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40 Cards in this Set
- Front
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The Cultural Of The Thirties
Bare statistics and General Causes of depression |
Bare statistics
Concentration of Wealth: Lower class got nothing and upper class got everything) Devaluation of currency Producing more than we are consuming Over speculation Credit Defaults Ones on power point: FOREIGN WAR DEBTS- Limited spending (especially German after World War I CHRONIC OVERPRODUCTION (esp. agricultural) (Especially German after World War I) CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION: Large corporations afraid of failing which might have bad effect on economy, so bailouts and too much wealth concentrated in corpos and not public VALUES: 1920's: - business ethic emphasized financial gain without "real work" -Spending without saving -1930's effort to go back and find American values |
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The Cultural Of The Thirties:
Ways to understand the Cultural Response Warren Susman 1. Cultural of Commitment |
Warren Susman:
Many more people are becoming politically committed in many kinds of ways Government becomes involved in peoples lives throughout the depression by using government relief |
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The Cultural Of The Thirties:
Ways to understand the Cultural Response Warren Susman: 2. Discovery of American Culture what was one study that came about? |
American studies was invented.
This was because at this time America was lost and they wanted to show WHAT MADE US AMERICA. We needed the ego boost. |
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The Cultural Of The Thirties:
Ways to understand the Cultural Response 3. Era of Sight and Sound 3 ways in terms of politics using mass media like never before: |
Political figures using MASS MEDIA like never before.
*Radio (franklin Roosevelt) *Film Popular/mass culture: Becomes accepted as culture Instead of HIGH VS LOW CULTURE (like it was in the 1800's and early 1900's 1. Radio and news reels 2. FDR and other using radio to reach audiences to get into peoples homes 3. Democratization of culture Film becomes widespread Rise of education programs |
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The Cultural Of The Thirties
Public Culture |
Goverment subsiding culture to give work to people and also as a kind of massive PR project. They were scared people would revolt if everyone started starving so they wanted to make them like the government at this time.
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The Cultural Of The Thirties
*Documentary Impulse (Stott) |
Public culture- Government produced play (our reading) government subsidizes culture to create jobs and to generate PR- Try to get people to appreciate America
Photography portrays life Newspapers incorporated into literature Obsession with fact: If people are given enough information they will be motivated to change! Basically, the goal was to show them the depression and get them motivated to change it! They also will have deeper appreciation of what is already there. |
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The Cultural Of The Thirties
Cultural Democracy (Mathews) |
WPA arts project come out of this
Forgotten man becomes prototypical American |
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The Cultural Of The Thirties
Laboring of American Culture (Denning) |
Influence on cultural forms
Push of labor |
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The Cultural Of The Thirties
Gender Rearrangements (May) |
Gender rearrangements (May)
1. Become more aligned with men expected to be primary bread winner 2. Culture goes into cold war 3. Women work in depression, plays into fears of emasculation 4. Bread winner women become more apparent -pressure to keep male breadwinner wage though How the thirties influenced the cold war. What she was arguing: Fewer jobs avaliable to women. Males wage always higher. Strong pressure on keeping a male breadwinner wage. Emasculating if male couldnt keep family wage. There was a lot of pressure for men during this time. |
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The Cultural Of The Thirties
Populist, demagogues, Superheroes, Gangsters |
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The Cultural Of The Thirties
-Political Responses to Crisis- 1. Herbert Hoover |
President during stock market crash
-his effort seen as inadequate, claims "people arent starving" -known for tent cities called Hooverville -Challenge to administration: bonus famously and falsely claimed that: "Nobody is actually starving" He desperately tried to save capitalism |
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The Cultural of the Thirties
Bonus marchers |
Thousands of of WWI veterans marched to washington to demand bonus they been promised
it ended in violence |
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The Cultural of the Thirties
Political responses to Crisis: 2. Huey Long |
-governor of lousiana in 1928
-Challenge to Roosevelt -Larger than life figure: brought money to public programs (bridges, education, public work -corrupt and acted as dictator -Seen as contender for presidential elected but got assassinated -effectively used radio -Radical redistribution of wealth (used radio to promote these ideas) Dictatorial but initiated popular public works "share our wealth" program (1934) attracted national attention Effectively used radio! |
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The Cultural of the Thirties:
Political response to Crisis: 3. Father Coughlin |
Known as the "RADIO PRIEST" for "Golden Hour of the Little Flower" program
Began as FDR supporter then became a critic of new deal- tied him to communism Became critic of FDR, communism, jews Balmes congress for having power to change it, but they don't do it (eventaully taken off the air) |
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The Cultural of the Thirties:
Political response to crisis: 4. Francis Townshead |
Attracted elderly following and tried to get elderly pensions
Social security recognized him as an effort to get money to elderly people |
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The cultural of the Thirties:
Political response to crisis: Communism |
-Gains more followers in depression (mid 1930's)
-Party drops line for immediate revolution and anti-fascism -Membership never more than 80,000 but influence larger than numbers many fellow travelers were drawn to the popular front (1935 -1943 Aided in culture in museums, radio, film, publishing to exert strong influence -Note of radical influence in 1930's -May Day 1934 In NY |
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The cultural of the Thirties:
Political response to crisis 5. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT |
President in 1932 and reelected in 36 and 40
Very popular, managed to create widespread constituency called the New Deal Order Master at using the media 1. "Fireside chats" brought him into homes -spoke in a very simple way -friendly -assumes the common people could understand - would say "my friends" -People started thinking of him as a friend -talks to people with respect 2. He helped restore NATIONAL CONFIDENCE 3. New Deal Order |
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The Cultural of the Thirties
Franklin D Roosevelt's "Fireside chats" |
He speaks in a very simple way
assumes that common people can understand "my friends" Talks to people with respect |
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The Cultural of the Thirties
What did Franklin D Roosevelt help restore? |
National Confidence
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The Cultural of the Thirties
FDR's New Deal Order |
The government should have a role in peoples lives
widely accepted in the 1950s Sense that he cared, he was willing to try ANYTHING. He spoke directly TO the people. He seemed like a man of the people. This was maybe because he was in a wheel chair and seemed like a good guy Many liked his openess trying |
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The Cultural of the thirties
The New Deal: Key Programs name the three and explain |
National Recovery Act/NRA (1933)
-Protected collective bargaining for unions. Set certain standards for industries in terms of hours, treatment of workers, etc.. Wagner Act (1935) Confirmed right to collective bargaining;led to the birth of the CIO Teachers unionizing "Whether you are a blue collar, intellectual worker whatever there is support for you!" Social Security (1935) -Important and controversial program -Most eldery people get behind it. They want to be supported *Works Projects/Progress Administration (THE WPA) (1935) -Public works/also white collar work program -Putting people to work -Building landscapes -Programs for musicians, writers, actors |
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The Culture of the thirties
*Works Projects/Progress Administration (the WPA) 1935 |
Major public works program putting people to work building bridges, roads, and improving public landscape
Putting people to work Building landscapes Work relief program for musicians, writers, actors |
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The Culture of the thirties
How did advertising change in the 1930's? |
Played into anxiety, frugality
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The Culture of the Thirties
Popular culture in the 1930's |
The three little pigs
Will rogers |
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The culture of the thirties
Popular culture in the 1930s music |
"Brother can you spare a dime"
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The Culture of the thirties
Gangster alure... |
John Dillinger
Movie scareface (1932) |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930's
superman |
Clark kent alter go was caricature of frustrated, impotent, mass man
Hero for modern age |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930's
Agricultural crisis as cause, symptom and metaphor |
One cause of depression: overproduction in agriculture
Farm crisis began before 1929 from suffering from overproduction (supply and demand shift prices and make it hard to make money) Produced lots for the war (WWI) and continued which led to the crisis -depleted soil from planting the crops that made them most money. *-Dust storm as metaphor for economic crisis-farmers live in moment trying to make money which led to bad soil Created a terrible devastation because farms were BACKBONE of America. Its what we "eat and who we are" Farmers already suffering from overproduction (due to war) hadnt shared 1920's affluence? Drought + record high -Temps go to record low yields Wild plus stripped lands leads to dust storms Historian Donald worster says Dust bowl was metaphor for the economic crisis (farmers were just trying to get by) Kept planting them the same crops for money and it made the soil depleted |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930's
The documentary impulse |
A collage by constructing a narrative
Showing suffering of common people to focus on landscape and rural people other than urban Goal: to expose suffering by showing direct experience -non ideological experience because its a first hand, seen directly Defining impulses: Show america to itself by showing and documenting experiences of common people Photography, reportage, film, recordings, fiction, living newspaper express this impulse FSA (farm security agency) and WPA were government impotencies for impulses direct experience (this is what i saw) My notes: record of america (document the common people!) photography, reportage, film, recordings, fiction, living newspaper FSA+WPA as prime government impetus |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930's
Responses to crisis: Material and Cultural AAA* (triple A) |
Farm holiday (Milo Reno)
Spontenous movement among farmers, and leader was MILO RENO and it was a movement for farmers to refuse to bring their crops as a way to raise crisis AAA (1933-1936: Subsides for not planting and destroying. Looking more broadly at the problem. Resettlement Administration: AKA (FSA): Gave loans to farmers, model settlements, set up camps created by farm security administration. (grapes of wrath) Set up controls and guidelines for farmers most known for information division. they produced Photographers and films Photographers related to this: Arthur rotheistein, walker evens, Dorthea lange, Ben shahn, Marion Post Wolcott (shows the suffering and landscapes) Crow that broke plains (film) Director: Pare Lorentz Wanted to make one big powerful film that could actually get mass distribution He picked up... Modernist photographers and political radicals: Paul strand, Leo Hurwitz, Ralph Steiner They wanted to show why the whole capitalist system is bad Music was by Virgil Thompson. Known for his Americana How professor sees it the film: The way it kind of plays off this ethos of this american farmer and seeks explanation as to what happened. |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930's
What would be the point of the government making Plow that broke the plains |
Here is what went wrong
Government efforts doing propoganda for themselves look we got to do something." ALl these people trying to live the american dream and they were just trying to do what is right an d now they are screwed and we have to do something! (technically it could be there fault) Basically, they are saying "We have to do something!" We dont have all the answers but we are going to keep trying to get it right." Part of this larger effort to promote CULTURAL DEMOCRACY |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930's
Goal of cultural Democracy |
Bringing art to the people
Integrating artist into american light Make art expressive of the spirit of the nation (lets appreciate our country for the common good not just what the big important people did) Making art accesible to the masses Idea undergirded New Deal Arts ? |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930s
Potential Controversey of art? Precedents...And Depression and Impetus |
yes but alot of people believe that their is uplifting effects of it.
Emerson: Talked about how to give access to masterpieces of art and nature Edward Everett Hale (1850's) theater and social betterment Settlement Houses Helped integrate immigrants (theaters to expose poor people to great works of culture) Americanizing and uplifting Museums |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930's
New Deal Arts |
(find out more info)
1933: FERA funds to unemployed artists, actors, and musicians 1934: Tresury Sec. Henry Morgenthau: fine arts section created under Edward Bruce--fine art in public buildings 1935: Works progress Administration (WPA) established "Federal One" arts projects--ad to be 90% on relief |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930's
Goal of the New Deal Arts |
Jobs for unemployed
but larger goal of...... Bring artist and people together--enrich lives of both Creating a nation of cultural consumers Some new deal leaders also saw the arts as instruments of social reform most people dont have much of a background needed to be on relief 90 percent on relief 10 percent not on relief (the really good ones) they had to design projects of varying levels of talent to work on. (this could get tricky) also so many people became radicalized Raise the general level of cultural but not be overfilled with propaganda |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930's
Harry Hopkins Federal One Projects Under WPA |
Federal Aprt project (FAP): Holger Cahill
? Federal Theater Project:(FTP): Hallie Flanagan really wide ranging theater reflecting local concerts she wanted controversy and experimental Federal Writers Project (FWP): Henry Alsberg Federal Music Project (FMP): Nikolai Sokolof |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930's
Art for millions-taken out of "high culture" and into everday life |
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Cultural Democracy in the 1930's
Difficulty of promoting this idea of art (the New art deal??) ? |
Goal of integrating the artist and community and the reality of mass giant beuracy (they are on relief and logistical efforts of how are you getting this set up.) (find out more...)
This experiment of national art only lasted about 6 years. mainly for political reasons this leads to (side note): Beginning of the red scare... (in the 50's) Beggining with a response to these art projects |
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Cultural Democracy In the 1930's
The "beginninings of a great American art"? |
Art projects yielded on 2,566 murals (on local and american themes; 17, 744 sculptures, graphics, etc.
Index of American Design WPA guides Millions saw theatrical works etc.. |
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what is communism
socialism democracy capitalism |
Communism is an economic ideology popularized by Karl Marx in the 19th century, which theorizes that the workers of a fully industrialized nation can unite and takeover control of private industry.
Socialism is the form of government that adopts the communist ideology, such as Russia did in 1917 and China in 1949, but did not allow the workers to control private industry as they claimed. The government, itself, controlled all private enterprises. Democracy is a form of government in which citizens of a country directly participate in making policy. This is different than the form of government in the US and most other modern Republics because in the Republican form of government, citizens elect representatives to guild policy. Capitalism is an economic principle in which business and government are independent of each other. Businesses operate in a free market and are regulated by that market, not by government. |
