Extra Entry: Children's Letters to the First Lady

During the depression, many children were affected when their families lost everything. Children became homeless and others went without food or clothes. In their desperation, children wrote letters to the first lady. In these letters they would describe what they were going through. Many children considered the first lady their confidant. I think it is interesting that so many people felt like they could instantly trust her with their secrets and stories. In addition to many children being homeless, many schools were shut down due to the lack of funding. Although Eleanor Roosevelt didn't always respond, she did acknowledge what children were going to as a result of the poor economy. It interests me that people felt so sure that Eleanor Roosevelt was reading all their letters. I think it shows a lot about the image she put out and that she was in a position that she could do things to help children impacted by the depression. In response, Eleanor Roosevelt created the National Youth Administration to help children stay in school. I think she strongly valued education. Education could help people better their lives because it created more opportunities. Eleanor Roosevelt also supported and helped with other programs offered by the New Deal. Programs that helped underprivileged children were necessary because they were the future of the nation. If children were brought up without the necessities in life, they would not be able to contribute to the country later on in their lives.

Entry #2 : Arthur Robertson & Oscar Heline

It was interesting to read a story about the great depression from a view of someone who was very wealthy during the time. Although he had a lot of money he still knew the dangers of what was happening with the economy. Robertson's idea that people were buying on hope interested me because it shows how people were so wrapped up in the idea of becoming rich, that they invested money they didn't have. People would pay a little in hopes to make a lot and when the stock market crashed, many people could not pay back the money they owed. Robertson's opinion about how the economy crashing was handled was that the banks shouldn't have been the ones to gain control of large businesses. Robertson felt that although banks were being given money from the government, they were not capable of running a business they didn't know a lot about. "One of my friends said to me, 'If things keep on as they are, we'll all have to go begging.' I asked, 'Who from?'" (101). Robertson recognized that everyone was affected by the stock market crash and soon there would not be anyone to borrow money from. 
        Heline's story shows how farmers were affected by the depression. People like Heline that were farmers and lived in rural areas suffered greatly during the depression. They rarely could sell their crops and didn't receive help from the government at first like the banks were. Heline and his neighbors felt that the second world war was the answer to the failures they were facing on the farm. They felt that the war was creating more jobs and agricultural problems were being fixed. "The rank-and-file people of this state - who were brought up as conservatives, which most of us were - would never act like this. Except in desperation" (122). Heline states that desperation caused people to act out in the depression. People were so desperate to provide for their families that most were willing to do whatever it took to start getting money again. 
      

Entry #1: Vine Deloria & C.P. Ellis

I thought C.P. Ellis's story of his change from hating black people to working with them later in his life was interesting because it showed how important it is for people to realize that as time changes, the ways in which people think about people change too. C.P. Ellis felt anger towards black people because of the lack of success in his life. He was bothered that as he continued to work hard and not move anywhere, blacks were just starting to have success and have jobs. It frustrated him that other people around him were making something of their lives and he wasn't. The easiest group to blame for him being unsuccessful were blacks. "I always left school late afternoon with a sense of inferiority. The other kids had nice clothes, and I just had what Daddy could buy. I still got some of those inferiority feelin's now that I have to overcome once in a while" (Terkel 63). C.P. Ellis's childhood is what lead him to join the KKK. Since he had feelings of inferiority due to his economic class, he had built up aggression that he saw an opportunity to take out on black people. The KKK was the first thing that welcomed him in and made him feel equal and powerful despite the amount of money he had. By C.P. Ellis being able to look back at his life, he realized that the reasons for his hatred were unjust. C.P. Ellis was caught by the American Dream. He wanted to have something he could take pride in and feel powerful and successful. These strong desires lead him to joining the KKK, but after achieving these feelings, he realized what was right and wrong.
      Vine Deloria's story about how generations have changed in the way they think directly relates to how mnay people percieve the American Dream. Deloria states that the American Dream changes meaning from generation to generation. "The further down you move, the worse it gets. The younger people have taken the rat race as the real thing. It's a thing in their heads. In my generation, it was a thing in the heart" (Terkel 37). I think Deloria means that for people in the younger generations, the American Dream is about how far one can get in life and what they can achieve. People lose sight of their history and values in hopes of having the American dream. In older generations, the American dream is being successful, but also knowing where the success of the country came from. He views people in generations below him as being more individualistic, while the older the generations are, the more they understand the importance of success for the country.