the great depression: hard times for workers

THE GREAT DEPRESSION:

HARD TIMES FOR WORKERS

1929-1939

WORKER’S CHALLENGES

•Stores closed, factories stopped, & millions of unemployed looked for jobs•1929, 1.5 million unemployed, 1933= 15 million•50% in Chicago, 80% in Toledo, OH

WORKER’S CHALLENGES•Wages (10 cents an hr.)•Avg. income fell by 1/3•Reduced the # of hrs.•Immigration

WORKER’S CHALLENGES•More difficult= African Americans•First fired•Domestic & agricultural workers lost jobs (Bronx Slave Market)

•% of women working•Hoover out of touch

LIFE IN THE CITY•Difficult= poverty•City gov’ts, religious groups, & charitable orgs. provided relief•“Neighbors helping neighbors”

LIFE IN THE CITY•Daily struggle to eat= breadlines for soup & bread•Hunger was widespread by 1932•Malnutrition= long-term effects

LIFE IN THE CITY•Homelessness= serious urban problem•Evicted from homes•Shantytowns—makeshift shelters built out of packing boxes, scrap lumber, etc...•Hoovervilles

HOOVERVILLES https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfylLnHjcu0

QUICK REVIEW•What 3 problems did workers face in the 1930s?

•Why was the Great Depression more difficult for African Americans?

•Why did the employment of women rise?

•What were the Shantytowns of the Great Depression called? Why?

ACTIVITY: WORKERS CHALLENGES POSTER

•Partners•Create a poster depicting an event related to a challenge/challenges workers dealt with during the depression •Label the challenges•Example: losing a job, supporting a family, getting evicted, moving to a shantytown and building a shelter, etc…

ACTIVITY: WORKER’S CHALLENGES SKIT

•Groups of 4•Create an outline for a skit depicting an event related to a challenge/challenges workers dealt with during the depression •Example: losing a job, supporting a family, getting evicted, moving to a shantytown and building a shelter, etc…•Present the skit

ACTIVITY Imagine that is 1933 You are autoworkers who have recently been laid off with the rest of your friends/coworkers

Write a series of THREE diary entries detailing the effects of unemployment for themselves and others during the Great Depression

Try to discuss the psychological implications that chronic unemployment would have on an individual