"I only wants a common living to exist without starving or freezing to death." -anonymous letter to F.D.R ., 1935 (Migrant Worker)

The people living during the Great Depression faced great poverty and had to live on the streets barely surviving. The had no food or shelter. With no jobs these people could not provide for themselves. As shown in the picture above all ages and races of people were all suffering. So many people were in desperate need of aid but it couldn't all be provided at once. The quote above describes the situation that most people are all going through during the time. The people weren't greedy all they wanted was food and shelter.

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. Africa for the Africans… at home and abroad!”

--Marcus Garvey a Black American

The family life was changing during the 1920's. Women started going to work in factories where usually men would work. Since there was an industrialized economy there were more work opportunities' for women. Eventually changes led to over ten million women getting jobs in the work force. Women being able to have jobs was a big change towards the American family. Birthrates ending up dropping and American families eventually got smaller. Another big change was that a lot of child labor laws went away which led to children going to more public schools. Children were finally able to spend time with one another instead of working all the time.

The family life was changing for good as know they were able to spend more time with each other and educate themselves. Children were getting educated along with women/ mothers. As Garvey was saying that people with no knowledge of their past or culture is a metaphor to a tree without roots. Since, children are now not required to be working in factories they are able to learn and spend time with their families now being able to practice their culture and learning about their history.

"I am a boy of 12 years… My father hasn’t worked for 5 months. He went plenty of times to relief, he filled out application. They won’t give us anything. I don’t know why… My father he staying home. All the time he’s crying because he can’t find work. I told him why are you crying daddy, and daddy said why shouldn’t I cry when there is nothing in the house. I feel sorry for him. That night I couldn’t sleep."

Letter to President and Mrs. Roosevelt, 1936 in Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letter from the Forgotten Man

(Children)

This tells the story of only one suffering family, out of many, during the Great Depression. This boy's father tried his hardest, by trying to get relief, but sadly they weren't getting any money towards their family. The poor man was crying because he needed to fend for his family. I'm sure he also needed to take care his wife and other children as well. However, with no job or money he was helpless.

"I am to have a baby. We wanted one before but felt we should have more assurance for the future before we deliberately took such a responsibility. But now that it has happened, I won't give it up!" ... Won't you do something so my husband can have a job? ... We have absolutely nothing but our home.

-Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt from Mrs. M.H.A , 1934

(Families experiences)

The poem is about a man who doesn't want to get living in poverty and he talks about his life and what he's going through. He says that they go around in rags, starving, living in tents, and running out of money on only bread and beans. He talks about how desperately he wants to work for a farmer in order to get a good pay. This relates to the quote above because it is about a women talking about how hard her husband is working but they have nothing in order to support their family. The man in the poem could've been a father as well wanting to support his family just as the father was in the quote. The mother in the quote talks about how her husband needs a job in order to support their baby.

That is why the poet wanted to be paid by a farmer to get a higher pay instead of just relief. He wants himself and his family to live the best life the possibly can.

"My family needs clothes for they are about naked i have four boys going to school and this makes the second week they have stay home for they do not have any clothes or shoes to wear." - letter to Sen. Neely from J.T.C 1935

(Farmers Experiences)

The newspaper big header says that Billions were lost in the New Stock Crash. When there is a big stock crash there is a big drop in stock prices when leads to big economic trouble ahead. Everyone ended up losing a lot of money and this leads to poverty. Some people are in such deep poverty that their children can't go to school because they have no clothes. Their parents who possibly were farmers end up losing a lot of money and then going to debt leading to the situation getting this bad.

"In the 1930's, to ease the strain on the United States resources, the federal government sent back to Mexico tens of thousands of Mexican Americans who were on relief. Sometimes whole families were herded aboard cattle cars and transported south of the border. Many of these people had actually been born in the United States and were United States citizens. Many of the men had served in the armed forces during World War I. But such considerations were overlooked in carrying out the policy of deportation. Mexican Americans were encouraged, even "helped", to leave the United States."

-from The Mexican American

There were many New Deal relief programs such as the CCC, AAA, NYA, CWA, WPA, etc. They helped many families to escape poverty. The picture above shows a young man happy to get work in the CCC and the poster is captivating people to join. However, as much as the relief definitely helped many people during the time there were also some downsides to it. Families were able to escape a lot of poverty but the Mexican people for example were being pushed into leaving the country.

"Their hunger was in their eyes, and their need was in their eyes." from The Grapes of Wrath

Many unemployed Americans were going through harsh and torture because of the poverty they had to endure. However, President Franklin D Roosevelt, created relief programs and the system was called New Deal. Poverty was still quite active during the time of the New Deal but with the help of the relief programs it helped many Americans to survive by getting jobs and earning some money. This relief definitely rid of a lot of poverty that was going on.

"Long as I can work, I'll get along somehow." - mother suffering from Tuberculosis (Women)

Families in the 1920's definitely saw a change for the better with women being able to get jobs and children being able to go to school. Women used to only do house hold tasks at home and now can help their families in better ways. As the quote above says how a sickly mother is still trying her best to support her family it is great to see that women are getting this chance to prove their worth.

In the 1920's the flappers style was also introduced and people enjoyed spending time with another which is shown in the gif above. Families connected through the culture and danced together.

The article talks about how the Great Depression was also the Great Recession and how this is paralleling our current recession. We can related this to our pricing system now. Our prices have gone up so much because of inflation and during the great depression prices went down. The farmers wanted the prices for, for example wheat, to go up because of how much wheat was being grown. On the other hand now prices have done up even though our farms aren't going through the same thing as during the great depression. The farmers went through hardships and poverty because of losing profit and getting in debt for not being able to pay off whatever they spent.

In conclusion, Poverty and Family during the 1920's, Great Depression, and New Deal all went through many hardships. During the 1920's things were looking up when women were able to get jobs but then the great depression hit. No one was able to get jobs and this lead to affecting families gravely. Poverty hit and America suffered quite a bit during that time. It was the worst we had to go through. People were homeless, living on streets, starving, and jobless. All people wanted were to get jobs to support their family. The New Deal implemented eventually helped out families and they were able to overcome poverty to some extent.