Culture in the new deal USA Flashcards
Who was Dorothea Lange?
A photographer employed by the Farm Security Administration to document the lives of people suffering during the Depression
She took the now famous Migrant Mother photo, an image of Florence Owen Thompson, a worker in a pea picking camp
What was the Farm Security Administration?
A New Deal agency that commissioned photographs of victims of the Depression which were then given without charge to newspapers to publish and make all Americans aware of the suffering and hardships being faced by some.
What was the Federal Writers’ Project?
The Federal Writers Project was set up with support from the WPA to create work for 6,600 writers and authors.
The Project compiled works of local and oral history that might not have been recorded otherwise.
2,300 first person slave narratives accompanied by 500 photographs were published as Unchained Memories.
The projects authors also produced detail guidebooks for each state which included history, culture photographs and detailed descriptions.
What was the Federal Music Project?
It employed musicians through the WPA
These musicians were to give concerts and organise music festivals
Introduced music education into schools along with documenting America’s music traditions in much the same way writers had recorded oral history.
Why did marriage and birth rates rise during the early 1940s and how?
Putting off marriage during the hard years of the Depression
Enjoy married life before husbands went to war
1940 to 1943 - marriages rose by 1.1 million
The average age fell from 22 in 1940 to 20 by 1945
The number of children under 5 rose by 25%
Divorce rose during the war years but only slightly - 1.7% (1930s) to 2.4% by 1945
How did the lives of women on the home front change during WW2?
Many moved to be near their husbands who were training at the various bases dotted around the USA
There was a shortage of housing and they often lived in cramped and crowded conditions
They had to take the lead in things like civil defence, recycling, food rationing
It wasn’t until 1941 when childcare facilities were provided through the Community Facilities Act
What role did women have on the home front during WW2?
10,000 delivered ration coupons
Women grew vegetables in Victory Gardens
They joined the Land Army and replaced men working on farms
What do statistics say about women’s employment during the war years?
1941- 14 million working women to 19 million in 1944 (37% of all women were working)
Manufacturing workforce: 22% were women in 1941 up to 32% in 1944
2.8 million women were involved in war work
1943: 475,000 were working in aircraft production
1945: 300,000 women had joined the female branches of the armed forces
300,000 black American women were employed in war work
Why was Hollywood important during the war years?
To engender a sense of patriotism and light entertainment, such as musicals and comedy- keep morale high and offer escapism
What role did actors have in WW2?
They were officially exempt from conscription because of their role in making propaganda films
James Stewart served in the Air Force
They helped sell war bonds- $800 million worth were sold in September 1942 after 300 actors had promoted them throughout the USA
Bette Davis, the Hollywood Canteen provided free meals and entertainment to lonely servicemen
What was the Office of War Information?
It was set up in 1942 to coordinate the efforts to film and record war time activities
Give examples of films produced to record wartime activities.
John Huston’s Report from the Aleutians (1943)
Frank Capra’s Why We Fight (1942-1945)- attempted to justify the war through powerful attacks on enemy regimes
William Wyler’s Memphis Belle: A story of a Flying Fortress (1944)- a war movie that was more realistic
Why were musicals important?
They offered escapism, especially if they starred glamourous singers and dancers like Betty Gable and popular comedians such as Abbott and Costello and Bob Hope
Give examples of films that raised morale and offered escapism.
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)- a sentimental film that portrayed a view of the past
Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca (1942)- a moral crusade film, that portrayed the Nazis as the embodiment of evil
What happened to the Disney studios during the war?
They were taken over the military and 90% of its workers were involved in producing training films and propaganda/ moral films.
They produced 400,00 feet of film and 68 hours of footage
Der Fuhrer’s Face portrayed Donald Duck in Nazi Germany, during a bad dream and waking up feeling thankful for his American freedoms - it won an Oscar in 1943
