Family and Survival by Violeta Castanaza

Migrant Workers

129419_6 — 2025-03-06 23:23:03 UTC

"if you don't work, you don't eat, if you don't eat, you don't get to keep going"- Voices from the Dust Bowl project, migrant worker.

This picture is a migrant worker, working while a wealthy man is just resetting. The quote on top goes to survival. Its mentioning how much the need for a job is a need. Even though a job is also a need now a days, there was more of a demand and less work oppuratines back then.

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Family

129419_6 — 2025-03-06 23:30:28 UTC

"We don't have much, but we have each other. That's what keeps going."- russell freedman, child.

In this photo it shows a family all together. The family doesn't seem to have much, maybe nothing at all, but they all chose not to seperate. Most families durning the great depression had to go different ways and send the children off to different families since they couldn't afford to support each other. However, families that did stay together that just gave people more moitvaition to get a job and try to survive a other day. This qoute is from a child during this era that was able to be together with his family.

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Women

129419_6 — 2025-03-06 23:40:57 UTC

"Why should all life be work, when all can borrow? Let's think only of today, and not worry about tomorrow."- Zelda Fitzgerald

These GIF and quote reflects on the 1920 women, more specifly, flappers. Some women in 1920 despite all the money problems, choose to be care free and had a rebellious spirit. They challenged traditional gender roles as sort of a way to be seen more and survive and thrive better.

Childern

129419_6 — 2025-03-25 03:01:03 UTC

I’ll work for fifteen [cents]. I’ll work for food. The kids. You ought to see them. Little boils, like, comin’ out, an’ they can’t run aroun’. Give ‘em some windfall fruits, an’ they bloated up. Me. I’ll work for a little piece of meat… the children of the poor grew up rachitic, and the pustules of pellagra swelled on their sides.

-from The Grapes of Wrath

Survival during the great depression really effected families and children. In 1938 Lester Hunter had a hard time providing for his family. He moved to California escaping the dust bowl, there he wrote this poem. Survival was so hard and also had a big impact on the children. This poem explains to us how the Great Depression time really effected peoples lives and shares a story about how someone got through those times. This is important because we need to learn from our past to make sure we don't make the same economic mistakes.

Farmers

129419_6 — 2025-03-25 04:35:53 UTC

Maybe we can start again, in the new rich land-in California, where the fruit grows. We’ll start over, But you can’t start. Only a baby can start. You and me-why we're all that’s been…. This land, is us; and the flood years and the dust years and the drought years are us. We can’t start again.

-from The Grapes of Wrath

Farmers during the great depression, there main concern was surviving through another day. This news paper shows that farmers knew they were barely getting by and things needed to change, as it explains the farmers labor party. The quote explains how farmers felt stuck in there situation and things weren't getting better. This shows that the time period was starting to be aware of how bad the economy was and trying to find a way for change. This is important because it shows us that the citizens have a big role in change.

Mexican Americans

129419_6 — 2025-03-25 06:50:40 UTC

In the 1930’s, to ease the strain on United States; resources, the federal government sent back to Mexico tens of thousands MExican American who were on relief. Sometimes whole families were hered aboard cantle 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 1) But such considerations were overlooked in carrying out the policy of deportation. Mexican Americans were encouraged, even “helped,” to leave the United States.

- from A Mexican American Chronicle

Mexican Americans during The Great Depression struggled with racism and had to survive in U.S. with all the disadvantages they had because of there race. The video and quote talks about mass deportations even with citizens and not having as many job options as white people. This shows that the 1930's it was more normalized to exclude a whole group. This is important because in some ways its still happening to this day, and its happened to my family, it effects the economy and people that don't want to go from being able to see and hug there family members everyday, to calls here and there.

Black Americans

129419_6 — 2025-03-25 07:19:35 UTC

“The Piano Lesson” is a play by August Wilson, but it’s also been made into TV adaptations. It’s set in the 1930s during the Great Depression, and it follows a Black family in Pittsburgh trying to figure out what to do with this old piano that’s been in their family for generations. The piano is carved with images that show their ancestors’ history of enslavement, so it’s got a lot of meaning. Berniece, one of the main characters, wants to keep it to honor their past, while her brother, Boy Willie, wants to sell it to buy land and build a better future. It’s all about how trauma, family, and history collide and how people try to move forward while still holding on to their roots. The play shows the struggles Black Americans faced during the Great Depression while also digging into the weight of generational trauma. It’s heavy but powerful as hell.

A big theme in The Piano Lesson is how family dealt with struggle during the Great Depression. The play shows how Black families had to balance their past and their future, especially when money was tight, and opportunities were rare. The piano in the play isn’t just a piano, it’s carved with the family’s history from when their ancestors were enslaved. Boy Willie wants to sell it to buy land and build a new life, but Berniece thinks selling it would mean losing their family’s story. This shows how families during the Great Depression had to make hard choices just to get by.

This connects to Zora Neale Hurston’s quote, “Once you wake up thought in a man, you can never put it to sleep again.” Boy Willie’s drive to sell the piano and change his future shows how the Great Depression made people think more about their situation and what they could do to change it. They couldn’t just ignore their struggles, they had to face them and figure out what came next. The play shows how tough the time period was and how it forced Black families to think deeper about their history, their future, and what survival meant. It’s not just about money, it’s about identity and breaking cycles that seemed impossible to escape.

Dust bowl

129419_6 — 2025-03-25 08:16:29 UTC

“I can’t see how things will ever improve. It’s a hopeless situation. The land is dead. The soil is gone. It’s just dust.”

– Ralph H. W. Chittenden, farmer from Oklahoma, 1935

The Dust Bowl happened during The Great Depression and turned a bad situation worse. Farmers where heavily impacted in this situation and the photograph shows its just all dust, the quote is explaining that its all just dust. This shows people kinda already lost hope in that period or where on the edge of losing hope and this event made it worse. This is important because now we know how to prevent situations like this from occuring again and if it does happen again people are more parpared.