Great Depression Video

I made this video with Windows Movie Maker; it's basically just a bunch of pictures to the song "Desperate" by Fireflight (a song I do not own or claim ownership to), meant to illustrate the Depression and spice up this blog a little. Images from Google Images.

A Day In The Life Of A Depression-Era Migrant Farm Worker

"Shelters were made of almost every conceivable thing - burlap, canvas, palm branches" (Oakland Museum of California par. 1), reported a California minister of a migrant labor camp in the Imperial Valley. Disembarking from that shelter and entering into a hard day of labor begins the account of a day in the life of a depression-era migrant farm worker.

Migrant farm workers traveled wherever the work was, which didn't leave much place to go. According to a Library of Congress article, their attempts to find and keep work were "met with frustration due to a 30 percent unemployment rate" (Fanslow par. 1). One place that did offer--by comparison--a decent market for migrant labor was the state of California. The Great Depression and the declining state of the Dust Bowl began to push thousands of farmers westward to this state, where they hoped to find work.

It was not simply the emigration factors that caused this massive migration to California, however. There were many aspects of California's climate and other characteristics that made it far more preferable than almost anywhere else in the country. One of California's more desirable traits was its mild climate, which allowed for a longer growing season and the option for a more diversified range of crops (Fanslow par. 3).

However, California was not exempt from the aches and pains of the Depression, especially with the arrival of more and more people to populate an already strained system. Some migrant workers, if they weren't literally turned away at the borders, found that California was not flowing with milk and honey, and that "the available labor pool was vastly disproportionate to the number of job openings that could be filled" (Fanslow par. 6). The imbalance of labor opportunities strengthened the migrant lifestyle; in order to maintain their income, workers "had to follow the harvest around the state" (Fanslow par. 7).

Over time, migrant camps sprang up across the state. The first camp that was federally operated was the Arvin Migratory Labor Camp, which opened in 1937 (Fanslow par. 8). The purpose of the camps was to "resolve poor sanitation and public health problems, as well as to mitigate the burden placed on state and local infrastructures" (Fanslow par. 8).

Over time, conditions in California and in America began to improve. Ironically, the "migrant" workers put down roots in California, and their descendants still live there today (Fanslow par. 10).

Life During The Depression Era

Move your cursor over the Glogster banner for the option to view this poster full-size; a pink circle appearing around a poster element means that that element is linked to the source of the information on it. Click on a picture to magnify it.




The causes of the Great Depression are as widely varied as they are disputed. The general discrepancy among opinions on the subject is partly due to ideological bias (one does not want to blame their own respective party or ideology, leading to defensiveness, denial, et cetera). However, there are a few causes that are listed by most sources as causing the Great Depression.

While most herald the stock market crash on October 29, 1929 as the official beginning of the Great Depression, the signs had begun to take shape approximately half a year or more earlier. According to TheGreatDepressionCauses.Com, there was a false sense of prosperity before the Great Depression, when in reality, 60% of the population was living below the poverty line, and the top 5% of earners accounted for 33% of the income ("Causes of the Great Depression" par. 2). This imbalance of wealth may have contributed to the Great Depression. Also among the major factors were wild speculation by overzealous investors, leading to and coupled with excessive buying on the margin. Finally, the declining European economy after WWI affected our seemingly prosperous one as well.

According to the Southern Illinois University Museum website, some of the factors that instigated the Great Depression also served to exacerbate it. For example, supply and demand is one of the most basic economic principles. When the supply exceeds the demand, as in the case of agricultural production and consumption prior to the Depression era (SIU par. 3), the balance of the system is shaken and will soon result in surpluses and loss of sales, among other things. These things both weaken an economy and subdue an already-weakened one.

Some effects of the Depression are exhibited in the poster above. It resulted in a massive drop in American confidence in their own country, government, banking system, and even in themselves. It resulted in mass poverty and the closing of 11,000 of America's then-numbered 25,000 banks ("Causes of the Great Depression par. 1) and, as TheGreatDepressionCauses.Com's effects page states, in the long-term, it resulted in things such as an expanded role of government due to New Deal measures and other legislation, mass migrations in order to find work, and some level of societal and psychological change among the citizens of the United States ("Effects of the Great Depression" pars. 3-7).

This is the era John Steinbeck lived in and wrote about, and it is important to understand this so that we can better understand his works, himself, our past, and our future.

The Life of John Steinbeck

John Ernst Steinbeck was born on February 27th, 1902 in Salinas, California. According to Biography.Com, the inspiration for much of Steinbeck's writing came from actual events and places in his life. For example, after writing perhaps his most famous novel, The Grapes of Wrath, he traveled to Mexico to research marine life with friend Edward F. Ricketts, a freelance biologist, and drew inspiration for Sea of Cortez (written collaboratively with Ricketts) from the experience ("John Steinbeck Biography" par. 4). Before he gained recognition or success as an author, Steinbeck supported himself through manual labor, which allowed him to write with appreciation about the lives of migrant workers in his stories ("John Steinbeck Biography par. 2).

John Steinbeck also, according to Oprah.Com's article on the influence of Salinas Valley in his writing, was greatly influenced by the place of his birth and childhood. "I want to describe the Salinas Valley in detail but in sparse detail so that there can be a real feeling of it," he states in his Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters, as quoted by Oprah.Com ("John Steinbeck's East of Eden - Salinas Valley, California" par. 1). He goes on to remark that the book is "a sort of autobiography of the Salinas Valley." In fact, early in the process of writing the book, he considered titling it "My Valley" or "The Salinas Valley" ("John Steinbeck's East of Eden - Salinas Valley, California" par. 3). In his own words, as quoted by Oprah.Com, East of Eden would be "the story of [his] country and the story of [him]" ("John Steinbeck's East of Eden - Salinas Valley, California" par. 3).

Steinbeck, surprisingly, did not finish college. In fact, he started and then dropped out without a degree. According to Oprah.Com, he attended college at Stanford University sporadically from 1919 to 1925, and left without ever receiving a degree. While enrolled, he stopped classes from time to time to take a job as anything from a sales clerk to a farm laborer to a factory worker.

Oprah.Com states that in 1925 he moved to New York City, where he worked odd jobs to support himself while trying to get his writing published. Met with much failure, especially with his first attempt, Cup of Gold, he moved back to California after repeated rejection.

His first widely successful novel (Tortilla Flat), according to Buzzle.Com, was published in 1935 and "received critical acclaim and won the California Commonwealth Club’s Gold Medal" (Ghare par. 3). Following this success, he published a number of pieces of varying length and fame, including the novella Of Mice and Men, the story of two migrant farm workers' dreams of owning their own ranch--one of the workers being the imbecilic Lennie; The Grapes of Wrath, the story of a family of sharecroppers in the Dust Bowl; and, as mentioned before, Sea of Cortez.

Steinbeck's personal life was arguably filled with turmoil. According to Oprah.Com, he lost his mother in 1934 and his father in 1935. In 1930 he married his first wife, Carol Henning, but they were separated ten years later. He married Gwyndolyn Conger, his second wife, in 1943. They were divorced five years later, and a short time later, according to Buzzle.Com, his best friend Ed Ricketts died (Ghare par. 14). In 1950 he married Elain Scott, his third and final wife, with whom he would remain for the rest of his life.

Throughout Steinbeck's life, he received many recognitions, prizes, and awards. According to NobelPrize.Org, he was awarded the Nobel Prize or Literature in 1962.

He died on December 20, 1968 in New York City of arteriosclerosis, having been, as CryptoPatents.Org states, a life-long smoker.

So there you have it. One of the most famous American authors was a thrice-married, college-dropout lifelong smoker. Perhaps overcoming adversity was in his blood, after living through the Depression era. Perhaps he just got lucky. Perhaps an author was just who he was and nothing was going to stop that. Whatever the case, as he lay on his deathbed awaiting "the pastures of heaven," he would surely have been proud to know that his works and legacy are still "burning bright."