-letter to Sen. Nelly from J.T.C, 1935, in Down and Out In the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man

During the 1900s, most clothes were homemade. During the Great Depression, most women wore flour sacks as dresses. People that couldn't afford cloth to make clothes would wear sacks. This correlates to how the Forgotten Man needed cloth for his family, as most families needed cloth during the Great Depression and resorted to sacks.

- migratory worker, in This Fabulous Century 

This demonstrates how hard migrant workers worked to pick crops for people during the Great Depression. People only needed them to pick crops and did not treat them well. Despite working hard for others, people continued to act discriminatory against migrant workers. Even children during this time were working in the fields.

-letter to Elanor Roosevelt, 1934, in Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man

Both the video and the letter explore the struggles of women during the Great Depression. Women could not support their families, as they did not make much money. It was hard for them to find opportunities to make money, as most jobs were for men. Not only that, but some New Deal Programs only catered to men. Women mostly gained benefits from their spouses, which widows could not gain.

We ain’t no paupers. We hold ourselves to be decent folks. We don’t want no relief. But what we do want is a chanst to make an honest living like what we was raised. 

-One of the down and out, in Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man

Lester Hunter, “I’d Rather Not Be on Relief” (1938)

We go around all dressed in rags

While the rest of the world goes neat,

And we have to be satisfied

With half enough to eat.

We have to live in lean-tos,

Or else we live in a tent,

For when we buy our bread and beans

There’s nothing left for rent.

I’d rather not be on the rolls of relief,

Or work on the W. P. A.,

We’d rather work for the farmer

If the farmer could raise the pay;

Then the farmer could plant more cotton

And he’d get more money for spuds,

Instead of wearing patches,

We’d dress up in new duds.

From the east and west and north and south

Like a swarm of bees we come;

The migratory workers

Are worse off than a bum.

We go to Mr. Farmer

And ask him what he’ll pay;

He says, “You gypsy workers

Can live on a buck a day.”

I’d rather not be on the rolls of relief,

Or work on the W. P. A.,

We’d rather work for the farmer

If the farmer could raise the pay;

Then the farmer could plant more cotton

And he’d get more money for spuds,

Instead of wearing patches,

We’d dress up in new duds.

We don’t ask for luxuries

Or even a feather bed.

But we’re bound to raise the dickens

While our families are underfed.

Now the winter is on us

And the cotton picking is done,

What are we going to live on

While we’re waiting for spuds to come?

Now if you will excuse me

I’ll bring my song to an end.

I’ve got to go and chuck a crack

Where the howling wind comes in.

The times are going to better

And I guess you’d like to know

I’ll tell you all about it,

I’ve joined the C. I. O.

Both the poem and the passage from letter explore the idea that people during the Great Depression didn't want relief. All people wanted was honest work with enough pay. If farmers could raise the pay, then migrant workers could pay more. All migrant workers wanted was the basic necessities to live. However, it is demonstrated how migrant workers had it extremely tough during the 1920s.

“The Negro must build on his own basis apart from the white man’s foundation if he ever hopes to be a master builder.”

-Marcus Mosiah

Mosiah is saying how African Americans should create their own social, political, and economic basis without relying on the foundations already laid out by the U.S. However, that was difficult for African Americans during the Great Depression. African Americans during this time faced the highest rates of unemployment. Not only that, but they were the first people that institutions fired.

- Los Angeles, County Clerk to the Board of Supervisors 2-10-31

The passage and website represents the efforts of the U.S. to move Mexican-Americans out. Due to the issue of unemployment, The U.S. had to forcibly relocate Mexican-Americans despite being born there. Although they were in a period of depression, the U.S. did not spare money to provide transportation for them. It shows how people did not care for the well-being of Mexican-Americans. They already had struggles during the Great Depression and deportation greatly heightened these struggles.

-from The Grapes of Wrath 

The GIF shows somebody struggling through a dust storm. During the Dust Bowl era, many families and farmers struggled. Not only did they face economic hardships, but the land around them wasn't in good shape. Due to this, farmers had to leave their land and homes. As a result, they moved to Hoovervilles. This shows how much people during the Great Depression lost and what they had to resort to.

“Once you wake up thought in a man, you can never put it to sleep again.”

-Zora Neale Hurston

Hurston's quote asserts that once you gain realization, it is irreversible. This is important regarding African American history. More specifically, their actions during the Great Depression. It is highlighted how once African Americans realized they deserved better, they never let that realization go. They kept fighting for what they believed in and persisted. The awakening of this realization led to many efforts to gain equality.

It was an enormously hard life… But there was also a sense of great satisfaction in being a child with valuable work to do and, being able to do it well, to function in this world.

-Margot Hentoff in Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letter from the Forgotten Man

Hentoff reveals the reality of being a kid during the Great Depression. Children had to work in factories in order to help support their families. Although these were tough jobs, they gave them the satisfaction of contributing to their families. Despite the harsh conditions children had to face in factories, they still worked hard to earn money for their families. During this time, families relied on every member to help out, showing the desperation of this period of time. The Great Depression truly changed the lives of children, as they could not properly live out their childhood.

-from The Grapes of Wrath

During the Dust Bowl, farmers heavily struggled as dust storms emerged. The Dust Bowl made it extremely hard to grow crops. In fact, their fields turned into dust. Not only that, but their houses started to fall apart. Due to this, farmers had to leave their land. They had to leave with nothing, as their farms were all they had.