What struck you most from your research of the Great Depression in the United States and which of your classmates' presentations made the biggest impression on you? You are encouraged to ask questions of your classmates and check back for additional questions. Final posts complete by Thursday, April 15 for full credit.
29 comments:
The thing that struck me most about the Great Depression was how the Mafia was born and how they prospered. They prospered by importing whiskey from Canada during the prohibition period but not only did they do that; they also sold it to the police officers who enforced the, "prohibition" law. In addition, they paid off all the law enforcement such as, the police, the democratic politicians, and the judicial branch to keep them out of jail. So, all of this made me realize how huge an age it was during the Great Depression; you either prospered or fell along with the stock market. Also, the presentation that made the biggest Impression on me was the one on Charles Lucky Luciano. Their presentation was very creative and really interesting. I liked it because they made it into an interview / conversation so it wasn’t just a presentation it was like a skit. Their presentation was also really informative and kept your attention because of all the humor they used throughout.
Kelsey p per. 3
From my Great Depression photo narrative the thing that most struck me was the chain effect that occurred. For our narrative we talked about the Ringling Brothers Circus and this is what made me begin to think about the chain effect because of the impact it had on the circus. I also saw through our classmates presentations the effect of the Great Depression on numerous things one of them being the Mafia. The Mafia in any case is very interesting, but I especially enjoyed learning about the birth of the Mafia, and as Kelsey said seeing how they prospered. Not only did the mafia prosper, but also the entertainment industry as a whole which I relate to a response we did in english class the other day,do you think the united states is well informed or well entertained? Comparing this to the Great Depression I would definitely say we are well entertained, but this is not to say we have not changed comparing to the economic situation we recently faced and the way that was handled. Do you think that we as a nation are well informed, or well entertained?
I think the average American has never been very well informed. in the 1800's, it was hard to be informed of world events. In the early 1900's, between WWI and WWII there were huge amounts of government supplied propaganda fed to the masses to make people hate the enemies of the U.S. In modern times, many people are not just poorly informed, but they are misinformed. I saw a percentage on a website a few years ago that said about 40% of Americans between 18 and 30 got their news from shows such as David Letterman or the Colbert Report. While these shows are humorous, they are often not entirely true, or are full of bias. This brings us right back to the question, and I believe that answer is that we are entertained rather than informed.
As for the presentations, I learned a lot about various industries during the depression. I was surprised to learn that Hollywood flourished during the time, but was not surprised to learn that Broadway suffered. I enjoyed some of the groups narratives, which kept your attention throughout the presentation.
What struck me most about my research about the Great Depression in the United States was how harsh a company could be to its employees. Ford Automobiles had no Unions during the time so Ford could fire 60,000 employees and send them on their way with no additional pay or aid. These workers were just ordinary people trying to make it through the hard economical times just like the automobile company. It was also interesting to me how Henry Ford could hire thugs to assist them during strikes and riots. If a major company were to do this today it would most likely be seen as a crime and the company would be sued. The presentation that most stood out to me was the one about African Americans by Hank. I never really thought about how life was for African Americans during the Depression, but it makes sense that they struggled if not worse than others because they had to deal with segregation and their weren’t as many equal job opportunities. Hank’s presentation also aided the impact because it was very smooth and the picture highlighted his story. I also agree with Dan that it was surprising that Hollywood excelled during this time with the movie business. It was interesting to learn about this depression and see the similarities to the headlines that we see today.
The presentation given by Alex and Tom about Louis Armstrong struck me as shocking. It was shocking in the sense that a black man in the 1930's could make it in the music industry. Louis Armstrong of course needed help from certain people in the organized crime business eventually, but nonetheless was very popular. I had always thought the Great Depression was all "depression" and no lively-ness, such as music.
After researching and listening to presentations, alot struck me about the Great Depression, there wasnt just one that stood out the most. They all had one thing in common, and that was the rushes to the banks and the robberies/burglaries that had taken place. This made me realize that if the economy to this day had dropped that low, the world would be a disaster. The Great Depression was worst then i had thought. I researched Bonnie and Clyde and although they were just two people, others had tried to burglarize banks and other places because of the fact that nobody could obtain jobs and such. The presentations to me showed that people really shoulkdnt complain to this day about loosing a job or not having one, because there are a ton of oppurtunitys.
dugan
period 7
Probably what struck me the most about my research of the Great Depression was how practically the entire nation became addicted, per se,to horse racing and the gambling that accompanied it. I did not mention it in my presentation,but during high profile matches, like the one between horses Seabiscuit and War Admiral, many business would turned the radio on so that the employees could listen to the match (in some cases they even let the employees leave work early). This just goes to show how prominent horse racing was in Depression-era American culture.
In regards to which of my classmates presentations I was most impressed by I would have to say that Brian and Ishan's presentation on Charles "Lucky" Luciano left an impression. The main reason being was, like what Kelsey said, the way they presented it was interesting and humorous for the audience, as well as because it was easy to follow what was going on. The main question that I have for the group was whether or not anyone (like underlings, or other bosses) attempted to kill Luciano and take his position?
Colin S.
Period 3
I agree with Dan, Adam and Chelsea, it was really interesting to lern the common things that everything shared about the banks and the tradgedys of African Americans. I had never thought of the effect the Great Depression had on African Americans. I was especially shocked by the success of Louis Armstrong, I knew who he was but I had no clue that he gained popularity during the Great Depression. It also struck me in my research that the film/raido industry did so well. Did anyone think about how George Burns and Gracie Allen were able to adopt two children during the Depression? Two extra mouths to feed in a time were people starved!
My favorite presentation was the presentation about Broadway during the Great Depression. It's surprising that the entertainment industry boomed during the Great Depression and survived, even though numerous actors were laid off and lost their jobs. I suppose that people during the Great Depression wanted to go to movies and watch Broadway shows to get their minds off the war (World War II) and also since the entertainment was cheap. Entertainment encompassing singing, dancing, and acting sparked up feelings of excitement and in a way helped the United States to recover from the Great Depression. My only question is this: Why did so many actors get laid off if the shows needed the money to survive the Great Depression?
Andy Hsu
Period 7
To answer Andy's question of why did so many actors get laid off if the shows needed the money to the Great Depression, I think that basically there wasnt enough money what so ever to give to anyone, even the actors.
After researching teenagers in the Depression, I found the subject itself fansinating. It astounded me that there were over 250,000 kids riding the rails during that time and made me wonder who out of the people i know would be one of those 250,000 teens. Do you think you would be adventourous enough to ride the rails? What would be your breaking point to make you leave?
Out of all the presentions, I enjoyed the Broadway one, like Andy. It focused on a topic that we don't usually get to explore in detail in school, dealing with the enterainment business. I learned a lot about the famous road in NYc that I didnt previous know.
Cristina N.
Period 7
I think that the thing that struck me most about my Great Depression research was how even though it was such a bad time back then there were still people who were able to overcome that fact and actually be successful. For my narrative I researched James J. Braddock, who was a boxer that defied the odds, winning the heavy weaight championship and making a lot of money during that time. This is also the same with Louis Armstrong. As Brian said, it was very interesting how he was able to be successful during these times, and being a black man it is even more amazing. I found it very interesting how there were still people who were able to defy the odds and do this during such hard times.
I think that one of the presentations that had the greatest impact on me was Hank's presentation involving African Americans during the Great Depression. Much like Adam, I too had not really thought about how much more difficult it must have been for Blacks back then. This also connected to the presentation about Louis Armstrong. As I said before I thought that it was amazing that anyone could succeed during such harsh times, and he must have had a very hard time doing this due to his race. Overall I thought that it was amazing what people could accomplish when faced with overwheling odds. One question that I have is: Where did most people find work during the Great Depression?
Matt H.
Period 7
I think the danger of riding the rails may have sent me home. it would only have taken one kid losing his legs to make me want to go home. The pain wouldn't be worth it to me. Its so strange that people were fired from broad way when show biz was doing so well as a whole.
Paige
Class 7
One thing that struck me the most from my research of the Great Depression was how so many people hoarded their wealth and refused to help the poor, majority of people who made up the common man. I never realized how wrong some elements of the depression were, and how men worked in poor conditions for long hours and low wages, and how their bosses tried to get every penny from these men as possible. Like Adam said, companies could be extremely harsh to their employees. This element of the depression probably went unnoticed for quite some time until John Steinbeck revealed these faults in his books.
I found that Laura's presentation made the biggest impact on me. Her presentation was an indirect and very creative way of describing a feeling of isolation that so many Americans suffered from throughout the depression. Considering that all the paintings the artist created were filled with emotional isolation, did the author himself feel this way, or was he capturing what he saw in the American people like John Steinbeck did?
-Anne M.
Class 3
The thing that struck me the most about the great depression was the mafia. I had no idea that they had so much control over everything. Overall i thought every presentation was interesting because it showed a wide variety of what it was like for different businesses and people. Who succeeded and who ultimately failed. Back to the mafia, Kelsey mentioned how they would transfer whiskey from Canada to the United States. This represented there route of income. I thought that Brian and Ishan's, along with Kelsey's presentation really showed a wide spectrum of what happened with the mafia. Luciana was a very powerful man that i never knew about, when he made a deal with the United States Navy proposing that he would tell the men on the docks to cooperate with them, i realized that he was the reason the mafia stayed alive. Brian and Ishan not only provided an amusing presentation, but they provided a true storyline of what it was like to be in the mafia. Ans how you must respect your boss.
Aaron N.
Class 3
For my picture project, Abby and I researched teenagers during the depression. I was shocked by how much the depression really did affect teenagers. I was surprised by how most teenagers felt like they were a burden to their family and decided to leave. Today, during the recession or the depression I doubt many teenagers would leave their families because they felt like they were a burden. I was also really surprised how some teenagers just rode the rails for fun, not to find a job like many others. I don’t think that I would ever be able to just hop on a train and travel around the United States for fun.
I found the presentation about how the mafia most interesting. I thought it was interesting while many other businesses were failing the mafia was able to prosper. I also found Kevin’s presentation to be really interesting. It really showed how people were desperate during these times. Such as when the “wolf boys” dad sold him to the circus people for money, and how the circus people were willing to humiliate him to make money. During these times it really showed the true character of people.
To build off of Janis’s question, Is the United States well informed or well entertained, I would have to say that we are more entertained than we are informed. As a country we know more about the latest movie that came out rather than current events. We are a country that would prefer to go to the circus or a concert rather than to watch the news. I think that this is why many entertaining businesses did well during this time such as the circus.
Meghan L.
Period 3
After to listening to many presentations i couldnt believe what had happend to our country at that point in time. It boggles my mind that our economy could have gotten to be that low to the point where it would crash. My project had a big effect on me just by seeing picture after picture of people stuggling just to get food and water. You dont want to face reality and say this sort of thing happend in our country, slipping through our governments hands but you just have to accept it, and hopefully something like this will never happen again.
ricky grasso
p.7
The thing that struck me most about the presentations was how despite there being a nationwide Depression, some enterprises were actually gaining popularity. Mark and Drew's presentation was a great example of how baseball leagues and baseball in general gained popularity during this era. It was interesting how many people tried out for professional baseball teams because being a part of those teams would assure them a full time job. It was also interesting to see how a situation like this could also snowball and increase the popularity of baseball in general. As more people joined baseball teams, the popularity of the sport grew and more people attended games to provide a bit of respite from the effects of the Depression. As a result, the baseball industry gained more money and continued to prosper.
Furthermore, based on many of the presentations, it seemed that entertainment and similar industries came to the forefront of American culture. Liz and Janis' presentations was a apt representation of a form of entertainment that rose in prominence during this time. I got the feeling that a general theme was that the common person would attend circuses or concerts or other forms of entertainment to take their minds off of their struggles. To respond to Janis' question, I would have to say that the nation nowadays is more entertained than informed. There is so much money involved in sports, movies, etc that a large portion of the population is engrossed in these various forms of entertainment. So much so that they do not have enough time to educate themselves about the issues and current events that are going on.
My question to the rest of the class is: If our country was to experience a Depression like the one of the 30's, how do you think it would affect our entertainment industry?
Ishan T. Period 3
The thing that struck me most from my research of the Great Depression was how far people were willing to go to make money. The driving force behind the rise of the Mafia was the fact that the economy was faltering because this caused public officials to overlook the Mafia’s illegality and men who were out of work to join the organization. To me, this suggests that morality and decency are something of façades, things that are rather quickly pushed aside when other needs arise. Men need money to support their families and themselves, to purchase food and other items that are essential for survival. Moral actions serve no true purpose other than to improve the state of society and improve relations between men in society. It is almost as if the Depression caused a degradation of society and the rise of a more lawless state in which basic needs ruled over previous folkways and mores. Does anybody else agree?
Although I am rather biased because I researched the Mafia for my own project, I thought that the premise of Kelsey’s presentation was extremely interesting. The fact that Kelsey has relatives who were in the Mafia made my own project seem more real to me because it gave me sort of a personal connection to the rise and functions of organized crime. When I was doing the research, it all seemed disconnected from the world and almost not even real, like something out of a movie. By Kelsey’s narrative, however, I was able to see how the Mafia affected individual families and played a role in the lives of the various families involved in it. The fact that she had pictures of and short stories about some of her various relatives had a particularly strong impact.
After researching the Great Depression, what struck me the most, was how people would use movies to escape from their day to day lives. They used the movies to deal with the hardships, of losing money in the stock market, or losing their jobs or even losing their homes. Even with the worst economic crisis in American history, movie theaters were able to stay open, and entertain the public. A lot of classic movies were produced in the thirties, such as Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, King Kong, Dracula and Frankenstein. Those movies are still popular today, and will have an everlasting effect on American cinema.
Out of all the presentations that I saw, the presentation about Lucky Luciano and the Mafia Was the most interesting. I was surprised by the power of the Mafia and, just like in the movies. As Kelsey mentioned, they sold alcohol to the police that were supposed to enforce its ban and they controlled waterways in the city of New York. At a time in which the nation was in crisis mode, crime became prevalent and successful. This made an impression on me because it shows that crime actually pays. But at the same time knowing what they were doing was unethical and wrong.
I learned a lot by doing this project. I had always heard about the great depression but never really had enough time to let it sink in. I never realized how bad it actually was. My project was on how teens left home during the depression. When I first heard this, I thought to myself, "how stupid? and how could any teen want to do that?" But the conditions at home in those days was truly terrible. I was most surprised by the fact that some of these kids were willing to risk their lives in order to earn a better one. How some of these teens went jumping from train to train, and lost body parts!!! The great depression must've been horrible!
I thought all of the presentations were great. I learned a lot from all of them. But the one that I found the most interesting was Chelsea's about Bonnie and Clyde. I had heard those names in the past never knew anything about them. It's crazy how daring they were. I don't understand how they could risk everything and rob banks and such. But that's probably because I have never been in a position where I have nothing.
One thing I think is ironic, is what Louis had mentioned before. How the movie industry was so popular yet people had no money. People need entertainment and even with no money to spend, we will spend it.
Emily Moller
period 7
I learned a lot about freak shows from my research, but what struck me the most was the way people in the Depression behaved at them. It's understandable that you want to go to the circus to forget about your bad life, whether it's the shortage of money or food, but it's pretty amazing how most of these people acted at freak shows. The idea of a freak show was to fascinate people with the odd or "freaky" mutations that occurs in humans, but the audience twisted this into a animal show (usually with the help of the ringmaster). Whenever a new act was brought on stage, people would mock, swear at, and even throw food, bottles, stones etc. at the acts. What struck me the most was that the real animals in the freak show were not in the acts but in the audience.
I have to say that Laura's presentation made the biggest impact on me. The way she wrote her narrative and presented her pictures made me actually believe that the author created this storyline before hand and painted his pictures to follow the story. She also touched on a very interesting theme during the Depression and that was isolation. Until Laura's presentation, it never occurred to me how alone and helpless people must have felt during this time.
To answer Anne's posed question, I believe that the artist followed Steinbeck's approach and painted what he saw in the American people more than what he felt. Painting for most artists is an escape from life itself, and one can easily lose themselves in their art. This would allow the artist to escape his feelings of loneliness and instead, paint the depictions of life around him. I am curious to know why all of his paintings were so colorful and vibrant if he was painting isolation during the Depression.
-Kevin R.
Class 3
In response to Ishan's question, I think if we were to have a depression like the Great Depression today, the entertainment industry would be severely crippled. Just from our recession, we witnessed millions of Americans cutting back and conserving their money. The first things to be left behind in a situation like the Great Depression would be entertainment. For those reasons, I believe that the entertainment industry might even be entirely destroyed.
-Anne M.
Class 3
The thing that struck me as most interesting about the Great Depression and the Ringling Brother's Circus was the fact that the depression didn't hurt the show as much as the development of the cities and the invention of movie theaters did. Like today, people are more willing to go to the cheap and closer form of entertainment.
I agree with Janis with the thing that surprised me about the other groups is the fact that even through this depression the entertainment industry was still doing well. Americans are known for finding ways to entertain themselves and that was clear with the baseball games, movie theaters and burlesque.
One of the many striking things about these presentations was the way entertainment survived, even thrived in some areas, during such harsh economic times. Baseball, the circus, jazz music, Broadway, and movies all were great ways for the average person to escape their daily struggles for a time. As Ishan pointed out, many people focused on the entertainment alone and chose not to educate themselves about current events as much, but I also think this was because all news was bad news at that time and people weren't looking to hear more depressing news. To answer to Ishan's question, I think that certain forms of entertainment would survive another Depression like that of the 30's. Movies would definitely survive, just like they did during the first Depression. However, I think that music/ concerts wouldn't do well, simply because of the high price of tickets these days. Cheap entertainment would be ideal for people if another Depression happened in our country, and pricey things such as concerts, vacations, even some sporting events would not be able to continue their businesses.
Kristin
Class 7
What struck me most about the presentation as Adam said was how harsh companies were to their employees.For example: Ford could fire as many employees as he wanted to without any additional aid or pay. I thought that was pretty harsh especially in that time of economic struggle.
The presentation that stood out to me the most was Chelsea's on the couple who were major robbers and outlaws during the great depression. I liked it a lot because it was something new and different compared to all of the other presentations. I was really interested in how these two people stuck together in committing crimes while being the most wanted people in the country. I never thought of how the Depression could lead to such desperation as this couple demonstrated.
I think what struck me the most in my research was how deeply people got into music in this time period. During the depression, it really seemed like music began to have a bigger impact on people, and I think it was largely because of the hard times they were going through. The depression helped people realize how important music and art is. This also tied into a lot of people's growing passions for radio and tv shows, like Paige's presentation on tv comedies during the depression. It really stood out to me how much people got into "unnecessary" things like this. Even during a time this hard in our nation, people found it important and worthwhile to be entertained, which I believe says a lot about the importance of balancing passion, fun, and relaxation with necessity to an everyday American.
I agree with Adam in that Hank's presentation was the most eye-opening because I never really thought through how difficult the depression was for people who had already been lower than white society. Learning about how this time effected African Americans in our country was a very important lesson and something that may have gone right over my head had there not been a presentation specifically on it. I think all of these presentations and the Great Depression itself show us exactly what American values are, even in the hardest of times, and what things we hold onto when we have to discard some things.
I feel that the that the Bonnie and Clyde presentation made the biggest impression on. Because it was one of the most extreme consequences of the Great Depression it show what people would do just to live. That coupple robbed to stay alive and this example shows the devestating effects. Like Matthew Hodge I wonder what did people do for money when there were no jobs? How were people able to scrap enough money for food and rent?
Another presentation thast impressed me was the poetry and Robert Frost. I found it interesting that thorough the midst of harsh time people still had enough optimism to write poetry and inspire others. I just wonder how they kept their spirits alive during the depression? It is hard enough to be an artist of any sorts but one during tough economic times must be even harder to live off of.
Brian Mendonca
Class 7
The thing that struck me the most during my research of the Great Depression was, like Drew R had said, the willingness of people to leave everything they had behind, in order to take a chance at something that, if they thought about it, probably wouldn't work out. This was very common with my subject, Baseball during the Great Depression, because many people tried out for teams and only a few made it, and the few who did usually didn't make enough to support themselves. The presentation that made the biggest impact on me was Kelsey's, because during a time where our country was in trouble, the criminals turned out to be the most successful. It bothered me that the hard working Americans were losing their jobs and their homes, but the men who committed murders and ran other illegal operations were the ones who came out on top. Her's was also very interesting because her family members had been involved, so it was much more personal, and her information came from a living source.
Mark A. Class - 3
the thing that struck me most about the great depression was the grand scale of its impacts in general and how certain businesses were able to prosper through all the struggles. in particular, the entertainment industry or broadway to be precise came as most interesting to me. i can understand its prosper during such a hard time; likely people who were bound by stress and could afford some personal pleasure would jump right to a theatre event, i know i would surely want to. however, broadway didn't remain unaffected by the depression completely and Andy questioned why, that during a time where broadway was rather popular why actors still lost their jobs. well, in response to andy's question, the answer is simple; in order for shows to run, the only paid actors would have to be of utter importance to the show. ensembles became less important, i'm sure, yet the business still remained successful which is stunning to me.
Eric Sippin
Period 7
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