Life in the Great Depression

The years after the Stock Market Crash of 1929 were full of poverty, bitterness and just harsh times. There were massive cut in wages and employment; the rich were poorer, the poorer were barely hanging, many have lost it all and the country was waiting for the government for solutions but none were permanent.

In contrast there was uplift in the arts.

•           The Works Progress Administration, where unemployed artist were hired to paint murals on federal buildings.
•           The Farm Security Administration, where unemployed photographers where hired to document the lives of homeless families, unemployed workers, and southern tenant farmers.
•           Some of these great camera artists were: Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and Ansel Adams.

The arts revealed the human suffering in the clearest way calling for reform.

Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal were programs created in response to the Great Depression.

•    The "First New Deal" (1933–34) dealt with diverse groups, from banking and railroads to industry and farming, all of which demanded help for economic survival.
•     The "Second New Deal" in 1935–38 included the Wagner Act to promote labor unions, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief program (which made the federal government by far the largest single employer in the nation), the Social Security Act, and new programs to aid tenant farmers and migrant workers.

Wikipedia

For these week’s movies you surely know Annie, this one is the 1999 version.

There are as well documentaries of video and people's experiences about living during the 1930'3, reflecting different parts of what was going on during the time.

Rioting Across America - The Great Depression

Stories of the Great Depression: The Family Table

Raymond and Anna Marie McIntyre

For a complete video about the great depression and why it was caused I would suggest this video 1929: The Great Crash. It is the complete history of the two decades, 1920’s and 1930’s, filled with videos from the time and historians words; a really interesting and completely informative documentary.