today we're looking at Great Depression Eric culture
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you'll find more resources that go with many of the bellringer videos the Great Depression of
the 1930s caused millions of Americans and people around the world to lose their jobs
with thousands upon thousands becoming homeless the economic downturn had an enormous impact on
every American's life and had a major influence on culture from art to literature to movies
and music interestingly government policy was a major factor in much of the art produced during
the 1930s beginning in 1935 the works progress administration or WPA part of President Franklin
Roosevelt's New Deal began to employ artists who work on public projects painters began creating
magnificent works that would be on display in public buildings such as Town Halls schools and
post offices many of these artists would go on to find great success such as Jackson Pollock
who painted for the WPA through the early 1940s African-American artist of the Harlem Renaissance
such as Aaron Douglas were hired to paint large murals that are still on display to this day works
progress administration painters painted over 2 500 murals during the decade additionally over 17
000 sculptures were completed by sculptors working for the WPA furthermore photographers
were employed by New Deal programs to go out and document government programs and life during the
Depression photographer Dorothea Lang became one of the most well-known depression-aire
photographers as she captured images of the life of Migrant workers Lang's photograph
simply titled migrant mother is among one of the most iconic images of the era the
depression also had a major influence on popular music many songwriters began to write songs that
focused on the poor conditions of Americans songs such as brother can you spare a dime
written by ey harberg became extreme extremely popular songwriter and performer Woody Guthrie
captured the spirit of Americans as he wrote folk and country songs that Express the sadness of the
depression but also the Hope Americans had for a brighter future not all popular music
of the decade had a somber mood in fact big band leaders such as Count Basie and Duke
Ellington made swing music extremely popular As Americans were looking for a way to forget their
troubles here again new deal policies influence music as musicians employed by the WPA traveled
into rural areas of the United States and began recording the everyday music of Americans folk
songs and African-American spirituals were recorded and saved for future Generations
during the 1920s movies and radio had become Staples of entertainment for Americans during
the Roaring Twenties millions of Americans would attend movies on a weekly basis however with the
onset of the Great Depression movie attendance dropped drastically in response to this Hollywood
began to produce films to try to bring audiences in by offering movies that help people forget the
worries of their everyday lives Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers became huge stars as they danced
across the screen in Grand musical Productions action films focused on gangsters and Mobsters
brought audiences into theaters comedy films too became very popular starring comedy groups such
as the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges who slap stick routines provided much needed laughs to
audiences enduring the depression additionally radio which too had become a popular form of
entertainment during the 1920s continued to be the primary form of entertainment at home in fact
despite poor economic conditions the technology of radio improved bringing the price of radios down
so by the end of the 1930s over 25 million American Homes had radios in them Americans
listened to popular music and tuned in for popular shows such as the Lone Ranger and Little
Orphan Annie the Great Depression provided Riders during the 1930s with themes on which to write and
provided the backdrop of books written for years to come the plight of workers and the struggles of
everyday Americans fighting to survive provided inspiration to Riders arguably the most famous
work of the period was John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath which was published in 1939 in his book
Steinbeck describes the lies of Migrant workers heading west to California hoping to find work the
book vividly encapsulates the hardships endured by many Americans during the Depression the
Great Depression not only changed American culture during the decade of the 1930s but forever changed
the lives of those that lived through it their attitudes and outlook on life would shape American
culture for years to come and lend strongly to the fortitude and determination of America through
the following decades so with that hopefully you learned something and thanks for watching foreign