sell their tents just to buy food. They lacked the things necessary for survival. This picture tells the message that people were willing to do anything to survive, even if it meant selling their shelter to put something in their stomach. It is important to remember this, because again, we should all be thankful for the things we do have, even if it isn’t that much, because it is still better than being completely destitute.


6. Image 20: This picture symbolizes how families would travel due to money shortage. This family was ready to sell their belongings for food. They had absolutely no money and their father was ill. The children couldn’t attend school and about 3 million children abandoned school by the end of 1930. This image tells the message that the children of poor migrant workers suffered greatly during the great depression. They couldn’t attend school and were on the road traveling. It is important to remember this because a lot of American children were not able to attend school during the Great Depression because they couldn’t afford it. It also shows how the Depression not only hit adults, but children as well.


7. Image 21: This is an image of poor people in their residence. The place where they lived wasn’t that big. The roof was patched, and the wall boards were unevenly placed. It was basically just a shelter for them. This tells the message that poor families at the time of the Depression suffered badly, but did what they had to in order to have a place to live. It is important to remember this because poverty is still around today even though the stock market hasn’t crashed as it had in 1929, however, those that do have better places to live should be thankful that they don’t have to live in a cramped environment as the one shown in this picture.


8. Image 23: This is a picture of the people of the union during the Flint sit down-strike. There are broken windows at the General Motors’ Flint Fisher Body Plant, probably from upset workers. This image tells the message that many workers went on strike because they disliked the speedup of assembly lines, working conditions, and the lack of job security. They formed unions, but the unions were ignored for a while. Sit-down strikes were also more effective than picket strikes. It is important to remember this because workers had to work hard to get rights from the places they worked. They paved the way for the rights of workers today, and the unions of today.


9. Image 32: This image is of homeless people in New York, New York. They are near a Christmas tree and are on East 12th Street. This tells the message that not everyone was fortunate to have a job at the time of the Great Depression. It shows how unfortunate those that were homeless were, to be living on the streets, especially in the cold. It is important to remember this because there were many communities of homeless people in the major cities of the country during the Depression. We need to remember how horrible it was for those unemployed people of that time.


10. Image 37: This photo is of squatters in the Mexican part of San Antonio, Texas. These particular people made a house out of scrap material to take shelter in. It tells the message that people during the Depression would gather whatever they could to keep warm and stay alive. It is important to remember this because many people were affected in this way and had to improvise with their surroundings to survive off of what they could get their hands on.



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Tanya

Date:
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C.Santos wrote:

Ok Katie ill help you out...."Was the Depression harder on certain social classes becuase of their race nationality, etc. or was it basically the same for each type of people (poor,normal,rich)?" If so how were they affected differently and why?


Okay, I need to answer a question, and then I'm done, so I'm just answering this one.

The depression impacted the non-whites more than it did the whites because most people that were hiring others, hired white males first.  The Great Depressed affected the seperate classes differently, however.  The poor people were affected the greatest.  Since they were already poor before the Depression started, once workplaces began laying people off, if these poor people were layed off, they would become even more poor.  And with so many people searching for jobs, it wasn't looking too good for them to obtain one.  The middle class wasn't affected as much as the poor, however, they were still affected pretty good.  Most of these people had their life's savings in the banks, so when they began to close, they lost everything.  The were pushed further down the economic scale than they were already at.  They too had to compete for jobs, as can be seen from the pictures for the part 3 assignment.  There were too many people in need of jobs, and not enough job openings due to money shortages.  Those who were rich were affected, but not as badly.  These people already had a lot of money, so no matter what they lost, they still had some.  And even if they weren't able to get a job, they still had money they could live off of to buy food and things they needed, unlike the poor and middle class, who had just enough to make ends meet, or were unfortunate and had to live off of the streets.



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