Living History Interview

Boom, Bust, Recovery

Boom
1. This is a picture of Henry Ford, standing next to a Ford model T. I chose this picture because this was the period when automobiles started to become common.

2. This is a picture of an alcohol bust during the prohibition. I chose this picture because this is the period when the prohibition took place.

3. This is a picture of early radio technology. I chose this picture because this was the period when radios started to become common.

4. This is a picture of George Herman “Babe” Ruth. I chose this picture because it was during this period that he became known as one of the greatest baseball players to ever live.

5. This is a picture of women’s rights activists celebrating the passing of the 19th Amendment. I chose this picture because it was during this period that the 19th Amendment was passed.

6. This is a political cartoon of the red scare, depicting a European anarchist attacking the Statue of Liberty. I chose this because it was during this period that the first Red Scare took place.

7. This is a picture of a Negro League Baseball team. I chose this picture because it was during this period that the league had what was known as their “Golden Age”.

8.This is a picture of the US’s 30th president, Calvin Coolidge. I chose this picture because he was president during this period.

9. This is a picture of organized crime members. I chose this picture because it was during this period that the organized crime in America started to flourish.

10. This is a picture of John Scopes. I chose this picture because it was during this period that he was during this period that he was put on trial for teaching the theory of evolution.


Bust
11. This is a picture of Black Tuesday, the day the stock market crashed. I chose this picture because Black Tuesday started a chain reaction that lead to the great depression.

12. This is a picture of a sand storm in the Dust Bowl. I chose this picture because it was during this period that the “windy thirties” took place, which was a time when sand storms were extremely common in the area known as the Dust Bowl.

13. This is a picture of unemployed people during the great depression. I chose this picture because during the great depression unemployment was horribly high.

14. This is a picture of farmers moving to California, hoping that they will have a better shot there. I chose this picture to show how many farmers had a rough time during the Depression.

15. This is a picture of a bread line, where people who couldn’t afford to buy it could get it free. I chose this picture because many people had to use bread lines to survive during this time.

16. This is a picture of a soup kitchen, where people could get soup for free when they didn’t have money for food. I chose this because many people had to live off soup kitchens during this time.

17. This is a picture of the 31st, president of the US, Herbert Hoover. I chose this picture because he was the president during this period.

18. This is a picture of a hooverville, which was named after president Hoover, because many people blamed him for what had happened to the economy. I chose this picture because Hoovervilles became very common during this period.

19. This is a picture of the book the Grapes of Wrath, which was written by John Steinbeck. I chose this picture because it was about people living in the Dust Bowl.

20. This is a picture of a stock market chart. I chose this picture because the stock market played a major role in the Great Depression.

Recovery
21. This is a picture of the US’s 32nd president, Franklin D. Roosevelt. I chose this picture because he was president during the recovery period.

22. This is a picture of Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady and wife to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. I chose this picture because many women looked up to her during the Depression.

23. This picture shows the New Deal. I chose this picture because it was during this period that the New Deal went into effect in an attempt to jumpstart the economy.

24. This a picture of the FDIC emblem. I chose this picture, because it was during this period that the FDIC was started in an attempt to protect peoples’ bank accounts.

25. This is a picture of the US Securities and Exchange Commission emblem. I chose this picture, because it was during this period that the SEC was started to enforce security laws and regulate the securities industry.

26. This picture shows a family who were affected by the Agricultural Adjustment Act. I chose this picture, because it was during this period that the act was put into effect in an attempt to raise the worth of crops.

27. This is a picture of a National Youth Administration meeting. I chose this picture, because it was during this period that it was started and paid students to do “work study” projects for school.

28. This is a picture of a National Industrial Recovery Act pamphlet. I chose this picture, because it was during this period that it went into affect to regulate banks.

29. This is a picture of a Social Security card. I chose this picture, because it was during this period that the Social Security program went into affect in an attempt to ensure people retirement among other things.

30. This is a picture of the Tennessee Valley Authority emblem. I chose this picture, because it was during this period that the TVA was created for navigation, flood control, electricity generation and other things in the Tennessee valley.

Good and Bad

Do people only change after something bad happens? I don’t think so. Yes, people do often change when something bad happens, but not exclusively. Also people can change for good or for bad. If some thing bad happens, such as a boys father is murdered, he could change for better or worse. He could fall into depression, and get into drugs, or he could become a police officer in an attempt to keep similar situations from happening to others. There is also the possibility of changing when something good happens. People could change for better or worse in this situation as well. For instance, an intelligent young woman gets a full scholarship to a prestigious university. She could use it to the fullest by getting a degree and going out into the world and making something of herself, or she could get involved with the wrong crowd, get into drugs and get busted, and kicked out of school. Both good things and bad things can cause people to change for good or bad. Its up to each person to determine how they will change.

The US Getting Involved

Should the US get involved in other countries’ affairs? This question has been raised many times about various situations. I think that in the case of some of these situations, the US had absolute right to get involved. I say this because some of the time these “other countries’ affairs” had a lot to do with the US. Take WWI for example. The US was trying to stay uninvolved. Then, the British intercept a message from the German Secretary for Foreign Affairs, which was to be relayed to the Mexican Prime Minister, asking him to attack the US if it seemed like they would enter the war. It also promised Mexico the states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. This was a threat directed towards the American people themselves, so the US got involved. Then there was WWII. Again the US was trying very hard to stay uninvolved, but then the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor completely unprovoked, and without warning. Again, “other countries’ affairs” very much had to do with the US, and so the US got involved. I think that in situations such as these, when the affairs of other countries would largely affect the US, that the US has every right to get involved.

Getting Involved

When is it ok to get involved in other peoples business? When I was about eight, I was living in a neighborhood with a house whose owners were rather well known for having the police called on them for things ranging from breaking noise ordinances, to three a.m. drag-racing. One day I was playing in my front yard with my neighbor Tyler, who was just a little older than me. As we were playing we heard yelling, and looked up to see men running from the infamous house. Three of these men jumped into and drove off in a sport car that was pursued by the other four men in a truck. They chased each other around the block twice. Tyler ran into his house and told his dad, Mr. John. As the cars were finishing their third high-speed lap, Mr. John walked into the middle of the road and stopped. The sport car swerved around him and the truck stopped within ten feet of him. One man jumped out of the truck and started trying to explain that the sport car belonged to him and that the three men in it stole it. He was soon silenced by Mr. John, who burned in the reality that they were chasing each other in a residential area with children present. I think that it’s ok to get involved in someone else’s business if it creates danger for you and or those around who aren’t involved. I think people should mind there own business when it involves things that don’t causes danger to people, because people have a right to privacy and to go about things in their own way as long as it isn’t life threatening.

Letters of the Gilded Age

Growth
Industrial
Labor
Delinquent
Emigration
Dishonorable

Assimilation
Greed
Eager

Is Money Everything?

Is money everything? It is most diffidently not. Although, this does not mean that having it is a bad thing. I’ve grown up knowing people who had a lot of money and those who didn’t, and I’ve found that people from each category have just as many faults. It is true that people sometimes do amass their furtunes at the expence of others. Paying the people that work for them amounts that are unfairly small. They will sometimes do things that are wrong simply for the money. I’ve learned to not judge people by what they have, because in the long run the tangible things don’t matter. It is a person’s actions that make them. Therefore anyone working below them that works honestly should be paid honestly. If money helps a person get what they want out of life, then they should go after it. As stated in the United States Declaration of Independence, people have the right to the pursuit of happiness. People should pursue what makes them happy, whether it involves money or not. As long as they don’t do it in an immoral way than they should be congratulated for getting what they want.

I Carry What Remains

The men with blank faces load me
And the women start to cry
Telling her sons they’ll be just fine
Mother tells a white lie

Yanks come though chasing our heroes
They take all that they can heave
Our home was broken and burned last night
I guess it’s time to leave

Bags, blankets, and chairs I carry
The young boys sit on some stools
Everyone else walks beside me
As I am pulled by two mules

We’re headed for a safer place they say
Their hands still trembling with fear
We slowly start on down the road
For the yanks we still can hear

We’ll have to start our lives over
In a new town, a new place
Wishing this was all a bad dream
Father says “pick up the pace”.

They Cut Beneath Me

Here they come broken and bleeding
Young men with the luck of Cain
Held down by the sawbones
I see all their pain

The pickets hope these were Jonahs
As the screams reach each ear
Scared of death they are not
It is this that they fear

Sawbones do as their name suggests
Praying that they won’t fail
Seeing it all each man knows
Beneath me is not top rail

Giving a man as much whiskey as they can
They tell him he’ll be alright
Drunk and brave he slurs out a phrase
“When can I go back and fight?”

Finishing the job they reach in a haversack
And pull out a simple housewife
Patching him up with a homespun bandage
They say "he’ll keep his life".

A Fight Between Brothers

I have an older brother named Johnny. We have a long history of confrontation and opposition. I tend to be rather calm, while he is known to have spurts of obnoxiousness. One day we were arguing about something I can’t even remember. To end the pointless argument which had lasted for over five minutes, I simply turned around to walk away. My brother on the other hand didn’t want it to end. He shoved me from behind in a way that whiplashed my neck. Now I also didn’t want this to end. Johnny had turned a verbal argument into something physical, and I was not going to let it go. I turned and kicked him in the back as hard as I could. He then grabbed my shoulders and started to knee me in the stomach repeatedly. Suddenly he slammed my back to the ground and while on top of me, raised his right fist to deliver a final blow. Knowing that I had to avoid this strike, I waited for the right moment. As he brought down his fist I moved my head to the right and shot my left arm up. I used my left arm to deflect his striking right hand, although it still nicked the top of my head. I then punched at him with my reaching right fist that connected with his nose. It wasn’t a solid hit, but I was able to make him lose his balance enough that I was able to throw him off of me. We both stood and shouted our final insults and accusations as to who was a fault. We both then turned around and walked in opposite directions. One thing I learned from this was to not argue with someone who has a made up mind. It took a while for us to be on good terms with each other again, but we were able to get past it and fights like these ceased to happen. His moving out a year and a half ago also helped.