US History

The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)

Law and Government

This collection uses primary sources to explore the New Deal.

A photograph of the 1931 “unemployed march” in St. Louis.

The text of Roosevelt’s “fireside chat” in May 1933 outlining the New Deal.

A letter from a listener in March 1933 responding to the first “fireside chat.”

Secretary to the President

The White House

Washington, D.C.


Dear Sir:

Being a citizen of little or no consequence I feel the utter futility of writing to the 
President at a time such as this, but I trust you will accept this letter in the spirit in 
which it was written.

For me to sit down to write to any public official, whoever he may be, it must be 
prompted by a very special and appealing occasion or personality. That happened 
last evening, as I listened to the Presidents [sic] broadcast. I felt that he walked into 

my home, sat down and in plain and forceful language explained to me how he was 
tackling the job I and my fellow citizens gave him. I thought what a splendid thing it 
would be if he could find time to do that occasionally. 


Needless to say, such forceful, direct and honest action commands the respect of all 
Americans, it is certainly deserving of it.

My humble and sincere gratitude to a great leader. May God protect him.

Respectfully,

J. F. Bando


An excerpt from an interview with Ossie Davis recalling New Deal programs in the African American community.

Transcription:

INTERVIEWER:
Now about the Depression itself, what was it, when Franklin Roosevelt came to power, when he became president, and it was a New Deal, was that something that black folks in your community felt, I mean was it, was there something different about, how was it different than what had gone on before with Roosevelt? Did it, was there a sense that this was a different time now, something had changed and was it something that felt hopeful or, did it, did Roosevelt have any impact on your family's life or your community's life?

OSSIE DAVIS:
Yeah, Roosevelt did have a tremendous impact, and the New Deal, on the life of my family and the community, but not at the very beginning. Politics was something that took place up North. The Depression, even the crash of the stock market, that was Wall Street, and Wall Street was where evil people lived who made money at the expense of other people. The White South and the Black South both looked upon the crash almost as a kind of punishment to the people up there. It was only later when the New Deal began to articulate programs, number one, food was sent into the communities, welfare was sent into the communities, but then they began to institute other kinds of programs. I remember going to classes conducted by people who taught in stores, or in churches, in various other places, sometimes at night, as a part of the New Deal. I remember script. My family didn't particularly, I don't think Mama ever was on welfare in the sense that we had to go and get the script and stuff like that. We relied, as we always had, on the extended family for food. And since we were sort of in an agricultural situation, you know, always there were members of the family who would plant and there would be collard greens, and mustards, and okra, and tomatoes, and beans, and you could go into the woods and catch something, or kill a chicken or whatever. So we were never, except on one occasion, [laughs] close to absolute poverty and starvation. I do remember [laughs] on one occasion, Mama was at the bottom of her resources and she cooked a pot of greens and a pot of grits. Now in the South grits and greens do not go together. Grits for breakfast and stuff like that, but greens for the dinner time and with the peas, and the rice, and the meat, you know it's a whole other thing, but that's all Mama had to offer her children. And we were visited by one of Daddy's sisters, who was a bit above the family in social level, and she particularly looked down on the mixture of greens and grits, but [laughs] she sat at the table and even as she talked against it, she consumed all the grits and the greens [laughs], which left us for the moment without resources. But, the government programs, you know, were there, and not only did they provide a service that was needed, but they put into positions of authority and power, black folks. There were black farm agents who went out and worked with the farmers, and black teachers, people who got these little jobs and who did service the community, oh yes. 

An excerpt from a 1935 pamphlet of the American Liberty League criticizing the New Deal. 

The text of remarks by President Roosevelt discussing the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935.

An excerpt from a 1938 “fireside chat” in which President Roosevelt outlines his economic plan. 

A photograph of the Works Progress Administration’s malaria drainage project in Georgia in 1936. 

A photograph of the Civil Works Administration’s road construction in Arizona in 1934.

A photograph of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Theater Project in New York, ca. 1935.

An excerpt from a 1935 pamphlet in which Harry L. Hopkins describes Social Security.

Questions

1. According to the “[fireside chat](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-new-deal/sources/565)” in May 1933, what was Roosevelt’s vision for the New Deal? What problems did he seek to address? How did he propose to do so?
2. How did various groups of Americans respond to the New Deal? Consider the [interview with Ossie Davis](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-new-deal/sources/567) and the [pamphlet from the American Liberty League](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-new-deal/sources/568) in your response.
3. By the time of his 1938 “[fireside chat](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-new-deal/sources/570),” how did Roosevelt describe his economic plan? Had anything changed since he was elected in 1932?
4. Drawing on the [remarks of President Roosevelt discussing the Civilian Conservation Corps](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-new-deal/sources/569) and the photos in this set, describe the labor programs put in place under the New Deal. Whom did they employ? What sorts of projects did they pursue?
5. In the [1935 pamphlet](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-new-deal/sources/575), how did Harry Hopkins explain the rationale for Social Security? What problems would it address? How would it do so?

Activity

Have students search for additional images from the 1930s on the DPLA site. When each student has chosen a photograph, have them printed. Working in groups, have the students arrange their photographs into an interpretive exhibit about the period. How do their images fit together? What stories do they tell? Do they depict scenes of poverty or of prosperity? What can the images tell us about the varied effects of the Great Depression and New Deal on Americans from different backgrounds and regions?

Teaching Guide: Exploring the New Deal

Resources

1. [America’s Great Depression and Roosevelt’s New Deal](http://dp.la/exhibitions/exhibits/show/new-deal), Digital Public Library of America. 
2. [The New Deal](http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/new-deal.html), the National Archives and Records Administration. 
3. [The New Deal](https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/new-deal/), the Library of Congress. 

Overview

The 1929 stock market crash triggered a massive economic downturn that would plague not only the United States but also other nations for many years. The prosperity of the 1920s had not been widely shared, with half of all American families living at or below the poverty line even before the market crash. As banks failed and unemployment soared to 25 percent, the resulting economic devastation plunged countless Americans into poverty, leaving some homeless and many standing in breadlines. When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in 1932, he promised a “New Deal.” The programs established by his administration, ranging from the Works Progress Administration to Social Security, would greatly expand the responsibilities and power of the federal government, giving rise to the modern welfare state. This source set allows you to explore the crisis of the Great Depression, as well as the dramatic developments of the New Deal, through photographs, speeches, letters, and oral histories.

English

The New Deal

new-deal_10_82efe6ec6db67b79c39f401d64a87ef2.jpg

Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.

“WPA Federal Theater Project in New York: Negro Theatre Unit: ‘Macbeth’,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/82efe6ec6db67b79c39f401d64a87ef2. 

A photograph of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Theater Project in New York, ca. 1935.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 10 of 11 in the Primary Source Set The New Deal