Dorothea Lange is one of the most well-known photographers of The Great Depression and this photo, The Migrant Mother, is one of the most well-known photos of the era.
This week, post another photo from The Great Depression and explain its significance to the time period.
Have fun!
Mrs. Demmel
http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2007/stock_crash/stock_crash_01.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis famous photograph of Wall Street on October 29, 1929, shows one of the most popularized beginnings to the Great Depression. The American economy had grown rapidly during the '20s due to a rising age of consumerism and installment plans. As the market grew, bolstered by the rise of stocks, so did the inevitable fall to stability and downfall. The stock market crisis marked one of the biggest downfalls in the US economy, plunging the country into depression and leading to unmeasured scores of unemployment that would plague the nation for years.
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/images/train.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis photo is of two homeless men walking from town to town looking for work. They are currently walking past an ad for a train. The ad says "next time try the train and relax" it is extremely ironic because men used to ride the rails on the tops and backs of train cars as hobos to look for work.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Biz0zjVakkw/T6CdcxZGCzI/AAAAAAAADvE/c9u4TcD6qwQ/s1600/great-depression-soup-line.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis photo compares the ideal way of life, depicted as a well-dressed white family driving in a new automobile, to the stark reality of depression era black families. The people shown were most likely waiting in line for a soup kitchen or other relief program when this photo was taken, which is likely the purpose of the buckets and bags. African Americans and other minorities such as Mexicans and Japanese in the 1930’s often suffered the most economically due to the depression. When companies began laying off workers and a huge unemployment beset the nation, minorities often lost their jobs to whites, who claimed that they had more of a right to be employed because of race. Many could not find employers who were willing to hire a black man, as there were already many other whites eager to take the job. Even federal relief programs discriminated against minorities. The CCC created separate camps for African Americans, the NRA labor codes allowed for their lowered wages, and they were exempted from the Social Security Act. This picture shows how the “American Way” of the rich and middle class was unobtainable during the 1930’s, especially to minorities.
Works Cited
DeleteFaragher, John M., Mari J. Buhle, Daniel Czitrom, and Susan H. Armitage. Out of Many: A History of the American People; AP Edition. Sixth ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.
http://0.tqn.com/d/history1900s/1/0/4/1/gd32.gif
ReplyDeleteThis picture is representative of how the agricultural industry in America suffered during the Great Depression. It is the picture of a sharecropper's wife and children. The children are inadequately clothed and don't have shoes, and the wife is clearly pregnant. The living conditions seem meager, since the house is run down. This shows economic scarcity, a common household problem in agricultural America, a result of the Dust Bowl. This picture was taken in Washington County, Arkansas, one the places that were heavily affected by the dust storms. This portrays the effect of the Great Depression on the already poor sharecroppers in rural United States.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Dust-storm-Texas-1935.png
ReplyDeleteThis image is of a dust storm in Texas taken during the Dust Bowl (c. 1935). An ecological disaster of unprecedented scales, the Dust Bowl greatly contributed to the hardships of the Great Depression. At its height, the dust storms covered 50 million acres of the Great Plains. Caused by the overproduction of wheat during the early twentieth century, the Dust Bowl had the greatest effect on western farmers. Dust storms covered houses (such as those seen in the image) and destroyed crops. Left without livelihood, 300,000 farmers migrated to California from the Great Plains. In California, the migrants were called “Okies” and often lived in abject squalor. As the greatest ecological disaster of the Great Depression period, the Dust Bowl was a significant event of the 1930s.
ReplyDeleteSources:
DeleteFaragher, John M., Mari J. Buhle, Daniel Czitrom, and Susan H. Armitage. Out of Many: A History of the American People; AP Edition. Sixth ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.
http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/trickle-down-in-down-market-1.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis photo represents how many people blamed President Hoover for the great depression. The sign on top (Hoover's poor farm tobacco fund) shows that the reason the two kids needed money were that Hoover didn't do anything to help the agricultural industry. The sign on bottom (Hard times are still Hoovering over us) show that the blame was all put on Hoover and that he was the reason for the Great Depression
http://rense.com/general95/16Image.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis photo captures a scene of a woman with her two young children just having completed some work. Looking at the house and background, it appears that this is a Shantytown or Hooverville. Their faces are dirty, and it looks like they are quite poor and have scarce resources. This image could represent the state of many families during this time period: the man having gone to find a job, and the rest of the family taking care of house-work. The average farm-family income had decreased to $250 annually by 1929 and continued to do so in the 1930's, and the psychological and health effects of that can be shown here.
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/fdr-inaugural/images/ccc-at-work-thumbnail.gif
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important parts of the great depression was the attempts by FDR called “the new deals” to end it. This picture shows young men working at work in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). This photo is significant because it shows Roosevelt’s attempts to help create a healthier economy which set a precedent for government intervention in the economy. The CCC also planted trees and made trails which not only preserved nature but made it more accessible. The CCC was built to give men jobs so they could provide for their families and so they would be consumers again. Member of the CCC were provided with housing and food and still earned 30 dollars a month 25 of which had to be sent back to their family.
http://history1900s.about.com/library/photos/blygd10.htm
ReplyDeleteThe great depression caused economic hardship for millions of people during the 1930s. This photo depicts a farm for sale. Many families were forced to sell their homes in foreclosure because they didn't have enough money to pay of their loans.
http://history1900s.about.com/library/photos/blygd31.htm
ReplyDeleteThis photo is of two kids that are very dirty and grimy during the Great Depression. These kids probably could not have the ability to bathe and like many during the depression had to help their family in any way possible to get money. These kids may have been doing something for someone else to gain money for their family. Normally these kids would be in school but the depression ended this idea that kids go to school because families couldn't afford to send their kids.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/money_impact/2008/10/Learning%20From%20History_Hays.JPG
ReplyDeleteThis photo, taken in 1932, shows a huge line of homeless and jobless men lining up in New York for a free meal. This showed the vast amount of people who were in need during this time, even in a single city or area. Also, the fact that they were all men shows that the depression affected both genders equally, or if not, it actually affect men more than women. It was so difficult to get a job for so long that peoples’ savings, if they had any in the first place, were quickly gone, and they had to line up for free food like in this photo. Many of these men also had no homes, and they are lined up double to quadruple file all the way down the block where the line goes out of the view of the photo.
http://blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu/his1005spring2011/files/2011/03/J9-1.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis photo shows young children holding signs, with one of them asking "Why can't you give my Dad a job?", showing the significance of the time period in how severe the situation was, how there weren't enough jobs for everyone, and how even the children were affected enough to protest. The other sign asks "Rarig's kid doesn't starve. Why should we?", showing the disparity in wealth at the time. Rarig was the name of an engineering company at the time, and the term 'Rarig's kids' is presumably referring to the kids of the company owners who probably had more than enough money to keep from starving, while the kids depicted in the photo have parents who can't even get jobs.
http://www.frumforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/great_depression-2.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good picture to depict the hardships of the Great depression. This picture shows men walking around looking for work. They walk by a sign that says "Jobless man keep going, we can't take care of our own". This picture really shows how hard it was to get a job dairying the great depression. Men would walk from town to town to find work and towns would put up signs so the men would not come in walking. The great depression hit hardest on employed Americans raising the unemployment rate over 30% with more than 12 millions Americans unemployed. The drought hit hard on farms and the dustbowl destroyed many American dreams..
http://timelifeblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/01_1239_bw_917.jpg?h=372&w=563
ReplyDeleteThis photo depicts a line of African Americans in line for food and clothing at a relief station. Behind them is a billboard with a happy American white family, and in quotes, "There's no way like the American Way." This quote is ironic to the desperate situation of actual life, especially for the colored people who already faced much discrimination. While people like Eleanor Roosevelt sought to continue raising attention for colored rights, African Americans faced hardships as did the rest of America in those rough times.
http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/04/28/lange4_custom_custom-7c450090236b13b37da537e91357851cc59384e0-s6-c30.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis photo depicts a young man with his head in his hands with an over turned wheel barrow on the dry ground beside him. Taken in 1933 in the San Francisco area I interpret this man is a share cropper or migrant worker without a job. Unfortunately a sight like this one wouldn't have been uncommon at this time in California. Too many people went West in search of jobs that were only seasonal. Labor was cheap, leaving even the employed struggling to get by. Even if this young man was employed at the time this photo was taken, time's were still extremely difficult for him. A picture like this one would have reflected a large portion of workers at this time in America, documenting the despair people must have felt.
>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1f/JohnSteinbeck_TheGrapesOfWrath.jpg/200px-JohnSteinbeck_TheGrapesOfWrath.jpg
ReplyDelete>http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTok4la_3Vf0i9G9o7f1tEXI50XMPvTXSZDngv3E2iCQNF9n-VENg:www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/oct2008/john-steinbeck.jpg
These photographs depict Great Depression writer John Steinbeck and his renowned work 'The Grapes of Wrath', which was significant during the Great Depression for two primary reasons. First, Steinbeck's work was funded as part of the Federal Writers Project, part of the Works Progress Administration. The WPA, part of Roosevelt's New Deal, is often overlooked despite the fact that it provided almost 8 million jobs to unemployed Americans between 1935 and 1943. 'The Grapes of Wrath' itself won a Pulitzer Prize in 1940 for its realistic and stirring depictions of the lives of migrant farm workers during the Depression, which was met with both criticism and enthusiasm by 1930s Americans, but ultimately it helped to improve the conditions in migrant camps when Eleanor Roosevelt, the current First Lady, took the matter before Congress. Books like these were also an important way for Americans to escape their own painful reality for a time, especially during the difficult years of the Great Depression, and their taste in literature is a strong representation of how individual Americans felt during this time period.
http://blogs.cas.suffolk.edu/history182/files/2013/03/great-depression2soup-line.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis picture depicts a massive line of starving, unemployed young men lining up for a free meal. The shop offers free donuts and coffee as well as free soup for the large amounts of unemployed in this unnamed city. The long line of the unemployed is very representative of the unemployment rates around the nation. The sheer amount of people in the line shows just how bad the unemployment problem was in the 1930's. The line is also mostly young men, as were the majority of the unemployed at that time. It also shows the hardships these men had to go through during their daily lives, especially without a guaranteed meal to look forward to at the end of the day.
http://history1900s.about.com/library/photos/blygd50.htm
ReplyDeleteThis photo depicts a Christmas dinner. In it, a man is eating what looks to be a very simple meal with 5 children. The man is sitting on the only chair in the picture, and all the children are standing. They seem to be eating in a very dirty, and soot-covered ramshackle room. This photo is significant because it shows the conditions that people were living in and dealing with, even on a day such as Christmas; a traditionally happy time where people would not be afraid to spend a little money.
This photo is merely another moment in the Great Depression captured by Dorothea Lange. It is a depiction of the struggles of the average family, illustrating a mother with her two boys and the bare essentials. The image is very reflecting of the time period, for it perfectly capture how the average individual barely strives on the bare minimum. The women and her children clearly have not washed for days and their clothes are notably worn out and tattered. The children additionally seem to not be wearing any shoes, yet the mother's expression is calm and almost encouraging. Photography within Roosevelt's administration was used to bring awareness of the crisis to society, and the manner in which Dorothea Lange captured the expressions of those who suffered is a perfect reflection of how the public was emotionally moved. This illustration ideally executes these notions.
ReplyDeletehttps://wiki.colby.edu/download/attachments/104792153/lange1939.jpg?version=1&modificationDate=1252696093207
Deletehttp://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Design/Gartman/D_Casestudy/ID77794_depression.gif
ReplyDeleteThe Great Depression had many men in desperation to find any kind of work. In the photo above, a young male is depicted holding a sign that is asking who can get him a job. The great economic hit that Americans suffered in the Depression forced many to almost beg for jobs in order to support themselves and or their family. The man's sign also stated that he is not looking for charity which represents that attitude of many Americans at the time as well. Though people were desperate for money, they did not sacrifice their pride, meaning that they would rather work to earn their pay than be receiving hand outs. In all, this picture ultimately highlights the fighting spirit of the American even in tough times.
http://0.tqn.com/d/history1900s/1/0/Z/1/gd50.gif
ReplyDeleteThis photo is of Christmas dinner in the home of Earl Pauley near Smithland, Iowa in 1935. It shows how many people didn't have a lot. Luxury was not an option and minimizing became a new chore. These children lived crammed together in this house and eat barely any food just to survive. These people had to make the best out of nothing. Its very relevant to the great depression era because as shocking to us now a days this was their everyday life. This was their normal.
http://www.frumforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/great_depression-2.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis photo symbolizes how tough the times really were for a lot of people during the depression. This town has seen so many jobless people from other places look for work there that they actually had to make a sign to tell people that there was no work in the town. Plus, the sign doesn't even just say that there is no work. It goes to the drastic measure of saying that they can't even support their own population.
https://www.google.com/search?q=great+depression+photos&rlz=2C1TSNF_enUS0537US0537&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&imgil=s_tx5q9H-2mXMM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcSp8407DYrHYSJwe_PKniaI6QWiaBuRSRlEOCXNkXNQ5jOaSQ7E%253B640%253B480%253B0_MuihCrxFooiM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fmrstoxqui-ushistory.weebly.com%25252Funit-8---great-depression--new-deal.html&source=iu&usg=__G5WsvlFFcsqSioOkPzRJAMR7EZU%3D&sa=X&ei=xVhgU7nOG8-ZyATyxYDgAw&ved=0CEMQ9QEwCw#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=s_tx5q9H-2mXMM%253A%3B0_MuihCrxFooiM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fmrstoxqui-ushistory.weebly.com%252Fuploads%252F1%252F3%252F4%252F5%252F13459063%252F7063728_orig.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fmrstoxqui-ushistory.weebly.com%252Funit-8---great-depression--new-deal.html%3B640%3B480
ReplyDeleteThis photo has significance to the Great Depression era because it really puts the severity of the unemployment rate during this time into perspective. Here we see two very well dressed men, possibly business men, beginning for practically any job that they can get. In a normal economy these men probably would be living financially comfortable, but thats why the Great Depression is known as such a bad event in U.S history
http://www.frumforum.com/stiglitz-rewrites-the-great-depression/
ReplyDeleteThis photo is significant because it showed how difficult it was to get jobs at the time. To put up a bill board telling people that they needed to move on must have required a ton of people looking for jobs. It captures the sheer magnitude of the desperation of the people. However in a sense it also captures the will of the men at the time to keep on trying
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAQQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.frumforum.com%2Fstiglitz-rewrites-the-great-depression%2F&ei=WUtsU4OVGtOkyATD_4DgAw&psig=AFQjCNHvA9RLOJcKcjj7xym53SIsl94WoA&ust=1399692505479145
ReplyDeleteThis is a picture of a couple of guys looking for jobs passing a sign that says they should just keep walking because there are no jobs available. This is a big indicator to the times during the great depression because it shows just how prevalent joblessness was in society and in business.