An Introduction
The 1920’s and 1930’s in America has become known as some of the most tremulous, inspiring, and perhaps telling times for the nation. The 1920’s, better known to history as the “Roaring Twenties,” saw the United States growing at an unheard of pace in arenas of industry and overall economy. The titans of industry such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry Ford, and banking leaders like J.P. Morgan were sitting atop their respective empires built by their own hands in the most free economy the world had ever known. All seemed well with America’s border as the second decade of the Nineteenth Century began and the future seemed bright. The United States has stepped onto the world stage in 1917 in the closing years of World War I. With a burgeoning economy most European nations looked to the United States for loans to pay their war debts.[1] This solidified the United States as the world’s leading economy.
Beneath the surface, however, the foundation of capitalism that America’s strong economy was built upon was beginning to develop chinks in its armor. As the economy continued to grow at a breakneck pace, America’s untamed system of capitalism was constantly becoming unable to bear the load. Capitalism is arguably the best economic system in the world. Most of the world’s finest minds and most valuable contributions to science, industry, literature, art, and the humanities have come from the freedom a capitalistic society provides. However, when capitalism is not properly stewarded the results can be disastrous, like America saw at the end of the 1920’s.
The Depression Era in the United States produced some of the most well known and timeless works of literature, music, theater, and film, such as John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the original film version of The Wizard of Oz, and the plays Show Boat, Porgy and Bess, and countless others.[2] The works published and the movements that occurred in the culture of the 1920’s and 1930’s give us a good pulse by which to judge the era. By examining the points in history where America’s leaders and America’s culture meet we are able to see how the nation perceived its leaders and the times they lived in. When people are desperate, backed into a corner, and have nothing to lose, it is here we find the brilliance and brutal honesty of a society. This was the temperature of the Depression Era.
The Bankers
Very rarely in history do we find events that have such a heavy influence on an event or time period and yet go almost unnoticed. However, in setting the stage for perhaps the worst financial crisis the world had ever seen, this was exactly the case. In his book, One Summer: America, 1927, author and journalist Bill Bryson catalogs a fateful meeting between four financial titans in June of 1927, of which the impact would be felt for decades.[3] Ogden Mills, a “rich Republican” who had run for the governorship of New York in 1926, failed, and now worked in the Treasury Department under President Coolidge, hosted the meeting at his Long Island estate.[4] Hjalmar Schacht, head of Germany’s central bank; Benjamin Strong, governor of the New York branch of the Federal Reserve; Montagu Norman, governor of the Bank of England; and Charles Rist, deputy governor of the Bank of France, all arrive in New York City in the summer of 1927. Most Americans were feeling good that year. America and Europe were engaged in a great aviation race to see who would be the first to fly across the Atlantic nonstop. Duke Ellington was getting his start at the Cotton Club in New York City that year, helping to launch big band music into the national spotlight.[5] This was good-feeling, worry-free music that most Americans were coming to greatly enjoy. Americans were also caught up in the murder trial of Ruth Snyder and Judd Gray in New York City, of which the country could literally not get enough. According to Bryson, two of New York’s new agencies, The Daily News and the Daily Mirror, published up to eight articles a day about the trial and together put out nearly three hundred and sixty “photographs, diagrams, and other illustrations…”[6] For a trial that lasted only three weeks this was quite a large amount of material for newspapers to put out, but the American people, especially those in New York, were buying up everything they could with information on the trail and those being tried.
This was America in the “Roaring Twenties,” late in that decade. The atmosphere seemed light. People were making money, and most citizens of the great nation had plenty of what they needed. This carefree and laid-back attitude could very well be a strong reflection of the leadership that was in place at the time. As we will see later on, America was under the guidance of one of the most passive administrations in its history. It was under this passive leadership that decisions were made that would forever alter the course of the United States. While Americans were enjoying the sounds of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, flocking to Broadway to see the latest show, and staying current with up-to-the-hour updates on the Snyder-Gray trail in Manhattan, the four prestigious bankers were on the other side of the city about to make a decision that would shake the world.
In June of 1927, when the bankers met on Long Island, the United States’ economy was in full upswing. In his State of the Union address given on December 7, 1926, President Coolidge estimated that the Treasury Department would hold a national surplus of $383,000,000 by the end of the 1927 fiscal year.[7] The Average Joe in America was able to make a life’s fortune for smart, minimal investments on the stock market. Bryson makes mention in One Summer that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s barber made half a million dollars off the stock market and promptly retired from cutting hair.[8] With the economy in full boom the bankers’ meeting on Long Island came to the conclusion, led by Benjamin Strong, that the Federal Reserve would cut its interest rate that it loaned money to financial institutions at from 4.0% to 3.5%, in part to help bolster international trade (hence the interest of the other three European bank heads).[9] Most Americans who already had much of their lives wrapped up in the stock market began borrowing more and investing at astronomical levels. Bryson explains that over the next year loans for investments in the stock market would increase by over $1 billion, taking the economy to unheard of, and dangerously unstable, heights.[10]
While there were many other factors that contributed to the collapse of the stock market in 1929, Schacht, Strong, Norman, & Rist’s meetings on Long Island that summer were, as Harvard economist Liaquat Ahamed put it, “the spark that lit the forest fire.”[11] With the onset of the Great Depression thrusting the United States and the world into economic chaos, America was on the verge of one of the most important cultural movements in its still young history. The financial leaders of the time had taken advantage of the high spirits and near lackadaisical atmosphere echoed by big band and jazz music and good-feeling Broadway shows and the celebration of the “talkies” or movies with synchronized sound. While these bankers set the stage for horrific economic downfall, it would be that downfall that would launch America into a time when some of the finest works of literature, music, theater, and film would be created.
The 1920’s and 1930’s in America has become known as some of the most tremulous, inspiring, and perhaps telling times for the nation. The 1920’s, better known to history as the “Roaring Twenties,” saw the United States growing at an unheard of pace in arenas of industry and overall economy. The titans of industry such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry Ford, and banking leaders like J.P. Morgan were sitting atop their respective empires built by their own hands in the most free economy the world had ever known. All seemed well with America’s border as the second decade of the Nineteenth Century began and the future seemed bright. The United States has stepped onto the world stage in 1917 in the closing years of World War I. With a burgeoning economy most European nations looked to the United States for loans to pay their war debts.[1] This solidified the United States as the world’s leading economy.
Beneath the surface, however, the foundation of capitalism that America’s strong economy was built upon was beginning to develop chinks in its armor. As the economy continued to grow at a breakneck pace, America’s untamed system of capitalism was constantly becoming unable to bear the load. Capitalism is arguably the best economic system in the world. Most of the world’s finest minds and most valuable contributions to science, industry, literature, art, and the humanities have come from the freedom a capitalistic society provides. However, when capitalism is not properly stewarded the results can be disastrous, like America saw at the end of the 1920’s.
The Depression Era in the United States produced some of the most well known and timeless works of literature, music, theater, and film, such as John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the original film version of The Wizard of Oz, and the plays Show Boat, Porgy and Bess, and countless others.[2] The works published and the movements that occurred in the culture of the 1920’s and 1930’s give us a good pulse by which to judge the era. By examining the points in history where America’s leaders and America’s culture meet we are able to see how the nation perceived its leaders and the times they lived in. When people are desperate, backed into a corner, and have nothing to lose, it is here we find the brilliance and brutal honesty of a society. This was the temperature of the Depression Era.
The Bankers
Very rarely in history do we find events that have such a heavy influence on an event or time period and yet go almost unnoticed. However, in setting the stage for perhaps the worst financial crisis the world had ever seen, this was exactly the case. In his book, One Summer: America, 1927, author and journalist Bill Bryson catalogs a fateful meeting between four financial titans in June of 1927, of which the impact would be felt for decades.[3] Ogden Mills, a “rich Republican” who had run for the governorship of New York in 1926, failed, and now worked in the Treasury Department under President Coolidge, hosted the meeting at his Long Island estate.[4] Hjalmar Schacht, head of Germany’s central bank; Benjamin Strong, governor of the New York branch of the Federal Reserve; Montagu Norman, governor of the Bank of England; and Charles Rist, deputy governor of the Bank of France, all arrive in New York City in the summer of 1927. Most Americans were feeling good that year. America and Europe were engaged in a great aviation race to see who would be the first to fly across the Atlantic nonstop. Duke Ellington was getting his start at the Cotton Club in New York City that year, helping to launch big band music into the national spotlight.[5] This was good-feeling, worry-free music that most Americans were coming to greatly enjoy. Americans were also caught up in the murder trial of Ruth Snyder and Judd Gray in New York City, of which the country could literally not get enough. According to Bryson, two of New York’s new agencies, The Daily News and the Daily Mirror, published up to eight articles a day about the trial and together put out nearly three hundred and sixty “photographs, diagrams, and other illustrations…”[6] For a trial that lasted only three weeks this was quite a large amount of material for newspapers to put out, but the American people, especially those in New York, were buying up everything they could with information on the trail and those being tried.
This was America in the “Roaring Twenties,” late in that decade. The atmosphere seemed light. People were making money, and most citizens of the great nation had plenty of what they needed. This carefree and laid-back attitude could very well be a strong reflection of the leadership that was in place at the time. As we will see later on, America was under the guidance of one of the most passive administrations in its history. It was under this passive leadership that decisions were made that would forever alter the course of the United States. While Americans were enjoying the sounds of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, flocking to Broadway to see the latest show, and staying current with up-to-the-hour updates on the Snyder-Gray trail in Manhattan, the four prestigious bankers were on the other side of the city about to make a decision that would shake the world.
In June of 1927, when the bankers met on Long Island, the United States’ economy was in full upswing. In his State of the Union address given on December 7, 1926, President Coolidge estimated that the Treasury Department would hold a national surplus of $383,000,000 by the end of the 1927 fiscal year.[7] The Average Joe in America was able to make a life’s fortune for smart, minimal investments on the stock market. Bryson makes mention in One Summer that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s barber made half a million dollars off the stock market and promptly retired from cutting hair.[8] With the economy in full boom the bankers’ meeting on Long Island came to the conclusion, led by Benjamin Strong, that the Federal Reserve would cut its interest rate that it loaned money to financial institutions at from 4.0% to 3.5%, in part to help bolster international trade (hence the interest of the other three European bank heads).[9] Most Americans who already had much of their lives wrapped up in the stock market began borrowing more and investing at astronomical levels. Bryson explains that over the next year loans for investments in the stock market would increase by over $1 billion, taking the economy to unheard of, and dangerously unstable, heights.[10]
While there were many other factors that contributed to the collapse of the stock market in 1929, Schacht, Strong, Norman, & Rist’s meetings on Long Island that summer were, as Harvard economist Liaquat Ahamed put it, “the spark that lit the forest fire.”[11] With the onset of the Great Depression thrusting the United States and the world into economic chaos, America was on the verge of one of the most important cultural movements in its still young history. The financial leaders of the time had taken advantage of the high spirits and near lackadaisical atmosphere echoed by big band and jazz music and good-feeling Broadway shows and the celebration of the “talkies” or movies with synchronized sound. While these bankers set the stage for horrific economic downfall, it would be that downfall that would launch America into a time when some of the finest works of literature, music, theater, and film would be created.
The Presidents
The bankers of the 1920’s showed how loose the policies driving the economy were. The leadership supposedly overseeing these decisions was absent from the table in almost every way, especially in 1927. In a free market society that needs close and careful stewarding, those charged as stewards in the 1920’s had left their posts.
The roaring 1920’s would see the transfer of the Presidency from Woodrow Wilson, a hero in most Americans’ minds for leading the country through the First World War, to Warren G. Harding. Harding, a United States Senator from Ohio, had promised a “return to normalcy” after the war years during his presidential campaign. Harding rejected so-called “activism” by presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, and the majority of Americans responded to his “genial nature, impressive stature, and bland message…”[12] One major positive for Harding was he had the support of singer, song writer, and actor Al Jolson, who would later go on to star in the 1927 smash hit, The Jazz Singer. Jolson campaigned for Harding and wrote a song, which he sang on the campaign trail, called “Harding, You’re the Man for Us.” The catchy chorus line sang, “Harding, lead the G.O.P. Harding, on to victory. We’re here to make a fuss, Warren Harding you’re the man for us!”[13] Another catchy lyric from the song that would later become almost comically ironic is found in the second verse: “With Coolidge right behind you, and Coolidge never failed you…” As with any campaign for public office, Harding had his dissenters. Some of them, like Jolson, were writers and musicians. During the 1920 campaign, lyricist A.J. Kiser and composer Edouard Hesselburg wrote a song about Harding entitled, “Give the Devil His Dues.” As the title suggests, it was not a flattering song for the presidential hopeful. The chorus of the song sings, “Give the devil his dues, give the devil his dues, isn’t he now stalking ‘round in Senator Harding’s shoes?”[14]
Thankfully for Harding, “Give the Devil His Dues” was not the downfall of his campaign, and he and his running mate, Calvin Coolidge, handily beat their Democratic opponents, James Cox and Franklin Roosevelt. Harding’s administration began a decade that, on the surface for most Americans, was the best they had ever seen. Behind the scenes, however, disaster was brewing thanks in large part to Harding himself. The president seemed to have a chronic method for appointing some of the most grossly under qualified individuals to high-ranking offices. Bryson illustrates that Harding appointed a man to head the Veterans Bureau whom he had very briefly met for the first time on a trip to Hawaii and knew practically nothing about.[15] The Veterans Bureau lost $200 million during the Harding years, which in any era is a significant amount.[16] This appointment was only the tip of the iceberg for Harding’s administration. All through the ranks, his cabinet and their appointees were chock-full of corruption. Harding, however, would not live long enough to see the vetting of the worst of the scandals, though he was fully involved. In August of 1923, just over half way though his presidency, Harding died of a heart attack. The worst of his personal scandals came to light in the summer of 1927. A woman named Nan Britton publish a book called The Presidents Daughter, in which she highlighted an ongoing affair she had with Harding, in which he fathered a child with her while he was a senator and continued his relationship with her within the walls of the White House. Needless to say, in a society starving for story and scandal, as Americans were with the Snyder-Gray murder trial, the book flew off the shelves.
The bankers of the 1920’s showed how loose the policies driving the economy were. The leadership supposedly overseeing these decisions was absent from the table in almost every way, especially in 1927. In a free market society that needs close and careful stewarding, those charged as stewards in the 1920’s had left their posts.
The roaring 1920’s would see the transfer of the Presidency from Woodrow Wilson, a hero in most Americans’ minds for leading the country through the First World War, to Warren G. Harding. Harding, a United States Senator from Ohio, had promised a “return to normalcy” after the war years during his presidential campaign. Harding rejected so-called “activism” by presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, and the majority of Americans responded to his “genial nature, impressive stature, and bland message…”[12] One major positive for Harding was he had the support of singer, song writer, and actor Al Jolson, who would later go on to star in the 1927 smash hit, The Jazz Singer. Jolson campaigned for Harding and wrote a song, which he sang on the campaign trail, called “Harding, You’re the Man for Us.” The catchy chorus line sang, “Harding, lead the G.O.P. Harding, on to victory. We’re here to make a fuss, Warren Harding you’re the man for us!”[13] Another catchy lyric from the song that would later become almost comically ironic is found in the second verse: “With Coolidge right behind you, and Coolidge never failed you…” As with any campaign for public office, Harding had his dissenters. Some of them, like Jolson, were writers and musicians. During the 1920 campaign, lyricist A.J. Kiser and composer Edouard Hesselburg wrote a song about Harding entitled, “Give the Devil His Dues.” As the title suggests, it was not a flattering song for the presidential hopeful. The chorus of the song sings, “Give the devil his dues, give the devil his dues, isn’t he now stalking ‘round in Senator Harding’s shoes?”[14]
Thankfully for Harding, “Give the Devil His Dues” was not the downfall of his campaign, and he and his running mate, Calvin Coolidge, handily beat their Democratic opponents, James Cox and Franklin Roosevelt. Harding’s administration began a decade that, on the surface for most Americans, was the best they had ever seen. Behind the scenes, however, disaster was brewing thanks in large part to Harding himself. The president seemed to have a chronic method for appointing some of the most grossly under qualified individuals to high-ranking offices. Bryson illustrates that Harding appointed a man to head the Veterans Bureau whom he had very briefly met for the first time on a trip to Hawaii and knew practically nothing about.[15] The Veterans Bureau lost $200 million during the Harding years, which in any era is a significant amount.[16] This appointment was only the tip of the iceberg for Harding’s administration. All through the ranks, his cabinet and their appointees were chock-full of corruption. Harding, however, would not live long enough to see the vetting of the worst of the scandals, though he was fully involved. In August of 1923, just over half way though his presidency, Harding died of a heart attack. The worst of his personal scandals came to light in the summer of 1927. A woman named Nan Britton publish a book called The Presidents Daughter, in which she highlighted an ongoing affair she had with Harding, in which he fathered a child with her while he was a senator and continued his relationship with her within the walls of the White House. Needless to say, in a society starving for story and scandal, as Americans were with the Snyder-Gray murder trial, the book flew off the shelves.
When Warren Harding died in 1923, his vice-president was sworn in as the Thirtieth President of United States. Coolidge inherited a phenomenal economy and was intent not to stand in the way of the market. Coolidge was perhaps the most apathetic president of the Twentieth Century and some might argue in history. Coolidge made a point to work as the chief executive officer of the United States for only a handful of hours each day. Bryson describes his presidency in One Summer by saying, “No one has ever more successfully made a virtue out of doing little than Calvin Coolidge as president.”[17] During the summer of 1927 Charles Lindbergh was arriving in New York City after being the first person to successfully fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Coolidge was to meet Lindbergh in New York and present him with an award. Coolidge was a little anxious to “get out the door” so-to-speak as he and his wife were leaving for a three-month long vacation in South Dakota.[18] It was while Coolidge was on his vacation, away from Washington, essentially leaving the government ungoverned, that Benjamin Strong and his banking colleagues were kindling the inferno that would become the Great Depression. Coolidge’s Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover, tried to convince his boss to take some action to undo what Strong had done at the Federal Reserve. Coolidge declined to do so, believing that the market was in fine order.[19]
Coolidge did have some notable accomplishments during his tenure in the White House. He signed the Radio Act of 1927, bringing much needed order to the airwaves and ensuring that broadcasters First Amendment Rights were protected.[20] Coolidge also appeared in the first moving picture with sound, shot by Lee de Forest on the grounds of the White House.[21] Coolidge may be most remembered for a decision he made while on vacation in South Dakota during that summer of 1927. Most Americans expected Coolidge to run for president the next year in 1928 as quasi-incumbent candidate on the Republican ticket. Coolidge, however, had different plans. The President assembled a press conference at a local high school and informed the media that he would not be running for the office the following year. This was shocking news to the nation, but as a president who from all appearances did not seem fully engaged in his duties, this may not be so surprising. Coolidge would no longer be president, leaving a looming storm for another to handle.
There have perhaps been no other presidents in the United States’ history that have received so much blame for an event in which they had almost no control over the circumstances causing it. Herbert Hoover had been in office for 19 months and 24 days when the stock market tanked in October of 1929. President Hoover became a scapegoat for Americans during the Depression, and his presidency took a beating from the imagery coming out of the era. Hoover could have perhaps avoided some of the pounding his name and presidency took by giving Americans something to truly hope for instead of attempting to instill a false hope. Morris Dickstein said in his work on the culture of the Great Depression “the need to restore ‘confidence’ was a universal theme of the early Depression years, starting with Herbert Hoover, who kept insisting that ‘conditions’ were ‘fundamentally sound’ and the effects of the Crash were largely a problem of morale.”[22] While the morale of Americans was of great concern and was reflected in the works of the time, the true problem was a lack of stewarding, even after the markets crashed.
While President Hoover did have one of the largest hydroelectric dams ever built named after him (which still bears his name), Hoover’s name may forever be attached to one of the mostly culturally significant images to come out of the Depression Era.
Shantytowns began popping up in America’s metropolitan areas as countless Americans were losing everything they owned. Some began creating homes made out of rickety wooden structures with metal roofs combined with anything else they could find to make a home. “Hooverville” was coined for political purposes by the chief of publicity for the Democratic National Convention, Charles Michelson.[23] While the President did not have a direct impact on the shantytowns, his inability to provide security as a leader and the fact that he was the one in the White House caused his name to stick to the phenomenon.
Nearly forty years after the beginning of the Depression, a hit Broadway musical was created around the culture of the Depression Era New York City. Annie chronicles the story of a young orphan girl living in a New York orphanage. One night she escapes the orphanage and finds herself wandering through a shantytown. As she is observing her surroundings she sings a heavily sarcastic tune, “We’d like to thank you, Herbert Hoover. For really showing us the way. We’d like to thank you, Herbert Hoover. You made us what we are today!”[24] While the “politics” of Annie may be debated, it stands as a stark reminder of what Americans remember about the early days of the Depression and where the blame was placed even decades after it occurred. In a time of desperation, Americans in the early 1930’s were looking for hope and a strong leader. In 1933, the tides in America would begin to change.
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as President of the United States in 1932, the nation was in the doldrums. There seemed to be no signs of the recovery in the economy and people were losing hope in their great nation. Roosevelt was poised to change their outlook. In his first inaugural address, given at the Capitol Building on March 4, 1933, Roosevelt came right out of the gate and addressed the heart of an aching nation. “This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreats into advance.”[25] Unlike his predecessors, Roosevelt was not just speaking words. He fully intended on backing them up with action. In what is now known as the First Hundred Days, Roosevelt signed sweeping legislation, reforming everything from banking to farming. This began what is known as the New Deal. The federal government would take the burden of restarting the economy upon itself. One of the first moves Roosevelt made was to help get the banks stable again, or at least help the public to have confidence in the nation’s financial institutions. Roosevelt next looked to get Americans working again. In another series of sweeping legislation, Roosevelt signed into law acts creating a variety of civilian work organizations. One of the best known of these organizations was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC put young men to work on various public projects all over the country.
One of the largest and well-known projects built in part by CCC hands is the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway spans from the mountains of Western North Carolina to Northern Virginia and is still a major tourist destination.
The Roosevelt administration also looked to engage the culture and more importantly employ artists, photographers, journalists, and authors. Roosevelt’s New Deal created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to accomplish this. A report by PBS suggests that the WPA employed “tens of thousands” of artists during its course and those artists created 2,566 murals and 17,744 sculptures for public buildings all over the nation.
The Depression would be far from over by the time that Roosevelt’s New Deal programs reached a plateau, but his administration had begun to get Americans back to work in one form or another, and more importantly, they were hoping again.
One of the largest and well-known projects built in part by CCC hands is the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway spans from the mountains of Western North Carolina to Northern Virginia and is still a major tourist destination.
The Roosevelt administration also looked to engage the culture and more importantly employ artists, photographers, journalists, and authors. Roosevelt’s New Deal created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to accomplish this. A report by PBS suggests that the WPA employed “tens of thousands” of artists during its course and those artists created 2,566 murals and 17,744 sculptures for public buildings all over the nation.
The Depression would be far from over by the time that Roosevelt’s New Deal programs reached a plateau, but his administration had begun to get Americans back to work in one form or another, and more importantly, they were hoping again.
Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway in 1935 despite heavy criticism. Dickstein argues that this production was sign that American was beginning to turn a corner in the Depression. In the early days of the Depression Americans were mainly focused on how they and their families would survive. In Porgy and Bess we see a different attitude from the citizens in Catfish Row, a fictitious neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina where the production is set. Dickstein writes that, “the election of Roosevelt and the beginnings of the New Deal in March of 1933 opened a new vein of optimism in the public attitude toward the Depression, and many artists gradually turned from a belief in overthrowing the system towards a search for more humane forms of community.”[26] The actual stage set of Porgy and Bess reflects this attitude. Where other productions may have shown houses or downtown building in straight rows facing the audience, this production had the houses and buildings facing toward each other allowing for “gossip or clotheslines…”[27] The doors of the buildings would open up into public areas so the community could interact with one another; “private joys and sorrows turned into everyone’s business.”[28] Dickstein concludes that while everyone was still hurting from the Depression, they were a community whose lives were “colorfully interwoven.”[29] This shows a reflection of the hope America was beginning to feel as the New Deal attempted to jump-start a suffering economy. People were making efforts to get back to work and for the first time in a long time the future was looking bright.
Conclusion
The leadership in place in America’s “Roaring Twenties” proved to be ineffective at best and lazy at worst. While the United States was sitting atop perhaps the largest and most successful economy the world had ever seen those elected to steward it were unable to do so either by choice or fear of disrupting the status quo. When the economy finally toppled it ushered in a time of chaos and upheaval, but also a cultural revolution. Some of America’s finest, most well known, and beloved works came as a result of the ways and times of the Depression Era. (The United States would see its first Nobel laureate in literature during the Depression.) These works give those looking back at the era a good idea of what was truly going on and, from a reflective stance, a look at the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of America’s leadership. We start by seeing America, coming off the high of the 1920’s illustrated by the music of big band jazz and soaring Broadway numbers, seemingly become stuck in a rut portrayed by the images of “Hoovervilles” and works such as Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (though it was published towards the end of the Depression). With the election of Franklin Roosevelt, the United States seemed to make an upward turn. While the status of the nation was still dire, Roosevelt turned the nation toward the light and, most importantly, got Americans hoping again. When a nation can hope and dream of a better future, there is no limit to what it can accomplish.
Bibliography
Bryson, Bill. One Summer: America, 1927. New York, New York: Doubleday, 2013.
de Forest, Lee. “President Coolidge, Taken On the White House Ground” (video). 1924. Accessed April 27, 2014. https://archive.org/details/coolidge_1924.
Dickstein, Morris. Dancing in the Dark: a Cultural History of the Great Depression. Gainesville: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.
Goodman, Mark. “The Radio Act of 1927 as a Product of Progressivism.” Ohio University. Accessed April 27, 2014. http://www.scripps.ohiou.edu/mediahistory/mhmjour2-2.htm.
History.com. “Hoovervilles - Facts.” Accessed April 27, 2014. http://www.history.com/topics/hoovervilles.
Jolson, Al. “Harding, You're the Man for Us” (Youtube). 1920. Accessed April 28, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq2rnv7xPWs.
Kiser, A.J., and Edouard Hesselburg. Give the Devil His Dues. Colorado Springs: A.J. Kiser, 1920. Accessed April 27, 2014. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200155636/enlarge.html?page=2§ion=&size=640.
Library of Congress. “American Leaders Speak: From War to Normalcy.” Accessed April 27, 2014. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/nfhtml/nfexpe.html.
Pennsylvania State University. “State of the Union Addresses by Calvin Coolidge.” Accessed April 26, 2014. http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/poldocs/uspressu/SUaddressCCoolidge.pdf.
Schulman, Michael. “The Politics of 'Annie'.” The New Yorker Culture (blog). The New Yorker, n.d. Accessed April 27, 2014. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/10/the-politics-of-annie-the-musical.html.
United State Department of State - Office of the Historian. “The Dawes Plan.” October 31, 2013. Accessed April 21, 2014. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/dawes.
Yale Law School. “The Avalon Project: First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” Accessed April 27, 2014. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/froos1.asp.
[1] “The Dawes Plan,” United State Department of State - Office of the Historian, October 31, 2013, accessed April 21, 2014, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/dawes.
[2] Cultural works taken from Morris Dickstein, Dancing in the Dark: a Cultural History of the Great Depression (Gainesville: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010).
[3] This meeting was the subject of Liaquat Ahamed’s book, Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, for which he won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in History. Bryson cites this work in his source material.
[4] Bill Bryson, One Summer: America, 1927 (New York, New York: Doubleday, 2013), 201.
[5] Dickstein, Dancing in the Dark, 419.
[6] Bryson, One Summer, 31.
[7] “State of the Union Addresses by Calvin Coolidge,” Pennsylvania State University, accessed April 26, 2014, http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/poldocs/uspressu/SUaddressCCoolidge.pdf.
[8] Bryson, One Summer, 208.
[9] Bryson, One Summer, 212-213.
[10] Ibid., 213
[11] Bryson, One Summer, 213, quoted from Ahamed’s Lords of Finance.
[12] “American Leaders Speak: From War to Normalcy,” Library of Congress, accessed April 27, 2014, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/nfhtml/nfexpe.html.
[13] Al Jolson, “Harding, You're the Man for Us” (Youtube), 1920, accessed April 28, 2014, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq2rnv7xPWs.
[14] A.J. Kiser and Edouard Hesselburg, Give the Devil His Dues (Colorado Springs: A.J. Kiser, 1920), 1, accessed April 27, 2014, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200155636/enlarge.html?page=2§ion=&size=640.
[15] Bryson, One Summer, 190.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Bryson, One Summer, 193.
[18] Ibid., 174.
[19] Ibid., 213.
[20] Mark Goodman, “The Radio Act of 1927 as a Product of Progressivism,” Ohio University, accessed April 27, 2014, http://www.scripps.ohiou.edu/mediahistory/mhmjour2-2.htm.
[21] Lee de Forest, “President Coolidge, Taken On the White House Ground” (video), 1924, accessed April 27, 2014, https://archive.org/details/coolidge_1924.
[22] Dickstein, Dancing in the Dark, 222-223.
[23] “Hoovervilles - Facts,” History.com, accessed April 27, 2014, http://www.history.com/topics/hoovervilles.
[24] Michael Schulman “The Politics of 'Annie',” The New Yorker Culture (blog), The New Yorker, n.d., accessed April 27, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/10/the-politics-of-annie-the-musical.html.
[25] “The Avalon Project: First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt,” Yale Law School, accessed April 27, 2014, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/froos1.asp.
[26] Dickstein, Dancing in the Dark, 468.
[27] Ibid., 469.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Ibid.
Conclusion
The leadership in place in America’s “Roaring Twenties” proved to be ineffective at best and lazy at worst. While the United States was sitting atop perhaps the largest and most successful economy the world had ever seen those elected to steward it were unable to do so either by choice or fear of disrupting the status quo. When the economy finally toppled it ushered in a time of chaos and upheaval, but also a cultural revolution. Some of America’s finest, most well known, and beloved works came as a result of the ways and times of the Depression Era. (The United States would see its first Nobel laureate in literature during the Depression.) These works give those looking back at the era a good idea of what was truly going on and, from a reflective stance, a look at the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of America’s leadership. We start by seeing America, coming off the high of the 1920’s illustrated by the music of big band jazz and soaring Broadway numbers, seemingly become stuck in a rut portrayed by the images of “Hoovervilles” and works such as Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (though it was published towards the end of the Depression). With the election of Franklin Roosevelt, the United States seemed to make an upward turn. While the status of the nation was still dire, Roosevelt turned the nation toward the light and, most importantly, got Americans hoping again. When a nation can hope and dream of a better future, there is no limit to what it can accomplish.
Bibliography
Bryson, Bill. One Summer: America, 1927. New York, New York: Doubleday, 2013.
de Forest, Lee. “President Coolidge, Taken On the White House Ground” (video). 1924. Accessed April 27, 2014. https://archive.org/details/coolidge_1924.
Dickstein, Morris. Dancing in the Dark: a Cultural History of the Great Depression. Gainesville: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.
Goodman, Mark. “The Radio Act of 1927 as a Product of Progressivism.” Ohio University. Accessed April 27, 2014. http://www.scripps.ohiou.edu/mediahistory/mhmjour2-2.htm.
History.com. “Hoovervilles - Facts.” Accessed April 27, 2014. http://www.history.com/topics/hoovervilles.
Jolson, Al. “Harding, You're the Man for Us” (Youtube). 1920. Accessed April 28, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq2rnv7xPWs.
Kiser, A.J., and Edouard Hesselburg. Give the Devil His Dues. Colorado Springs: A.J. Kiser, 1920. Accessed April 27, 2014. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200155636/enlarge.html?page=2§ion=&size=640.
Library of Congress. “American Leaders Speak: From War to Normalcy.” Accessed April 27, 2014. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/nfhtml/nfexpe.html.
Pennsylvania State University. “State of the Union Addresses by Calvin Coolidge.” Accessed April 26, 2014. http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/poldocs/uspressu/SUaddressCCoolidge.pdf.
Schulman, Michael. “The Politics of 'Annie'.” The New Yorker Culture (blog). The New Yorker, n.d. Accessed April 27, 2014. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/10/the-politics-of-annie-the-musical.html.
United State Department of State - Office of the Historian. “The Dawes Plan.” October 31, 2013. Accessed April 21, 2014. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/dawes.
Yale Law School. “The Avalon Project: First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” Accessed April 27, 2014. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/froos1.asp.
[1] “The Dawes Plan,” United State Department of State - Office of the Historian, October 31, 2013, accessed April 21, 2014, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/dawes.
[2] Cultural works taken from Morris Dickstein, Dancing in the Dark: a Cultural History of the Great Depression (Gainesville: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010).
[3] This meeting was the subject of Liaquat Ahamed’s book, Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, for which he won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in History. Bryson cites this work in his source material.
[4] Bill Bryson, One Summer: America, 1927 (New York, New York: Doubleday, 2013), 201.
[5] Dickstein, Dancing in the Dark, 419.
[6] Bryson, One Summer, 31.
[7] “State of the Union Addresses by Calvin Coolidge,” Pennsylvania State University, accessed April 26, 2014, http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/poldocs/uspressu/SUaddressCCoolidge.pdf.
[8] Bryson, One Summer, 208.
[9] Bryson, One Summer, 212-213.
[10] Ibid., 213
[11] Bryson, One Summer, 213, quoted from Ahamed’s Lords of Finance.
[12] “American Leaders Speak: From War to Normalcy,” Library of Congress, accessed April 27, 2014, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/nfhtml/nfexpe.html.
[13] Al Jolson, “Harding, You're the Man for Us” (Youtube), 1920, accessed April 28, 2014, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq2rnv7xPWs.
[14] A.J. Kiser and Edouard Hesselburg, Give the Devil His Dues (Colorado Springs: A.J. Kiser, 1920), 1, accessed April 27, 2014, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200155636/enlarge.html?page=2§ion=&size=640.
[15] Bryson, One Summer, 190.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Bryson, One Summer, 193.
[18] Ibid., 174.
[19] Ibid., 213.
[20] Mark Goodman, “The Radio Act of 1927 as a Product of Progressivism,” Ohio University, accessed April 27, 2014, http://www.scripps.ohiou.edu/mediahistory/mhmjour2-2.htm.
[21] Lee de Forest, “President Coolidge, Taken On the White House Ground” (video), 1924, accessed April 27, 2014, https://archive.org/details/coolidge_1924.
[22] Dickstein, Dancing in the Dark, 222-223.
[23] “Hoovervilles - Facts,” History.com, accessed April 27, 2014, http://www.history.com/topics/hoovervilles.
[24] Michael Schulman “The Politics of 'Annie',” The New Yorker Culture (blog), The New Yorker, n.d., accessed April 27, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/10/the-politics-of-annie-the-musical.html.
[25] “The Avalon Project: First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt,” Yale Law School, accessed April 27, 2014, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/froos1.asp.
[26] Dickstein, Dancing in the Dark, 468.
[27] Ibid., 469.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Ibid.