A way of life during the Depression
A quarter of the nation's families did not have a single employed wage earner during the Great Depression. Even those fortunate enough to have jobs suffered drastic pay cuts and reductions in hours.
In the Pennsylvania coal fields, three or four families crowded together in one-room shacks and lived on wild weeds. In Arkansas, families were found inhabiting caves. In Oakland, California, whole families lived in sewer pipes. Some families did not even have these options they instead chose a life of vagrancy, wandering from place to place, by train.
Since money was scarce, medical and dental care were not top priority. Even though food prices had declined, many tried to cope by planting their own gardens. Many families did without any milk or meat.
In New York City in 1931, there were 20 known cases of starvation; in 1934, there were 110 deaths caused by hunger.
"Nobody is actually starving. The hobos are better fed than they have ever been." -President Hoover.
In the Pennsylvania coal fields, three or four families crowded together in one-room shacks and lived on wild weeds. In Arkansas, families were found inhabiting caves. In Oakland, California, whole families lived in sewer pipes. Some families did not even have these options they instead chose a life of vagrancy, wandering from place to place, by train.
Since money was scarce, medical and dental care were not top priority. Even though food prices had declined, many tried to cope by planting their own gardens. Many families did without any milk or meat.
In New York City in 1931, there were 20 known cases of starvation; in 1934, there were 110 deaths caused by hunger.
"Nobody is actually starving. The hobos are better fed than they have ever been." -President Hoover.
The Great Depression forced couples to delay marriage and drove the birthrate below the replacement level for the first time in American history. The divorce rate fell, because many couples could not afford separate households or pay legal fees. Rates of desertion soared. More than 200,000 vagrant children wandered the country as a result of the breakup of their families.
Children write to President Roosevelt and the First Lady for help
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/children_depression/help_president.cfm
Meals from the Depression
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Personal Grandparent Interviews
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