Kentucky, America and the World

1930-1939

World personalities and events

Hollywood

America

Kentucky

In Louisville in 1932 23.5% of white workers and 37.2% of black workers were unemployed. The story was repeated across the state.

In 1930 a medical worker in the mountains predicted starvation if nothing was done; the next year she described “a state of acute famine.”

In 1932 an Inez attorney noted the lack of jobs and hard times and concluded that “the people feel that there is something radically wrong.”

From Pikeville to Paducah, people wandered from place to place, walking, riding, “moving on,” seeking work, a job, some hope.

The depression held Kentucky firmly for many years. Yet the commonwealth weathered the depression better than many places.

Kentucky was not affected as seriously as some parts of the nation because of its agricultural base and because liquor production was reopened in the 1930s when the 18th Amendment was repealed.

However, Kentucky still suffered during the Depression and wholeheartedly supported the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and his program for recovery, the New Deal.

New Deal programs funded conservation efforts, new construction projects, and support to the needy and elderly.

The state’s economy was already in trouble before the stock market crash of 1929 that ushered in the Great Depression, the hard times of the 1930s.

Passage of these programs was aided by Kentuckian Alben W. Barkley, who was the majority leader in the U.S. Senate (and later the vice president of the United States under President Harry S. Truman). At the same time a political newcomer, A. B. “Happy” Chandler, began a long political career as state senator, lieutenant governor, governor, U.S. senator, and commissioner of baseball.

Negative: stifling unemployment, stunted economic growth

Positive: New Deal programs brought the restoration of antiquated schools and other public buildings. The construction of new buildings. The CCC opened roads and strung telephone lines.

TVA- Law passed in 1933. When completed provided an abundance of cheap electricity to a great many users. The industrialization of western Kentucky was hastened by the availability of abundant electrical power and water.

Barren County

WPA Warehouse Barren County 1939

Barren County Merry Oakes Road WPA project

Sidewalks constructed in Glasgow by WPA

Storm drainage constuction in Glasgow WPA

Temple Hill School Barren Co. WPA

WKU

To Kill a Mockingbirdreflections of 1930s life in the

American South

Harper Lee’s classic novel chronicles life in a small fictional Southern town in 1930s. The novel examines racism, the nature of good and evil, faith in humanity, social hierarchy and much more. It is a masterpiece of American fiction.