Humanities BCreated by: Ms. Miller

1930-1939

Facts about this decadePopulation: 123,188,000 in 48 states

Life Expectancy: Male, 58.1; Female, 61.6 Average salary: $1,368 Unemployment rises to 25% Car Sales: 2,787,400 Food Prices: Milk, 14 cents a qt.; Bread, 9 cents a loaf;

The Great DepressionBy the 1930s money was scarce because of the depression, so people did what they could to make their lives happy.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpfY8kh5lUw (Worksheet)

1930-1939Movies were hot,

parlor games and board games were popular.  People gathered around radios to listen to the Yankees.  Young people danced to the big bands. 

Franklin Roosevelt influenced Americans with his Fireside chats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt9f-MZX-58

(Worksheet)

1930-1939The golden age of

the mystery novel continued as people escaped into books, reading writers like Agatha Christie, Dashielle Hammett, and Raymond Chandler.

Historic EventsIn the Great Depression the American

dream had become a nightmare. What was once the land of opportunity was now the land of desperation. What was once the land of hope and optimism had become the land of despair.

The American people were questioning all the maxims on which they had based their lives - democracy, capitalism, individualism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b1dTvNaL0Q (Worksheet) “The Great Depression: Causes and Effects

Historic EventsThe best hope for a better life was

California. Many Dust Bowl farmers packed their families into cars, tied their few possessions on the back, and sought work in the agricultural fields or cities of the West - their role as independent land owners gone forever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_ehYkr0NhU , Dust Bowl Refugee by Woody Guthrie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il849yFmTxw , Dust Bowl Refugees (Worksheet)

Historic EventsBetween 1929 and 1932 the income of the average American family was reduced by 40%, from $2,300 to $1,500. Instead of advancement, survival became the keyword. Institutions, attitudes, lifestyles changed in this decade but democracy prevailed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgR2Buke5MQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xIOPPDhL9A

Historic EventsDemocracies such as Germany and Italy fell to dictatorships, but the United States and its constitution survived.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZt2row7v88

Historic EventsEconomics dominated

politics in the 1930's.  The decade began with shanty towns called Hoovervilles, named after a president who felt that relief should be left to the private sector.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfylLnHjcu0

Welcome to Hooverville (worksheet)

 The Presidents of the 1930s were Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt

People and PersonalitiesMary McLeod Bethune  

a very influential African American woman educator and friend of Eleanor Roosevelt who, as a board member of the National Youth Administration, was able to extend benefits to African Americans.

Mary McLeod Bethune (worksheet)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfnhKbenyNg

People and PersonalitiesRichard E. Byrd   a

famous explorer of the Antarctic and Arctic whose 1933-35 expedition to Antartica conducted many scientific search projects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqn5HC-Ko_k (worksheet)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZMu3gJfXIQ

People and PersonalitiesMildred Babe Didriks

on  considered by many to be the finest woman athlete of all time, she won medals or distinction in such varied sports as baseball, basketball, track and field, and golf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUKNj_tpi14

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIuD4Q3TGnY

People and PersonalitiesAmelia Earhart  an

aviation pioneer who was the first woman and second person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7aMcDeuQ8I

(worksheet)

People and PersonalitiesJesse Owens an

African American athlete who won four gold medals in track-and-field at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and put to shame Hitler's Aryan superiority message

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn-Xg158TcQ

(worksheet)

People and Personalities Frances Perkins

the first woman cabinet member who advocated the 8 hour day, stricter factory safety laws, and laws for the protection of women and children in the labor force

.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3zRbw-VxJI

(worksheet)

People and PersonalitiesWill Rogers a

homespun philosopher who began his career as an Oklahoma cowboy.  Well loved and respected radio commentator, film actor, and author

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ0HgIBGl1E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JhLgqHMe-w

People and PersonalitiesWalter Winchell  a

'gossip' columnist and radio commentator whose controversial stands and scoops on celebrities made him one of the most famous twentieth-century American journalists.

Arts and ArchitectureThe arts, like everything else in the 30's,

were dominated by the Great Depression. In the 1930's this discipline was supported

by government programs such as the Public Works of Art Project and later the Federal Art Project.

The artists employed by these projects (over 5,000 at one period of time) chose themes based on American culture and history.

Arts and ArchitectureThe sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, was able to

complete his Mount Rushmore Memorial with funds supplied by the WPA.

Other "starving artists" were able to survive the hard times by painting murals on the lobby walls of government buildings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-ByLfAMABM

Arts and ArchitectureJackson Pollock http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG45EoRh3Fo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bICqvmKL5s

Willem de Kooning.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSFMNhvc1ek

Arts and ArchitectureThis decade saw the beginning of the American regionalist style with Grant Wood's famous work, "American Gothic".

Arts and ArchitectureArtists that adopted this style include John Steuart Curry Thomas Hart Benton Georgia O'Keeffe with her southwestern

themes Edward Hopper with his realistic scenes

from city life.

Arts and ArchitectureMany of the nation's most memorable skyscrapers (the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and Rockefeller Center) were completed in the early 30's.

Arts and ArchitectureIn 1937 the Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece of home design, "Falling Water", was built.

Arts and ArchitectureIn 1932 the word "mobile" was coined to describe the kenetic sculpture created by Alexander Calder.

Arts and ArchitectureIn 1935 Andrew Mellon gave his $25 million dollar art collection to the American people and contributed $10 million to the construction of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

EducationThe 1930's were a perilous time for public education. With

cash money in short supply parents were unable to provide their children with the necessary clothes, supplies, and textbooks (which were not furnished in some states) to attend school. Taxes, especially in rural areas, went unpaid. With the loss of revenue, school boards were forced to try numerous strategies to keep their districts operating. School terms were shortened. Teachers' salaries were cut. One new teacher was paid $40 a month for a five month school year - and was very glad for the job! When a rural county in Arkansas was forced to charge tuition one year in order to keep the schools open, some children were forced to drop out for that year. One farmer was able to barter wood to fuel the classrooms' potbellied stoves for his four children's tuition, thus enabling them to continue their education.

EducationThe famous

Dick and Jane books that taught millions of children to read were first published in 1931. These primers introduced the students to reading with only one new word per page and a limited vocabulary per book. All who learned to read with these books still recall the "Look. See Dick. See Dick run."

Fads and FashionWith the reduction of spendable income, people had to look to inexpensive leisure pursuits.  President Roosevelt helped make stamp collecting a popular hobby.

Fads and FashionParlor games and board games became the rage.  In 1935 Parker Brothers introduced the game of Monopoly and 20 thousand sets were sold in one week. 

Fads and FashionGambling increased as people sought any means to add to their income.  Between 1930 and 1939 horse racing became legal in 15 more states bringing the total to 21. 

Fads and FashionInterest in spectator sports such as baseball grew.  Stars like Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio drew fans into the stadium, and those who could not attend the games gathered around their radios to listen to the play-by-play. The separate Negro League was in its golden years.

Fads and FashionThe 1932 Winter Olympics, held at Lake Placid, New York, renewed interest in winter sports. 

Fads and FashionParis fashions became too expensive for all but the very rich, and American designers came into their own.

Fads and FashionHollywood movie stars such as

Bette Davis and Greta Garbo set fashion trends in dresses designed by Adrian and Muriel King and hats designed by Lily Dache.  Clothes had to last a long time so styles did not change every season.  The simple print dress with a waist line and longer hem length replaced the flapper attire of the 1920's.   

Fads and FashionThe use of the zipper became wide spread for the first time because it was less expensive than the buttons and closures previously used.

Fads and FashionAnother innovation of the 30's was different hem lengths for different times of the day - mid calf for day wear, long for the evening.  Men's pants were wide and high waisted.  Vest sweaters were an alternative to the traditional matching vest of the three piece suit.  Hats were mandatory for the well dressed male.

LiteratureMany of America's most distinguished writers produced works of fiction during the thirties.

The list includes such names as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Thornton Wilder.  Some of the novels of this period explored what was happening in the country during the Great Depression.   

LiteratureThe Cow by Ogden

Nash  

The cow is of the bovine ilk;

One end is moo, the

other, milk.

John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath chronicled the life of a displaced Oklahoma family who had lost its farm to the drought of the Dust Bowl. 

James T. Farrell wrote a trilogy of novels about an Irish-American named Studs Lonigan and his attempt to rise above his poor beginnings. 

Richard Wright took on the issue of racial prejudice and the plight of blacks in Native Son.

Erskine Caldwell's novel Tobacco Road described the life of poor whites in the rural South.

Music"It Don't Mean a Thing (if it Ain't Got That Swing)". 

The title of this Duke Ellington song sums up the "in" music of the thirties.

There were popular songs such as "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" that spoke to the hardships of the time, but the young people flocked to hear and dance to the big bands of Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and  Tommy Dorsey. 

MusicIn this same era Broadway produced some of the most famous and lasting American musicals.

George and Ira Gershwin wrote the hits Strike Up the Band, Girl Crazy, and  Of Thee I Sing.

Cole Porter produced such works as Anything Goes, Jubilee, and Red Hot and Blue.

Songwriters and lyricists like Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, and Richard Rodgers composed melodies still being played and sung today.

MusicThe Federal Music Project (FMP) supported the musical arts and sponsored performances of both classical and popular compositions. 

The FMP emphasized American music and promoted the works of Aaron Copland, Roy Harris and Virgil Thomson. 

MusicIn 1936 the Department of the

Interior hired Woody Guthrie to travel throughout the Northwest and perform his folk songs.  During this tour he wrote twenty-six songs in twenty-six days.  By 1938 Guthrie was making appearances in support of labor unions and wrote such songs as "I Ain't Got No Home", inspired by visits to migrant labor camps.

MusicIt was in 1935 that George Gershwin's

American folk opera Porgy and Bess was first performed, still played.  

In 1931 Congress designated "The Star Spangled Banner" as the national anthem. 

In 1938 Kate Smith sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" and made the song her own. 

There have been many proponents of making this the national anthem, replacing the hard to sing "Star Spangled Banner". 

MusicMary Martin captivated

theatergoers with her rendition of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" in Cole Porter's Leave It to Me.

RadioRadio reached its zenith of popularity in this decade.

By 1939 about 80 percent of the population owned radio sets.

RadioAmericans loved to laugh at the antics of such comedians as …

Jack Benny, Fred Allen, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Amos and Andy, and Fibber McGee and Molly. 

RadioThe soap opera dominated the daytime airwaves.

OurGal Sunday  began each episode with the question, "Can a girl from a little mining town in the west find happiness as the wife of a wealthy and titled Englishman?' 

Many a woman's ear was glued to her radio every day in hopes of learning the answer. 

RadioThe heroics of  the

Lone Ranger, the Green Hornet, the Shadow, and Jack Armstrong, all-american boy, thrilled listeners both young and old and sold countless boxes of cereal. 

RadioNews broadcasts by

commentators like H. V. Kaltenborn and Edward R. Murrow kept the public aware of the increasing crisis in Europe. 

Franklin Roosevelt used the medium in his "Fireside Chats" (listen)to influence public opinion.

RadioOne of the most dramatic

moments in radio history occurred on May 6, 1937, when the German airship Hindenburg burst into flames as it was about to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey. 

The horror of the incident was conveyed live by the reporter Herb Morrison.  His reaction to what was happening in front of him still enthralls today.

RadioOn October 30, 1938, a twenty-

three-year-old Orson Welles broadcast on his Mercury Theater of the Air  the H.G. Wells  story War of the Worlds. 

Despite the disclaimer at the end of the program, the tale of a Martian invasion of Earth panicked a million listeners who mistook the play for a newscast. 

Dances of the 1930s•Dance Marathon•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yaY-Qk9nIs•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw1afR4mLvw

The Dance Marathon was a phenomenon in the lower classes. In a test of endurance, couples competed and winners received cash prizes. In the 1930s, the dance marathon evolved from its original focus on endurance records to a monetized part of show business. Depression-era marathons lasted up to six months, with ten-minute hourly breaks for dancers. If one partner’s knees touched the floor, the couple was disqualified. Entering a dance marathon was often an act of economic desperation by the participants.

Dances of the 1930s•Movie Musical

The 1920s were the early years of the “talkies” (movies with audio) and the beginning of the classic period of the musical. As a result, Movie Musicals were popular. With exhibition ballroom dancing at its height, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers captured America’s imagination. The lyrical film dance interludes of Astaire and Rogers offered Americans an escape from the harsh realities of the Depression and nurtured the American Dream.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY0Kg_3dFag http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Y1itusHCY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ3fjQa5Hls

Dances of the 1930s•Big Apple•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ocW71YPfs•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C444gS8IcIk

•First sequence•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07HeZqRq2p8

The Big Apple originated in a small southern Black town, in a church-turned-nightclub called “The Big Apple.” A group circle dance, it gave couples the opportunity to show off, or “shine.” The Big Apple incorporated early swing steps and required a “caller.” Arthur Murray called it a combination of swing and the square dance; he was instrumental in popularizing the Big Apple within white culture. It was popular during the Depression because of the psychological comfort it gave of “strength in numbers.” Developed from African American roots, it was popularized throughout society; it was danced at the White House and featured in Life magazine in 1937.

Dances of the 1930s•Jitterbug

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY5rdZdZ_b4

•Jitterbug Lesson 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs8tbzUr6cQ•Lesson 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytD_STXLxhc

The Jitterbug, popularized by African Americans, requires incredible strength and agility. It was known as the “Lindy” by its African-American participants because it evolved from the Lindy Hop (the “Lindbergh Hop” in tribute to Charles Lindbergh’s historic first solo transatlantic flight in 1927). With airborne acrobatics, it increased the dynamic range of social dance with new levels of athleticism, gymnastics, and aerial moves. “Jitterbug” was also a slang term meaning “the best dance partner.” Harlem’s renowned Savoy Ballroom brought the Jitterbug/Lindy to fame. It was a spectacular dance response to the bold sounds of the Big-Band era.

Science and TechnologyThe New York's World Fair of 1939 -

true to its theme of "The World of Tomorrow" - gave its estimated 25.8 million visitors a glimpse of the future. 

The fairgoers marveled at the flickering images of a TV set at the RCA Building and were amazed at the General Motors exhibit of a seven-lane cross-country highway system. 

Many of the innovations demonstrated did not become a part of every day life until after World War II, but there was a peek at the technology to come. 

Science and TechnologyMedical advances in the

thirties included a new and safer way to do blood transfusions. 

An advance that was to save many a soldier's life in the upcoming war. 

In 1937 Chicago's Cook County Hospital opened the first blood bank that stored blood given by live donors. 

This, with improved anesthesia, made the chances of surviving major surgery on vital organs much greater.

Science and TechnologyPure scientific research suffered from the lack of funding.

  Nevertheless, in physics ground breaking experiments in atom smashingwere being conducted at such institutions as Columbia University and the California Institute of Technology.

Albert Einstein immigrated to the United States in 1933 and became a professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University.  From here in 1939 he wrote his famous letter to President Rooseveltrecommending the development of the atomic bomb. 

In the field of astronomy the ninth major planet, Pluto, was discovered in 1930.

Theater and FilmThe theater flourished in this fourth decade of the twentieth century.

In addition to musicals, Broadway marques lit up with play titles like

Green Pastures by Marc Connelly,

The Man Who Came to Dinner by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart,

The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman, Winterset by Maxwell Anderson,

Abe Lincoln in Illinois by Robert Sherwood, and

Waiting for Lefty by Clifford Odets. 

Theater and FilmHollywood turned out movie after movie to entertain its Depression audience and the 30's are often referred to as Hollywood's "Golden Age". 

Movie goers wanted mainly escapist fare that let them forget their everyday troubles for a few hours. 

They swooned over such matinee idols as  Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, and Errol Flynn. 

They laughed at the likes of W. C. Fields, Bob Hope, and the Marx Brothers. 

Theater and FilmAmerica fell in love with the

little curly headed moppet Shirley Temple and flocked to see her tap dance and sing to the song "The Good Ship Lollipop". 

Busby Berkeley's elaborate dance numbers delighted many a fan. 

Theater and FilmFred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

tapping and ballroom dancing across the screen enthralled the audience. 

Theater and FilmNotable writers like William Faulkner and

F. Scott Fitzgerald penned screenplays.  Not all movies were fantasy and

lightness.  The picture version of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath brought to film the story of the Joab family and its migration from the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma to the agricultural fields of California. 

One of the top money makers of all time Gone With the Wind debuted in Atlanta, Georgia in 1939. 

Walt Disney produced the first full-length animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937