IN THE 1930 ’S

Cultural Issues

Struggles Women Faced

Hard time finding jobs Roles in the household Tried for real jobs got scorned and judged Wanted all jobs go to white men Only stereotypical jobs Made up for not working

Sold something of theirs Buying day old bread Warming dishes in oven to save gas

Struggles African Americans Faced

Barely any jobs 30% less than white workers wage if they had a job At first NRA (National Recovery Act) worked and it was equal But NRA public works didn’t really hire blacks and

gave them awful wages Faced KU Klux Klan, company thugs, and police violence New Deal had little impact on blacks more for economic

purposesBlack unemployment rates were two, three, or even four

times those of white workers

City vs. Country

Factories were shutting down in the city

City dwellers often went hungry

Soup kitchens in larger cities sometimes

Crowded, unheated, unsanitary living spaces

Cities attracted “beaten people” people who lost everything

Had to work harder to keep clean ; didn’t have electricity

Hospitals and doctors hard to reach

“Dust pneumonia "from working near farms

Weather influenced a great deal of their lives

Didn’t buy new clothes used flour sacks sometimes

1920s 1930s

The 1920s were years of expansion

1920s was period of optimism

Gained moneyTime of new

thinkingNew views of lifeLaissez-faire policy

1930s was years of depression

Loss of moneyBeginning of time

period had a weak leader

Returned back to tradition instead of keeping thoughts of the 2o’s

Between Now and Then

Why it was difficult?

The Stock market crashCorrupted banks and companiesBanks closing people freaked outMany businesses ran out of money“Lived lean but didn’t starve” Not much moneyStealing problems to get food and money