THEME 3: c - social & cultural change Flashcards
What did the federal government encourage writers & artists to do?
During the New Deal & war years record US life - they recognised this was a unique period in history
* result: massive archive charting the impact of these times on ordinary life
What alphabet agency was given money to fund a cultural cause?
WPA given funding to encourage writers, artists & musicians to record the Depression-era & it’s impact on people & to help artists gain income
What was photography like?
- intensely moving photos of victims of the Depression
- often given to newspapers for free
- Farm Security Admin (FSA) funded a programme in which talented photographers complied 80,000 images of life during the Depression
- Dorothea Lang’s ‘Migrant Mother’
What was the Federal Writers’ Project?
- set up by the WPA led by a theatrical producer & journalism (Henry Alsbury)
- Aim: prove employment for authors, 6,600 were
- their work was far more sg than intended - produced ‘unchained memories’ which contained 2,300 first-person slave narratives & 500 photos
What was the Federal music project?
- set up by the WPA & employed musicians for concerts & festivals
- form of escapism
- documented music traditions like the blues, recorded singers which may have been forgotten otherwise
- into music education into schools - successful in it’s programmes
Why were there tensions within the Federal music project?
- The director, Nikolai Sokoloff, favoured European classical music & wanted to promote this
- many saw this as elitist at against ND idea of promoting the common man
- Deputy Director, Charles Seeger, favoured making music accessible to everyone & favoured more popular music with the documentation of traditional music.
Did the role of women change significantly?
NO
- the war meant many women had to grow in confidence & strength to independently raise their family
- however, women still confined to a domestic role
Why did the marriage & birth rate rise during the war years?
- many couples had put marriage off during the hard years of the Depression (too expensive etc)
- many wanted to marry & enjoy a brief period of married life before husbands went to war
- 1940 - 43 no. of marriage rose by 1,118,000
- no. of children under 5 rose by 25%
How did the war impact domestic life for women?
- shortage of housing in urban areas led to cramped living conditions
- they had to take the lead in such necessities as civil defense, recycling and coping with food rationing
- women began to grow veg in their ‘victory gardens’ & joined women’s land army (replaced male farmers)
- exhausting workload of paid work & domestic work (providing food for everyone was difficult)
What did the Community Facilities Act (1941) do?
- provided childcare facilities for workers in defense plants
- demand was much greater than supply
- most still relied of relatives to provide childcare or didn’t enter the workforce
What issues did women face in the workplace & why was there little effort to fight them?
- they faced prejudice & discrimination in the workplace
- receive lower pay than men
- FEPC tried to prevent discrimination but did little to enforce equal pay
- Labour unions were reluctant to push for equal pay because they saw mass employment of women as a temporary measure until all the men came home
By 1945, how many women had joined the armed forces?
300,000 - in the female branches
What role did Hollywood play in the war effort?
- created propaganda films that created a sense of patriotism & escapism
- Disneys ‘Der Fuhrer’s Face’ boosted morale when Hitler got punched in the face 1943
- morale-boosting documentaries celebrating the war - Capra’s ‘Why We Fight’ 1943
- nostalgic films - ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ 1942
- Musicals with glamourous singers & dancers (Betty Gable) were very popular
How did actors contribute to the war effort?
- actors exempt from combat duty to fulfil this role (although some went voluntarily)
- many actors sold war bonds & went on nationwide tours to promote them - 1942 ‘bond blitz’
- some entertained troops in the Hollywood Canteen, set up in 1941
- others provide free meals & entertainment for lonely servicemen - dancing with a famous actress was very morale-boosting
What influence did the media have on the US population?
Persuaded most that:
- the war was worthwhile
- it was ‘a good war’
- the Axis powers had to be defeated
