Photography:
Slideshow Source: 10P World News 2012-2013
Citations:
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/dust-bowl-migration/
http://www.weru.ksu.edu/new_weru/multimedia/dustbowl/dustbowlpics.html
http://www.history.com/topics/dust-bowl/photos
Citations:
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/dust-bowl-migration/
http://www.weru.ksu.edu/new_weru/multimedia/dustbowl/dustbowlpics.html
http://www.history.com/topics/dust-bowl/photos
1930's vs. Present
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Similar Relief Organizations of the Present and the 1930s
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
The Civilian Conservation Corps was created during President Franklin D. Roosevelt's term. This organization was created in mind for young men and also nature. Roosevelt proposed that the organization hire unemployed young men to plant trees and plants to stop erosion and destruction of the nation. Many agencies and branches of the government were supportive of F.D.R.'s plans and reforms such as the CCC. During the first induction of CCC, on March 4, 1933, only 37 days had passed since F.D.R.'s inauguration.
"Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)." Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. <http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1586.html>.
Information from: CCC
Pic Citation
"Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)." Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. <http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1586.html>.
Information from: CCC
Pic Citation
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
FERA which stands for Federal Emergency Relief Administration was started by the government when President F.D.R. entered office. It was started to offer help and information to the unemployed. This organization followed the laws of the state and provided support through their obligations. They provided funds made available by the public and also private sources.
FERA was mostly based on construction and public works. This organization provided jobs for men. Women were offered jobs in sewing and textiles in order to make money. Thousands of teachers who had lost their jobs were hired by this program. They were hired to offer education to the unemployed who wanted to learn. With the help of this organization, students also provided education when they could not afford it.
"Essay: The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)." ::: Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) Collection :::. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. <http://content.lib.washington.edu/feraweb/essay.html>.
Information from FERA
Pic Citation
FERA was mostly based on construction and public works. This organization provided jobs for men. Women were offered jobs in sewing and textiles in order to make money. Thousands of teachers who had lost their jobs were hired by this program. They were hired to offer education to the unemployed who wanted to learn. With the help of this organization, students also provided education when they could not afford it.
"Essay: The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)." ::: Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) Collection :::. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. <http://content.lib.washington.edu/feraweb/essay.html>.
Information from FERA
Pic Citation
Source: 10P Community Events 2012-2013
The Stock Market Crash (1929)
The Stock Market Crash started on October 29, 1929, a day marked in history as Black Tuesday. The Stock Market Crash destroyed the economy and was the start of the Great Depression.
Piture Citation: http://tinyurl.com/cssarka
Picture Citation: http://tinyurl.com/crc4qe8
Picture Citation: http://tinyurl.com/acnm3c9
Information Citations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Crash_of_1929 http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/a/stockcrash1929.htm http://www.pbs.org/fmc/timeline/estockmktcrash Source: 10P NYC Events 2012-2013
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The Successful Stock Market:
The decade before the Crash, known as the Roaring Twenties, was a time if wealth and luxury. The Tsock Market was up and many believed it would continue to rise. They believed that investing in the stock market would make them rich, and therefore invested as much as possible. When someone did not have the money to pay for these stocks, they paid on "margin", which means that they paid some of the money for the stock and would borrow the rest from he broker. This was very risky because the broker had the ability to ask for all the money at once if the stock price dropped to low. This was called a margin call. Many people who thought they would become rich from the stock market entered this risky business, positive that it would pay off in the end. This optimism was soon challenged when the stock prices in the New York Stock Exchange changed. On September 5th, 1929, the stock prices began to drop after reaching their all-time highest two days before. Black Thursday: On October 29, 1929, the stock prices dropped drastically. A large number of people were selling there stocks and margin calls were made. The panic ended by the afternoon when some bankers invested large amounts of money into the stock market. This allowed the market to go back to a somewhat normal state. Four days later, the stock market fell again. Black Tuesday The infamous Black Tuesday was, and still is, the worst day in stock market history. The people panicking as the prices of the stocks dropped lower and lower. So many people frantically tried to sell their shares as quickly as they could that the ticker fell behind by 2.5 hours. Since everyone was selling and no one was buying, the prices dropped further. The prices of the stocks were down 80% from their original prices in the 1920s. Many banks had invested depositors' money in the stock market. Depositors rushed to withdraw their savings when they found out that the banks assets contained uncollectable loans and nearly worthless stock certificates. Unable to raise fresh funds from the Federal Reserve System, banks began failing by the hundreds in 1932 and 1933. Results After the chaos of Black Tuesday. the government made the decision to close the stock market for 4 days.When it was reopened, the stocks dropped more and continued to drop, reaching its lowest point on July 8, 1932. President Roosevelt also decided to close all the banks in the United States for 3 days, which is known as the "bank holiday." When the banks reopened, they had strict restrictions on withdrawals. Banks who lost all their money in the frenzy of the people to withdraw their money were forced to close, taking all the remaining money with them. As a result, people lost any money they had stored in those banks. |
Preventing Future Crashes...Can we do it?
President FDR created the New Deal starting in 1933. This introduced the benefits of social security, guarantees on bank deposits, stock regulation, unemployment insurance, and protection of workers wages. He also stopped the bank runs and started public works projects to help lower unemployment.
Presidents Obama followed in FDR's footsteps to prevent another depression. The Congress accepted a plan for a $800 billion dollar bailout to help banks and companies like General Motors. In the past few months there has been hope for economic recover because the stock market has regained lost ground. Citation: http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f092109_Crash Source: 10P NYC Events 2012-2013
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Wheat Bumper Crop
1929-1931 = Economic Decline in Midwest
1929-1931 Bumper Crop vs. TodayBecause there was so much fluctuation in the weather, people didn't know what to expect. As a result they planted more and more crops, with the number increasing if the harvest was great the previous year. However what farmers in 1929 and today are experiencing today is that the weather conditions are too harsh for the crop to grow. In Hartford City, Indiana farmers planted 96.4 million acres of corn, their highest amount yet. High temperatures around 107 degrees Fahrenheit are destroying the crops, leaving all the land to turn into dust, similar to what happened from 1929 to 1931.
Citation: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/us/for-midwest-corn-crop-the-pressure-rises-like-the-heat.html?_r=0 |
Even though there had recently been a Stock Market Crash in 1929, the West didn't feel the effects right away. The years between 1929 and 1931 produced a huge bumper crop ("an unusually large harvest") in wheat in the Midwest. This lead to the rapidly rising number of acres of wheat, which was the highest yet, 12 million acres. However, the recent Stock Market Crash led to soaring unemployment rates and falling prices on the East Coast. More people became unable to afford the prices of crops from the Midwest. The demand and prices for many crops, especially wheat, fell drastically. The price went from .67¢ per bushel in 1930 to .25¢ per bushel in 1931. This started the economic decline in the Midwest.
Citations: http://classicalcapital.com/About__The_Dust_Bowl_.html http://www.trinity.edu/jdunn/dustbowl.htm Source: 10P NYC Events 2012-2013
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Tenements
Want to see what a tenement actually looks like? Come check out the Lower East Side's Tenement Museum! The Visitor Center &
Museum Shop
103 Orchard Street (212) - 982 - 8420 http://www.tenement.org 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Open 7 days a week (Except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day) Take the "Hard Times" Tour!
"Discover how immigrants survived economic depressions at 97 Orchard Street between 1863 and 1935. Visit the restored homes of the German-Jewish Gumpertz family, whose patriarch disappeared during the Panic of 1873, and the Italian-Catholic Baldizzi family, who lived through the Great Depression."
Citation: http://www.tenement.org/tours.php Source: 10P NYC Events 2012-2013 |
Hard times call for unity among immigrants
During the Great Depression almost all people were living in poverty, having lost everything in the Stock Market Crash. Many were homeless, jobless, and on the brink of starvation. Nothing was being done to help these people because the leaders of the country didn't know how to react to the depression. As a result, family and friends became extremely important to many families and people. As shown by Ma in Grapes of Wrath, family should always stick together.
In New York City, many people of the same ethnic backgrounds stuck together to deal with the depression. This led to the rise of families in tenements, because they were a cheap way for families to live together and get some basic necessities. Although the tenements were horrible places to live, they still allowed families to stick together. "It was impossible for me to believe that conditions in Europe could be worse than they were in the Polish section of Chicago, and in many Italian and Irish tenements, or that any workshops could be worse than some of those I had seen in our foreign quarters." - Alice Hamilton (first woman appointed to Harvard faculty) Click here to review the Tenement Museum! |