(Illustration: Charles Turzak, Depression--Man with Shovel, 1935, linocut, 2.75x2".)

Instructor: Dr. Gail Radford, 583 Park Hall
(w) 645-2181, ext. 583; (h) 886-5592
Office Hours: Thursdays 2:00-4:00, and by appointment

Course Description

This course explores one of the most dramatic periods of U.S. history, a transformative moment in American political and cultural life with consequences that reverberate in our own times.  The economic collapse of the 1930s known as the "Great Depression" encouraged Americans to rethink core assumptions about how society should be organized and to make major changes in our mode of government, changes that are generally lumped together under the rubric of the "New Deal." The innovations of the New Deal era were controversial in their own time-and they remain so today. Indeed, one could argue that images of this period serve as a benchmark in American political life, with politicians and commentators continually promising either to roll back the New Deal or carry on its legacy. For this reason, the course will concentrate not only on what happened during the 1930s and how people at the time understood and evaluated the changes they were experiencing, but also on what these changes mean for us today.

Students will be encouraged to develop their own perspectives based on reading and discussing a variety of first-hand accounts, written and video discussions by historians and other after-the-fact commentators, and contemporary news articles on New Deal topics currently under debate, such as Social Security, federal funding for the arts, and the proper way to remember President's Roosevelt's disability.

The course also aims to introduce students to the historical materials that are becoming available on the world wide web. Some of the required reading will be found on the web, and students are encouraged to browse in various sites that will be announced in class, especially the New Deal Network's award-winning website at  newdeal.feri.org. Everyone should plan on coming by the instructor's office hours to introduce yourself sometime during the course. People with limited experience using the internet should come by early in the semester for hands-on coaching.

Books

You should purchase:

Robert S. McElvaine, The Great Depression: America 1929-1941, 2^nd ed. (1993).

Upton Sinclair, I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked ([1934]; 1994).

Alice Lynd and Staughton Lynd, eds., Rank and File: Personal Histories by Working-Class Organizers ([1973]; 1988).

David A. Shannon, ed., The Great Depression ([1960]; 1990).

1. Exams: There will be a midterm and a cumulative final. Each will count for 25% of your final grade for the course. The readings and lectures complement each other; you are responsible for all material covered in either context.

2. Short Assignments: There will be 14 opportunities, of which 10 must be taken, to write short (1-2 page) assignments that will be graded on a pass-fail basis. Since active participation is a key goal of the course, the grade for the short assignments will count for 30% of the final grade. Students who receive a passing grade on 10 of these will get an "A" for this (30%) portion of the course grade. Nine passing assignments will be an "B," eight will be a "C," seven a "D," and six or less an "F." These assignments should be typed or computer-printed (although limited exceptions are possible). Since the purpose of these assignments is to help students think through issues as they are covered in the course and to be able to come to class ready to discuss them-credit cannot be given unless the assignment are turned in during the class when they are due. Also, no credit can be given for one of these assignments if the writer is unable to attend the class. Everyone can skip four of these assignments with no penalty. However, each person must turn in an initial paper first or second week of class.

3. Paper: There will be a 4-5 page paper on issues raised by Upton Sinclair's book. (More specific instructions will be explained later in the course.) The paper will be due Nov. 3, and will count for 20% of the grade. Students can rewrite this paper for a higher grade. To take this option, come in for a consultation with the instructor during office hours, and turn in the rewritten paper together with the original by the last class on Dec. 10. (Rewrites will not be accepted unless these conditions are met.)

Readings: McElvaine, chapter 1; Shannon, chapter 1

Readings: McElvaine, chapters 2 & 3; "Experiment in Balance," by UB art curator Lisa Fischman, pamphlet for the show of WPA prints currently on display at the UB Art Gallery, on reserve

Readings: McElvaine, chapter 4; Shannon, chapter 3; "Dust Bowl" by William Cronon, in Alan Brinkley, et al., American History, 8th ed., vol. 2 (1991), on reserve

Readings: Shannon, chapter 4; Joan M. Crouse, The Homeless Transient in the Great Depression: New York State, 1929-1941 (1986), chapters 3-4, on reserve

Readings: McElvaine, chapters 5 & 6; Franklin D. Roosevelt, "Extemporaneous Remarks at Thanksgiving Day Party at Warm Springs, Georgia (1934), http://newdeal.feri.org/speeches/1934g.htm

Readings: McElvaine, chapter 7; Crouse, "The Federal Transient Program in New York State, chapter 6 in Crouse, The Homeless Transient, on reserve; Martha Bruere, Report to Harry Hopkins on conditions in Buffalo, New York (Nov. 1934); http://newdeal.feri.org/hopkins/hop26.htm

Readings: Andrew Bergman, "The Gangsters," chapter 1 of We're in the Money: Depression America and Its Films (1971), on reserve

Readings: McElvaine, chapter 10; Sinclair, pages 1-99

Readings: Sinclair, pages 99-249; Shannon, chapter 8

Readings: McElvaine, chapters 11 & 12; Steve Forbes, "How to Replace Social Security," Wall Street Journal 12/18/96; Robert Eisner, "Cut Social Security? No, Expand It," Wall Street Journal 12/10/97; Rod Watson, "If We Only Knew the Truth About Social Security, We Might Not Be So Scared," Buffalo News 1/8/98; Robert W. Tracinski, "Let's Privatize This National Rip-Off, Philadelphia Inquirer 7/28/98, on reserve

Readings: McElvaine, chapter 13; Lynd and Lynd, "Introduction" and oral testimonies of Ellis and Anderson (pages IX-66)

Readings: Lynd and Lynd, oral testimonies of Nowicki, Patterson et al., and Sylvia Woods (pages 59-121); "Labor Campaign Highlights Worker's Right to Unionize," New York Times, 6/25/98; "UAW Fears Futility of Future Strikes if GM Realigns Manufacturing As Planned," Buffalo News, 7/3/98; E.J. Dionne, Jr., "The General Motors Fight," Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 8/10/98, on reserve

Readings: "A New Deal for the Arts," Online exhibit of the National Archives at http://www.nara.gov:80/exhall/newdeal/newdeal.html; William Graebner, "Norman Rockwell and American Mass Culture: The Crisis of Representation in the Great Depression," vol. 22, Prospects; on reserve; "Artistic Freedom for Taxpayers," National Review, 10/27/89, "Comparisons of WPA and NEA Sentiments," Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, 8/8/97; Bernard A. Weisberger, "Federal Art for Whose Sake?" American Heritage, 12/92; on reserve

Optional: Interested in finding out what New Deal art projects were done in your home town? There is a comprehensive list for New York State at http://newdeal.feri.org/ndart/.

Readings: McElvaine, chapters 14 & 15; Francis MacDonnell, "The Emerald City was the New Deal'": E.Y. Harburg and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," Journal of American Culture (1990), on reserve