Playlist:  HIST 3678: Week Eight, Depression Culture by Kathleen Saylor, Alexander Street Press

The work Eleanor Roosevelt was happiest doing was helping those who could not help themselves and as First Lady, she constantly used her power and influence to expose inequities and stimulate public concern. She found them shocking and depressing and reported her findings in her "My Day" column.

This film presents the social and economic history of the Great Plains -- from the time of the settlement of the prairies, through the World War I boom, to the years of depression and drought. The first part of the film shows cattle as they grazed on grasslands, and homesteaders who hurried onto the plains and grew large wheat crops. The second part depicts the postwar decline of the wheat market, which resulted in overproduction. Footage shows farm equipment used, then abandoned. The third part shows a dust storm as it rendered a farm useless. Subsequent scenes show farmers as they left their homes and headed west.

The Cotton Mills of the South experienced a downturn years before the Great Depression hit. When Franklin Roosevelt was elected, may looked to him and listened eagerly to his fireside chats to hear if the "good days" were truly here again. Some of the key FDR initiatives that affected the Southern Cotton Mills were the National Industrial Recovery Administration, minimum wage, 40-hour work week, and Section 7A in regards to unions.