1930s

Dorothea Lange and the Farm Security Agency: From 1935 - 1944, the photographic program of the Farm Security Administration, embarked on a nationwide quest to document, collect and create a pictorial record of American life during the 1930s and 1940s. Spanning all fifty states, the photographers produced more than 175,000 black and white negatives, crafting one of the most immense and important photographic compositions in American history. Created by the federal government, the photography…

It happened in the 1930’s, a time that was very weird in US History. We had just went from a period of prosperity and growth to a period of sever decline. Our economy was on a rollercoaster and it did not know where it wanted to go. Finally we received a final blow in the…

Prime Minister Mackenzie King wrote in his dairy a day after the 1930 federal election that he did not care much for his loss in the election and that he was glad to throw the responsibility of finding a solution to unemployment problems to newly elected Prime Minister, R.B Bennett. R.B Bennett who took the responsibility of Canada when it was in a great economical depression is often blamed for his inability to cope with the depression and a series of dark historical event: On-To-Ottawa Trek…

Bowl not only killed many Americans in the central United States, but also triggered one of the most financial downfalls in American history, the Great Depression. The Dust Bowl was the area of parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico in the 1930s that experienced strong dust storms and lack of water, causing a drought. Although many factors can be accounted for the causes of the Dust Bowl, the main reason is farmers excessively cultivated and plowed their land, exposing topsoil. The…

A Midsummer Night’s (American) Dream Through semiotics and representation, Ellen Lauren relates the illusion of the American Dream to the conflict between reality and dreams in her 1930s interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream through the image of Puck as Charlie Chaplin. In Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, by Stuart Hall, Hall explains that when a person sees an object, they can connect meaning to that object. They see the object, connect it to a concept…

in Mississippi. John Steinbeck also fits into this statement, as he was influenced by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl to write his novel, The Grapes of Wrath. The Great Depression devastated the lives of millions of Americans throughout the 1930s. The American Depression officially began October 29th, 1929, with the collapse of the United States stock market. This single event put an end to whatever good times had been going on in the “Roaring ‘20s.” Millions of American people were put…

Grapes of Wrath In John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, he brilliantly illustrates Mae’s character develops during The Great Depression. The book takes place during the 1930s in which the depression and the dust bowl were both their height of destruction On October 29th, the stock market crashed causing the nation to go in a panic state. In the midwest, there were massive sand and dust storms that were causing houses to be covered in dust and animals were suffocating. People who lived on the…

‘Of Mice and Men’ is written by John Steinback in 1937, when the American society is still recovering from the Great Depression. Through his minor characters, Steinback shows the fall of the American Dream, with prevalent discrimination, a lack of hope and low social mobility in the post-depression American society. First, Steinback’s minor characters and their dreams reflect the post-depression society’s lack of hope. When Lennie and Candy visit Crooks and talk about their dream, Crooks…

“As soon as you start to pursue your dream your life wakes up and has meaning.” -Barbara Sher. In the 1930’s dreams were essential if you were living through the Great Depression. In the novel Mice Of Men by John Steinbeck, it’s clear to see that each character has a dream. It pushes them to continue and is seen throughout everything they do. Although each character has a fantasy, it’s evident that Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Lennie need these fantasies and are dependent on them. Firstly,…

To Kill a Mockingbird is set during a changing and developing time in the United States. The Great Depression, which started in 1929, changed the way of life for many people in the 30’s, including characters in this novel. During this time, the old notions of gender roles held fast, but women started to enter the workforce more frequently in order to support their families in a time of economic hardship. Women had also recently gained the right to vote, leveling the playing field of gender…