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The Effect of the Great Depression, Dissertation Example

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What Effect Did the Great Depression Have on the Children in the United States in the 1930’s?

Introduction

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt letters were very common during the 1930’s. They were letters of exasperation from children who felt they had no one to turn to once exhaustive measures to the White House and other government officials could not or would not help these individual families with basic necessities. The children of the families cried out for help to the Roosevelt’s hoping they would aid them with simple things such as graduation clothing to food or college education so that they could support their families.

On May 9, 1936 a prospective high school graduate student sent his formal request to the Roosevelt’s for a suit of clothing to graduate high school because his prior requests to the White House had gone unanswered. This particular note is kept on file at the Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York.

Several more letters poured into President Roosevelt and First Lady Roosevelt through these Great Depression years. Semi-Anonymous signed letter requesting help for family medical doctor bills were quite common. Children were feeling the brunt from the lack of money available to pay for common necessities including food, shelter and medical thus they took situations into their own hands to contact the President and First Lady for assistance often requesting that their letters be kept in confidence for the purpose of their family’s pride. The introduction of the paper is 3-5 pages that states the question, describes the historical context and background; it needs to tell enough information so that the reader understands what is going on at the time and what comes next. It also needs to explain why the question I am asking is important. “One very sad letter to the Roosevelt’s was from Ms. D.P. that needed a bronchial tube and of who was very ill and underweight due to her lungs not working properly.” [1]Other letters came in from children of families that longed to take dance lessons whist their families could not afford to continue as such for that was not deemed a necessity of life during the depression but the children’s hears were filled with hope and anticipation that they could somehow continue the extra-curricular activities they loved so much. Other extremely well-written letters came in from a coloured girl that wanted to continue her higher education in theology and requested the Roosevelt’s assistance to do so. The young girl also requested the assistance from the Roosevelt’s to aid her father in finding a job. She felt this would be the primary reason for her writing for assistance from the Roosevelt’s. This particular letter came from an Anonymous writer from Birmingham, Alabama. There were many letters from crippled and disabled families where young children realized the extreme problems the families were facing and most of the letters came after prior assistance where requested from government and the White House and these letters were either turned downed or not answered. The Roosevelt’s were the last option for these young patrons. The children of this era were extremely humble and fine tuned to the deprivation of simple needs that were not available to them during the Great Depression. The irony of it all was that the Great Depression did not discriminate based on colour, creed, religion, age, sex or education. It was simply there and people had to deal with it the best they could.

It is extremely important to understand how the children viewed the Great Depression because the children were present in the homes and they were equally affected by the high rate of unemployment which reached it’s peak of approximately 25% during those years. Further there was no formal welfare system in place during the 1930’s hence the families including children suffered for basic necessities such as clothing, food and medical supplies. Education was not considered a necessity during the Depression because there were no funds to support it and further children were forced to work to help support the family. Several parents were ill hence the younger generations that were healthier had to quit school and go to work at slave labour wages to barely survive. History notes that over “250,000 young children became homeless during the Depression and further they became nomads travelling the highways and railways.”[2]

One of the most hearts wrenching letters received by Mrs. Roosevelt was written by “M.S. about her father that did not have his job at a coal mine anymore and as a result she feared that he might commit suicide. The younger child was requested $150 loan for a steamship ticket to find work to support the family and prevent her father from committing suicide. She has lost her mother earlier that year.

Mrs. Roosevelt went through over 200 pages of letters from young people requesting aid from her and President Roosevelt. She then realized it was not practical for her to go through each piece of mail and personally respond to each letter. “In 1933 she received 90, 000 letters, in 1937 she received 198, 000 and in 1939, 110,000. She instead relied heavily upon her staff members to aid her in replying to letters and she personally read only 50 letters per day.”[3] History shows that the Roosevelt’s aided the youth with less than 1% of material requests but directed them to New Deal Agencies and charities and educational institutions that could support some of their needs. Overall most the patrons that wrote the letters were rejected.

Eleanor Roosevelt used her savvy influence with the newspaper and the broadcasting agencies to expand some federal aid to children. Mrs. Roosevelt was a very strong activist for the very poor teens and young children during the years of 1933 through 1941 however despite her hard work she was just as ineffective as the young children who wrote her letters with helping them in return.

Body of Paper

Terkel Studs graduate of law and political activist during the Great Depression speaks of the history of his family having a boarding house in Chicago from as early as 1922. His views of the Great Depression came from his open ears of “tenants, workers, labour organizers and dissidents.”[4] Many of his works of the Great Depression including Division Street, An Oral History of the Great Depression, How Blacks and Whites Feel About the American Obsession amongst others were published during the 1950’s through 2002.[5] Studs represented through his 96 years so life those who could not express their view of liberal and joyous politics except through Studs radio broadcasting service. It was said that Studs could remember almost every name of people who drew opposition to the political views of the Great Depression whilst he used to remember these oral expressions and voice them during his radio broadcasts in Chicago.

In some of Terkel Studs books he recaptures the adult viewpoints of how the mothers, fathers and grandparents viewed the struggling times of the depression. Mosaic memories of rich going to destitute poor such as Bill Benton and Clement Stone are deposited in Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression. The importance of understanding history is to better help us understand the future and how to prevent these turmoil situations in the future.

Several of Studs interviews were also aired on Studs Terkel Program on WFMT radio Chicago, IL. The employment crash of 1929, farm crashing amongst other issues was discussed with the people. “Terkel was mostly focused on whether people during the Great Depression were aware of the financial implications and how they managed as such.”. Studs book is based on historical facts and personal feeling rather than hard details as expressed in a passage from the book, “This is a memory book rather than one of hard fact and precise statistic. The precise fact or the precise date is of small consequence. This is neither a lawyer’s brief nor an annotated sociological treatise. It is simply an attempt to get the story of the holocaust known as The Great Depression from an improvised battalion of survivors.”[6]

It is very important to note that letters from Terkel Stud’s are extremely important to the effects the Great Depression had on children because the effects that the adults in the family felt were directly portrayed onto the children. The children of the families suffered as well because the mortgages were unpaid, the food supply was short and education was no longer a primary need rather a want. Hence children were often forced to quit school and go into the work force to help feed and clothe their families. With that in mind, please see the following summaries of interviews conducted by Terkel Stud in 1971 with regards to the years of the Great Depression.

In an interview with Oscar Heleen in 1971 of repossession of farm and farmland in 1929, he spoke of the real struggles of having a farm for his entire life of which was taken away from him because there were not many laws to protect the individual such as mortgage laws, etc. Deficiency judgments were used to take away people’s properties and almost impossible for people to ever get out of debt in the near future. Overreaching was done quite often, foreclosing and livestock was further mortgaged for little on the dollar value. Many townspeople gathered and decided they would go down to the court and teach the judge a lesson for issuing non-legal foreclosures. The judge advised the townspeople that he was the judge and asked that they remove their hats. The townspeople laughed at the judge and they told the judge they were here for redress and were not interested in whose courtroom it was. The Governor and National Guard were called out to resolve the issue because the townspeople threatened the judge on the steps of the courthouse with a rope. The Federal Land Bank was broke and Washington had to aide to help put people back on their feet after the Great Depression. Heleen worked for the Federal Reserve and knew of the terrible financial situations. In 1932-33 there was a new program and committee set up for farm legislation federal aid to put new money directly into farmers hands. The first corn loan was given in the spring of 1933 under the reign of Roosevelt. This gave people hope that perhaps the nation was going to come out from under the Great Depression from help of the Federal Government. Until about 1939 there was a very slow and gradual payment of old debts and small purchase of new material as land values decreased. From the standpoint of economics anytime over 50% of a nation’s income is spent on warfare the country is sure to fail financially.[7]

Alf Landon, Governor of Kansas speaks of the Great Depression years with particular reference to Roosevelt’s conservative view during the Great Depression. He condemns the administrative views during 1930. He supports the dam systems built across America to facilitate the denial of pollution into our waters. Alf was also a Republican candidate for Presidency during that period of the Depression.[8]

Anna Ramsey speaks of her father who was a landlord during the years of the depression who never raised rent during the time of the Great Depression to meet his own bills. He kept in mind the tenants best interests and made loans from banks to keep his properties afloat. Ramsey remembers her father as being irritable and almost non-communicative for having to go to the bank to get a loan to keep his properties afloat and pay for his bills. Anna remembers feeling ‘degraded’ going to the loan company having to make that payment for her father. Even though it was a reputable loan company she felt that something ‘just was not quite right’ about the situation and she carries that with her through her adulthood.[9]

Interview with Doc Graham revealed he was introduced to Chicago whilst staying with a friend around 1924. There were many characters of ill-repute present. Con-men, heist-men and burglars were present with efficiency in the town. He felt that in the 1920’s it was a jungle for survival of the law of the land hence he was arrested for several allegations but no arrests in his early 20’s. After about 10 arrests he met a Count Victor Lesti, one of the greatest conmen in Pittsburgh. Conducive to the Counts profession, he stole the money from one of the non-heist but prop figures and they went along their way. Gambling and card mechanics, Scarny with Mickey McButler, was a big con-man system running in those days. Doc Graham’s father was a gambler hence he was somewhat familiar with this type of life. Only the strong survived during the 1920’s and the weak were bushed off. The sophisticated belonged to the mob. There were two mob services during the 1920’s. The mob was the strong political forces during that time hence Chicago was open territory. If you had a $10 dollar bill or a speaking acquaintance with the Mayor you were not messed with during that period. During the Great Depression engaging in situations out of the scope of the law was normal but today everything is mechanical. Doc Graham was part of orchestrating situations that needed tending to which were illegal in those days for failure to comply within the realms of that society. [10]

Dorothy Bernstein was raised in an orphanage during the times of the Great Depression. In 1933 she was on the west side of Chicago at the age if 10 and speaks about going to public schools and relates the times as being plentiful with education and there was good supply of food in the early 1930’s. The railroad tracks were full with men awaiting the left over’s from the children at the orphanage. Perhaps the children were tended to very well because the orphanage was run by the state and the federal government and were tended to very well with federal and state funds. Bernstein can still remember the brown paper bags from the poor men with sardine sandwiches. She relates this to her current life where she still will not eat a sardine sandwich. The men that were awaiting sandwiches were not criminals but were just poor men that were without a job and very poor financial without much food.

Bernstein considers herself lucky and well taken care of even though she grew up in an orphanage.

Ed Paulsen, day worker was on the west coast when the Great Depression hit and was about 18 years old. He left his family and went to Frisco attempting a job to work on the docks. He did not have a college degree whilst most of the jobs preferred workers with college degrees to work in stations. He headed back east to join a brother who was working on a gravel crew railroad. In Harvest, South Dakota it was very difficult for he and his brother and they learned the further east they went the more difficult it was for them. They were gullible coming from the west coast going to work in the east. He felt like a middle-class west coaster with no idea of what was going on in the Great Depression. He and his other brothers ended up in San Francisco again in 1931 on Hate Street near Keyslar Stadium. He would go to 3^rd and 23^rd to look for work at the waterfront with thousands of men waiting for 2-3 men to work. At this time Mr. Paulsen was only about 21 years of age. There were thousands of men all over town making speeches of the economy and looking for work. Then it was time to go to the steps of City Hall. There was nothing said to help the people. People would demand work, food and shelter. People wanted unrented housing opened and short supplies of groceries but their needs were unmet. Governor Rossi would meet no demands and we would wait for the police to come on the horses and the fights would take over with some riots and people dying at times. Horses would slip and slide on the marbles people would bring and the horses would slip and slide and hurt the horses. The police would retaliate and hurt the people and even kill them. No one had a ‘dime’ to help themselves out and there was much frustration and turmoil. No one believed that they would survive or win. There was an automatic built in losing complex reaction. Times were really negative and horrible for the people of that time. Mr. Paulsen states that the crew he hung around with were gentle and caring and simply wanted to go back to work. Mr. Paulsen did not have any real skill to bring to the labour force but he states that the other men in his labour organization were skilled men simply begging for work. Because Mr. Paulsen was young he was not so shocked with the attitude the government had. He remembers that the American Legion were the enemies of the vicious crowd. They seemed to always be a pain of the existence of any change in humanitarian action.

In the spring of 1934 Paulsen went out to Colton, California outside of Los Angeles with his brother on a freight train. They got as far as Phoenix, Arizona and there they learned there was a fruit train heading out. They heard rumour that there were ‘bum camps’ off the ‘orange train’ where they could be put up. They headed for Kansas City hiding in the orange shipment. He recalls acid burns from the acid in the oranges. They move from Kansas City, MO to Kansas City, KS that night. They get caught by the train director and get warned that they will get turned into the military authorities at Fort Levin worth. Of course, he does not turn them in; they get off and carry on. Later, they jump back on the train and carry back on the train toward the ‘bum camp’ in Omaha. The brothers ate a wonderful meal of bacon and eggs and were sent off to bed with a nice bed and full supply of personal items thinking they had died and gone to heaven.[11]

Paulsen states, “People had reached a state of cannibalism” in his small town of about 20,000 people (1971). Everyone had a chance to declare nobility but balances were down and profits were dropping therefore it was a depression hence a spiritual watershed that we know it today. (Paulsen 1971). People stole and cheated to survive. Milk, clothes, etc were taken simply to survive.

Cesar Chavez was the President of the farm workers organization in the 1930’s. He speaks of his father having to move the family to another home during the time of the Depression but the new house was a worse house rather a poorer house. Chavez remembers his father gave no real explanation for the move but he could observe what was happening during these times. Several moths later they had to move again. The bank had foreclosed on the loan from the second home. There was legislation under the Reconstruction Act and small farmers like his father could continue but the President of the bank wanted his father’s land so his father’s loan was not approved. This was political and financial discrimination. Chavez was born on the original land and this was a huge personal downfall for him and his family. He remembers his whole life changing in a matter of a week. The farmland had changed with new ditches and farm construction changes that they were not happy with. Chavez remembers his family of five children of which he calls that a small family trying to make it in Southern California. There was always a home for them but he considered himself to come from a poor family. These small conveniences of having food and shelter soon came to an end. Chavez did not let this bother him but thinking as an adult now he realizes this must have had a huge impact on his father and mother. Chavez says at the age of eight he could not come to grips of what was happening but he remembers feelings of melancholy and sadness in the eyes of his father. There were migratory workers and much discrimination happening. Much hunger was going on and his father and mother always planned to move to Arizona after the Great Depression hoping to rebuild for a better life but that never happened.

Evelyn Finn worked in St. Louis and New Orleans in the 1930’s as a seamstress under organized labour organizations but the labour organizations gave them little to no help. New Orleans was the largest manufacturer of men’s clothing in the nation during that time. There was much manipulation with the NRA discerning women’s labour rights. The women were fired whilst fighting for their labour wages. Three women went forward to fight for their rights. During those times, people were so poor in New Orleans; Finn recalls people eating bean sandwiches. Meat was too expensive for people to afford. The worst of the Depression was in 1933-1934. Finn was attempting to gather the women together to form a union in New Orleans but the women were afraid.

Howard Worthington sold door-to-door gadgets to people in the community whilst times were good. One item he sold was a charcoal based item that kept food fresh in the refrigerators of many. Worthington, a well-dressed man, lost his income during the Great Depression because his commodities were considered extras not necessitates.

James Farley was Roosevelt’s campaign manager in the early 1930’s. Farley remembers his long association with Roosevelt and prediction that the country was in for an anticipated Depression. Farley remembers Roosevelt running for so many terms because of his personality wanting to keep the power for so long. In 1931 for eighteen days, in the summer of the year, Farley took a trip across the country for Roosevelt by train with hopes of finding out people’s views on the new election. It is important to note during these days of travel, Farley lay covered with dust of the carried coal on the train. At that moment Farley thought Roosevelt would carry every state with exception of Kansas and Nebraska. It was quite apparent the people did not blame the President for the Great Depression.

John Beecher spoke about the migrant worker camps with particular emphasis of their unsanitary conditions. They were set up to supply formal labour under controlled conditions. There were some apparent delegation of conditions to govern the building of these migratory worker camps concerning living and working conditions, but they were not well-organized. Hence, unsanitary conditions and overworked laboured workers came out the good-natured progress of the laboured work practises. Often there were quarrels about who was going to build the camps or if the camps were going to be built but most of the time the government prevailed. Migrant workers were all but forced to choose migrant work if they wanted to survive because there was no work.

Judge Sam Heller remember the 1930’s during the days of the Great Depression as he served the Landlord’s and Tenant’s Court where there were over 2,000 people summoned into court. Heller remembers daily people coming into court with less than 5 day notice to pay the rent or they would be dispossessed from their place of residence. There would be no legal defence for a person in the legal possession. The judge felt that there was something he had to do to protect these people from throwing them out in 5 days. He felt the law did not state he HAD to throw them out in 5 days but rather that was the MINIMUM allowable legally. He DOUBLED the 5 days and gave extra days for each child. Further he gave them 30 days to keep the families and children safe. The judge was accused of playing politics with the tenants v. the landlords and favouring the tenants because they offer more votes. The judge took the standpoint that as a judge does not have to look out for the land rent collector rather he can look out for the destitute rather than throwing out 400 people on the streets of Chicago hence still the landlords will not see their money during this time of Great Depression. The judge lost his bench ship after 21 years because an organization sent out letters that he did not respect the property rights of landlords. He still states he will not change his viewpoint just to stay on the bench.

Justin McCarthy was a student working at a Ford Assembly plant in the late 1930’s who eventually became a journalist. McCarthy’s wages were very good he recalls of five dollars a day. McCarthy remembers the plant turning out 234 Ford cars a day when he started and when he quit the plant was turning out over 500 cars a day. Further there was no increase in pay with the work load increasing and the Ford Company did not supply gloves for his work of sanding the fenders on the cars. If he wanted to go the toilet an assistant had to take over your job with permission. This is simply an infringement of your human rights. A person could actually be fired for taking too many restroom breaks. Fellow workers on the assembly line explained to McCarthy that people hanging around the plant in uniforms at the gate and around the plant were guards and in particular perhaps ex-cons. He remembers the plant was not protected by a Union in those days.

There was an interview of children of adults who went through the Great Depression. These were excerpts of unidentified adult children from various children who recall stories from mothers and fathers during the Great Depression. These times were really tough and demanding on families. Uncles were out with mini-rifles hunting for food to survive and without the food they were hungry. The present generation cannot fully comprehend the true meaning of this. Some families are truly ashamed of the times during the Depression whereas other families are proud because they survived and actually flourished and were successful through the Depression. Some families feel the Great Depression made them strong yet other families feel they need some material things to make them feel secure. There are treasures of heroism associated with the Great Depression. Americans were forced to face the hard realities of making a buck to survive and face idealisms in a different view point. There were great pressures put on the generation gap to survive. The value of the dollar came to a point of fear in the older generation that went through the Great Depression. Whereas the newer generations do not seem to value the dollar bill because they did not go through such struggles as with the Depression.

Roosevelt’s’ New Deal Program aimed to give relief, reform and recovery from the economic losses during the Great Depression. “When Roosevelt was nominated, he said, “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.” The New Deal included federal action of unprecedented scope to stimulate industrial recovery, assist victims of the Depression, guarantee minimum living standards, and prevent future economic crises. Many economic, political, and social factors lead up to the New Deal.”[12] The New Deal was created under the legislation of the National Industry Recovery Act in 1933 with the initial mode of advancement for providing shelter and food for the people of the United States. The goals of the program later revolved into reform movements with keeping in mind current government abuses. The NRA was declared unconstitutional in 1935 based on their code drafting practises. “In addition, the New Deal program founded the Works Projects Administration in 1939. It was the most important New Deal Work-Relief Agency. The WPA developed relief programs to preserve people’s skills and self-respect by providing useful work during a period of massive unemployment. From 1935 to 1943 the WPA provided approximately 8 million jobs at a cost of more than $11 billion. This funded the construction of thousands of public buildings and facilities.”[13] Black Thursday stuck Wall Street on October 27, 1929, which was the worse recession after World War I that the country had ever experienced. When Frankin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933 over 33% of the famer force was unemployed which was worse than the economists had originally anticipated. Harlem had an unemployment rate of 50% and properties owned by coloured folks dropped to less than 5%. In 1932 the teachers, policemen and firemen of Cook County, New York were no longer employed due to lack of funding to pay them for over eight months. FDR helped to promote basic banking and welfare reforms through the New Deal Programs but that was only the start of things that needed to stretch much further to relieve the impoverished the sad conditions they were faced with. “Only when the federal government imposed rationing, recruited 6 million defence workers (including women and African Americans), drafted 6 million soldiers, and ran massive deficits to fight World War II did the Great Depression finally end.” [14]

Research Findings and Observations

Hastings’s writes in Nickel’s worth of Skim Milk: a Boy’s View of the Great Depression about the time he and his family spent during the Great Depression in Illinois. The author and survivor of the Depression writes, “And all said much the same: ‘you were writing about my family, as much as your own. That’s how I remember the 1930s, too.” (Hastings 1972). He manages to touch on poignant and universal details of famine and lack of clothing and shelter that brought middle-class families to the point of begging with little or no pride simply to take care of the basic needs of their families. Marion was feeling the brunt of the worst economic times to hit the nation ever. The stock market had already plunged to 32.4 billion in 1929 and this year made it worse. Over 2,000 banks had closed their door by 1931. The economy was in shambles. Over six million people were unemployed. “The author was taught ‘thou shall not covet’ but could remember passing his friend house one morning with milk left on the table and remember his mother substituted milk with evaporated milk”. (Hastings 1972, 5). Hastings points out times where sacrifice had to be made but other times where the family was rewarded with little treats of small nature. They stuck together strong as a family unit and survived the treacherous hard times of the Great Depression. What makes his book so special is that he told it from the standpoint of a person living and experiencing the madness and a hero that survived. So many other Americans that survived were able to relate to the hard times that they persevered through to get to where they are today.

“Extensive disproportionate distribution of the wealth along with the stock market artificial placement at a high level attributed to it’s crash in the late 1920’s and the Great Depression.” [15]The rewards from the Coolidge Prosperity was not shared evenly for was shared between the very wealthy and the very comfortable middle class leaving the country with a huge between the rich and the working class. The federal government tried to compensate for the huge gap but it was not in time and was not sufficient enough. Total demand must equal total supply for an economy to flourish adequately and this was not the case in the late 1920’s in the United States. The concept of buying on credit rose to 60% on some products such as cars and as high as 80% on items such as radios. This was surely to lead us into economic dissipation. The distribution of wealth was done so by virtue of socioeconomic class. During World War I the government encouraged farmers to buy new technology to increase productivity of their farms. But after the war ended the government did not subsidize the farmers anymore. Hence the farmer began to fall into deficit on production and assets. As a result of being ignored and their prior investments farmers began to lose money. Americans were struggling to rebuild after the war especially with emphasis on lending international allies money to purchase US goods and services. These foreign countries were currently in no financial positions to commence paying off their debts to the United States. The United States began to put high restriction on trade with European nations but some say this was demise for the US because these trade restrictions also prevented the Europeans from making good on their loans.

What do you think of the concept of ‘judicial activism’ leading to the Great Depression? Perhaps two major causes of the Depression are “the 1929 stock market crash, the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff law, economic problems abroad, and an overly timid Federal Reserve.”[16]. “John Kenneth Galbraith, one of the better known economists to expound on the subject, observed that, in 1929, the U. S. economy was “fundamentally unsound. The rich had too much income and the poor had too little. There were many imposters and frauds in the corporate worlds. There was no deposit insurance to protect for good loans gone bad. Export markets suffered, reducing demand for American products, when Congress unwisely increased tariffs. There were poor tools available to economists to make decisions.”[17]. The Supreme Court in the 1880’s to 1900’s acted as a political czar and controlled the nation’s economy where the rich stayed rich and the poor got poorer. “The Courts tightened economic policies in the 1920’s further leading to the stock market crash and the Great Depression.” [18]The Supreme Court was making fraudulent rulings as seen by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment when they tried to use it in a personal context to “empower the Court to supervise all the states’ corporate tax and regulatory policies rather than its primary and intended reason to safeguard the rights of former American slaves.” [19]In 1895, further the Court denied a 2% tax on the wealthy through the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Many children left their home and ran to the railways as a source of income and a way of survival during the Great Depression hence being known as the Box Car Kids. Perhaps the worst year of the Depression was 1933 where people could not afford housing and goods. People began to stand in lines for bread and milk and simple lines were formed for government subsidy assistance. Young girl children would dress as boys and hop on trains to find work. Child labour laws prevented children from working hence they disguised their appearances because desperate times meant desperate measures. Although President Hoover reported that no one was starving there were over twenty cases in New York of starving families. Couples were forced to delay marriage plans and further forced to reduce birth rates of children due to lack of supplies to feed, clothe and house the children. One-third of the nation was without food, shelter and proper clothing by the time President Roosevelt took office. The horrible circumstances are what prompted the youth of America to commence sending letters to Lady Roosevelt during these desperate times. “The New Deal’s Farm Security Administration funded such compassionate photographers as Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans whose memorable images documented the plight of impoverished children.” [20]

“By February 1934, the New Deal authorized the FERA to provide one hundred thousand college students the part-time jobs they needed to remain in school.” (Reiman 1992). Youth programs were formulated based on the premises to help the unemployment of the adults. “Half of the program extended the FERA student-aid program to high school students as well as college students, aiding 390,000 in the first year. The NYA was signed into law by executive order in 1935 and received $50 million its first year (compared to the CCC’s almost $300 million in the same year). Yet because of its timing and administrative provenance, the NYA would be far more progressive, reformist, and “youth-centred” than either the CCC or FERA.” (Reiman 1992).

By the 1930’s it was mandatory for children under the age of sixteen to attend school. Hoover seemed to close his eyes toward the worsening conditions of the families and their children around this time. Secretary of the Interior Ray Wilbur tried to make a plausible arguable from a medical stance that the Depression was positive for children from the view that it made families psychologically closer during these times of need. Desertion was very common by 1933 when Roosevelt took office. There was not much divorce but famine was causing desertion of families from children. Child labour laws were ignored and there was note of increase violence and child abuse present in the households. The U.S. Children’s Bureau’s Child Health Recovery Conference on October 6, 1933 gave rise to federal funding for emergency food and medical services for children. The 1935 Social Security Act was aimed to keep mothers out of the workforce and at home taking care of the children. Single mothers were receiving no aid to stay at home and support their children. Title V of the Act was designed to assist mothers and children in need of maternal and child care health needs. Title VII was there to assist those children with special needs or disabilities. This was especially important to aide children that were in orphanages. Many feared that those youths over the age of 16 especially boys were susceptible to becoming juvenile delinquents without the assistance of finding employment. There was still much discrimination in the years of the Great Depression but the concept that all youth were equivalent to economic rights was prevalent over the entire United States regardless of race, colour or sex for the most part. A basic high school education until the age of sixteen was considered a basic right for all children across the United States by the 1930’s. School clubs such as 4-H, Boy’s Scouts, Young Women’s gained much respected recognition during the years of the late 1930’s. Laws were introduced prohibiting employment of individuals under the age of 16 whilst promoting shipment of goods across borders. Minors were prohibited from working in specific industries that could pose threat to their safety and health. There was no specific law for children who worked in agriculture or the domestic fashion; however there was severe increased pressure on the politicians to make law reducing child labour. There was special emphasis on promoting children to go to school and finish the minimum of high school diplomas rather than the commission of working.

Sociologist Thomas Minehan was so surprised of the young men and women dressed in Army fatigues posing for work to sustain themselves for purely survival purposes he decided to write a book Boy and Girl Tramps of America (1934). The unemployment rate of the youth were higher than the unemployment rate of the adults at a rate of over 250,000 and further “Homer Gainey Director of the Youth Commission suggested that approximately 40% of the youth were either unemployed or not in school during the Great Depression.”[21]. Youths looked to the Whitehouse at Washington for assistance but the Whitehouse was not responsive to needs. Hoover did not help the youth even during his ending days in office. Franklin Delano Roosevelt provided experimental New Deal Programs to give direct and immediate aid to the young people which included hiring the young people for conservation projects, the Federal Emergency Relief Aid Fund for college aid, the National Youth Administration for college study jobs which are still in existence today, “The New Deal’s National Recovery Act (1934) and Fair Labour Standards Act (1938) banned many exploitative forms of child labour.”[22] The First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s newspaper column My Day along with her radio station program was used to aid the younger generation giving them an opportunity to express their feeling of the Great Depression. She was not able to aid them with specific material help other than allowing them to express their view of the Depression. Though confiding in her with their problems was essential to the young people’s emotional survival through the Depression. Letters of poverty, not being able to afford simple medical items such as eyeglasses were very common for Mrs. Roosevelt to receive from children. In a capitalist world economic failure was seen as a personal failure by most children that were writing to Mrs. Roosevelt. Most children that wrote simply wrote for used items of clothing and basic necessities of food and some wrote for furthering their education. The children of the Depression certainly were in tune with the dismal situation that they were faced with. Though some of the girls had more than others as explained by a young girl in Michigan that wanted assistance with a dress for high school graduation, but most of them were in the same financial situation hence it made it much easier for them to adjust to the situation and receive it with little humiliation and shame because when they looked around everyone was facing the same shame from financial demise. About 13% of the New Deal’s programs gave work study jobs to the non-Caucasians students which showed there was some but limited support to the coloured young children. The New Deal’s Emergency Fund Relief Program helped to support funding for teacher’s salaries and funding for federally supported school lunch programs which ensured school’s would stay open and children would be fed. The Head start program came into existence after World War II in the 1960’s. Programs initiated out the New Deal Program and the Great Depression and many of them are still in existence today and further extension of them have developed through the initial New Deal Programs.

My hearty went out especially to young children that asked for basic necessities of used coats and clothing to make the winter or those that asked or a simple gift from Santa and mother’s had to lie to children and state the chimneys were blocked and Santa could not pass this year. How could one deprive a cold child from a basic necessity of a coat? It is not like the child was asking for a new coat of any kind! What do you think about the child that only wanted one small gift from Santa that did not have the emotional development to understand that Santa was not real at this point or understanding such at this point would emotionally damage the child for life? Perhaps such a small gift is what the child needed to survive through this really bad time but the government would not or could not help for political reasons. The government could not pick and choose individuals to help. Instead they decided to commence the New Deal Program which helped individuals across the board without any prejudice but the assistance was limited by funding and where the assistance was offered. I read relentless letters pouring in with destitute hearts pouring in asking for help with their mother and father’s inability to work or the mother or father lacking jobs and the children wanting various necessities ranging from food, shelter, clothing, and education whilst begging the Roosevelt’s for assistance. Numerous letters sent to Ms. Roosevelt went unanswered and unassisted obviously because she could not assist every youngster that beckoned her. I do totally disagree with her and her staff not writing the youngsters back though. We must remember that youngsters are very impressionable and they are vulnerable and if they feel that they cannot turn to anyone in times of desperation they lose all hope and their future is based upon how their young lives are shaped. Perhaps Roosevelt could have taken the time to send out generic letters to each youngster that wrote and state that you are indeed special to me but I cannot personally assist you but we are working on a New Deal government program which will help you and your family very soon.

Conclusions of the Paper

Adults bore a great burden during the Great Depression for they felt they had let down their families by not being able to take care of them. Children often felt the same guilt because they were not able to meet simple demands through contact with the Roosevelt’s. There was much frustration and violent tendency amongst the nation during the late 1920’s-1930’s. Children gave up Christmas presents to help finance necessities of a refrigerator that was needed for the family. When it came to the point where the family could no longer meet the simple obligation of the payments the children asked for assistance from Mrs. Roosevelt. Children bore the brunt of the realm of the Great Depression just as the mother’s and fathers did. The children felt the financial economic pressures just as strong as the adult did because they felt the lack of food, shelter and clothing in the households. They took action by contacting the only person they knew to help them which was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. In times of desperation their prayers went unanswered but they had emotional attachments to Mrs Roosevelt that kept them strong with emotional hope to carry them through the Great Depression until some form of assistance came through federal programs of New Hope.

With the entry of World War II there created a need for full-employment of a new economy of full bodied men and women into the economy including their entrance into the labour force. US trade force forced repayment of the deficit that was in creation. In 1939 the prices of commodities rose drastically. “After Pearl Harbour was bombed in December 1941 the people of America were needed to work in the factories for the war efforts. The desperate need for soldiers, pilots, and workers to make ammunition, weaponry, and air/sea craft all contributed to the end of the Great Depression.” [23]. It seems that the Great Depression took it’s toll on the adults primarily and secondarily took it’s toll on the children with more emphasis that many people know today. Much history speaks of the trials and tribulations that adults went through but fails to speak of the trials and tribulations that the young children suffered. It is often overlooked that the children suffered much agony from the effects of the Great Depression. Letters to Mrs. Roosevelt show direct concentration to the effects the Great Depression had on the young folks during the 1920’s and the 1930’s. Future research should look into the hidden aspects of what was not revealed in these letters perhaps revealing suicide rates and emotional pressures put on the young generation during these times to help support their families and especially the children that were left destitute as a result of their family’s financial burdens.

References

Cohen and Roosevelt. 2002. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: letters from Children of the Great Depression. North Carolina, UNC Press p. 21.

New Deal Network. 2002. How the Depression Affected Children New Dealers Network 2003.Internet. Available from http://newdeal.feri.org/eleanor/er2a.htm accessed 25 October 2009.

Cohen and Roosevelt. 2002. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: letters from Children of the Great Depression. North Carolina, UNC Press. p. 56.

Van Horn and Schaffner. 2003. Work in America: an encyclopaedia of history, policy and society, volume 2. California, ABC-CLIO Publishing. P. 171.

Van Horn and Schaffner. 2003. Work in America: an encyclopaedia of history, policy and society, volume 2. California, ABC-CLIO Publishing. P. 267.

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Hard Times. 1971. Anna Ramsey. Recordings from Hard Times Chicago History Museum 2002 Internet. Available from http://www.studsterkel.org/htimes.php accessed 25 October 2009

Hard Times. 1971. Recordings from Hard Times Chicago History Museum 2002 Internet. Available from http://www.studsterkel.org/htimes.php accessed 25 October 2009

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McElvaine Robert. 2000. The Depression and a New Deal: A History in Documents United States, University Oxford Press p.156.

Analysis of Roosevelt’s New Deal. 2009. Cyber Essays 2001 Internet. Available from http://www.cyberessays.com/History/84.htm accessed October 25, 2009.

The Obvious Cause for the Depression New York Times (1857-Current File); ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006) 3 January 193: 43

D. J. Connolly. Judicial Supremacy. Internet. Available from http://ttokarnak.home.att.net/Depression.html 26 October 2009. p.2

D. J. Connolly. Judicial Supremacy. Internet. Available from http://ttokarnak.home.att.net/Depression.html 26 October 2009. p.3.

D. J. Connolly. Judicial Supremacy. Internet. Available from http://ttokarnak.home.att.net/Depression.html 26 October 2009. p.1.

Great Depression and New Deal. 2009. Internet. Availabe from http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Fa-Gr/Great-Depression-and-New-Deal.html accessed October 26, 2009 p.57.

Cohen and Roosevelt. 2002. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: letters from Children of the Great Depression. North Carolina, UNC Press. p. 112.

Robert Cohen. 1996. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt”: Cries for Help from the Depression Generation, and the American Youth Crisis of the 1930’s. Georgia, University of Georgia.p.135.

The End of the Great Depression 2009. SIU Museums. Internet. Available from.http://www.museum.siu.edu/museum_classroom_grant/Museum_Explorers/school_pages/bourbonnais/page6.htme October 26, 2009. p.242.

[1] Cohen and Roosevelt. 2002. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: letters from Children of the Great Depression. North Carolina, UNC Press p. 21.

[2] New Deal Network. 2002. How the Depression Affected Children New Dealers Network 2003.Internet. Available from http://newdeal.feri.org/eleanor/er2a.htm accessed 25 October 2009.

[3] Cohen and Roosevelt. 2002. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: letters from Children of the Great Depression. North Carolina, UNC Press. p. 56.

[4] Van Horn and Schaffner. 2003. Work in America: an encyclopaedia of history, policy and society, volume 2. California, ABC-CLIO Publishing. P. 171.

[5] Van Horn and Schaffner. 2003. Work in America: an encyclopaedia of history, policy and society, volume 2. California, ABC-CLIO Publishing. P. 267.

[6] Hard Times. 1971. Interviews with Children of Adults from the Great Depression. Recordings from Hard Times Chicago History Museum 2002 Internet. Available from http://www.studsterkel.org/htimes.php accessed 25 October 2009

[7] Hard Times. 1971. Anna Ramsey. Recordings from Hard Times Chicago History Museum 2002 Internet. Available from http://www.studsterkel.org/htimes.php accessed 25 October 2009

[8] Hard Times. 1971. Recordings from Hard Times Chicago History Museum 2002 Internet. Available from http://www.studsterkel.org/htimes.php accessed 25 October 2009

[9] Hard Times. 1971. Recordings from Hard Times Chicago History Museum 2002 Internet. Available from http://www.studsterkel.org/htimes.php accessed 25 October 2009

[10] Hard Times. 1971. Anna Ramsey. Recordings from Hard Times Chicago History Museum 2002 Internet. Available from http://www.studsterkel.org/htimes.php accessed 25 October 2009

[11] Hard Times. 1971. Anna Ramsey. Recordings from Hard Times Chicago History Museum 2002 Internet. Available from http://www.studsterkel.org/htimes.php accessed 25 October 2009

[12] McElvaine Robert. 2000. The Depression and a New Deal: A History in Documents United States, University Oxford Press p.156.

[13] Analysis of Roosevelt’s New Deal. 2009. Cyber Essays 2001 Internet. Available from http://www.cyberessays.com/History/84.htm accessed October 25, 2009.

[14] Analysis of Roosevelt’s New Deal. 2009. Cyber Essays 2001 Internet. Available from http://www.cyberessays.com/History/84.htm accessed October 25, 2009.

[15] The Obvious Cause for the Depression New York Times (1857-Current File); ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006) 3 January 193: 43

[16] D. J. Connolly. Judicial Supremacy. Internet. Available from http://ttokarnak.home.att.net/Depression.html 26 October 2009. p.2.

[17] D. J. Connolly. Judicial Supremacy. Internet. Available from http://ttokarnak.home.att.net/Depression.html 26 October 2009. p.3.

[18] D. J. Connolly. Judicial Supremacy. Internet. Available from http://ttokarnak.home.att.net/Depression.html 26 October 2009. p.1.

[19] D. J. Connolly. Judicial Supremacy. Internet. Available from http://ttokarnak.home.att.net/Depression.html 26 October 2009. p.1.

[20] Great Depression and New Deal. 2009. Internet. Availabe from http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Fa-Gr/Great-Depression-and-New-Deal.html accessed October 26, 2009 p.57.

[21] Cohen and Roosevelt. 2002. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: letters from Children of the Great Depression. North Carolina, UNC Press. p. 112.

[22] Robert Cohen. 1996. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt”: Cries for Help from the Depression Generation, and the American Youth Crisis of the 1930’s. Georgia, University of Georgia.p.135.

[23] The End of the Great Depression 2009. SIU Museums. Internet. Available from.http://www.museum.siu.edu/museum_classroom_grant/Museum_Explorers/school_pages/bourbonnais/page6.htme October 26, 2009. p.242.