The Major Historic Events of the Thirties of the Twentieth Century
The 1930s witnessed the Great Depression in America where the concept of the American dream turned into a desperate fight for survival. The economic and social crisis reached all layers of society irrespective of race, wealth, social status, and education (Young et al 2007). The land of expectation and optimism turned into the land of frustration and despair. This time was especially difficult for farmers for whom California was a kind of the Promising Land giving a chance to improve at least the agricultural segment of the economy. By inventing the illusion of the American dream where the nation is presented as an ideal country, people were largely obsessed with material values thus ignoring the moral ones.
The decade from1930 till 1940 was highlighted by the changes contributed many famous historic personalities, Karl Menninger, the acknowledged psychiatrist in America, whose book The Human Mind considerably changed the public attitudes towards people with mental disorders; Will Rogers, an outstanding philosopher, and radio commentator, who greatly contributed to the development of screen culture; Amelia Earhart, the first woman who made her debut in aviation and flew across the Atlantic Ocean (Sutton 1999).
Art of the Great Depression in the 1930s
It goes without saying that the cultural and artistic life of America was subjected to the influence of the economic crisis in the United States. Considering the situation of publishing houses that experiences times of bankruptcy, literature of the 30s was under the threat of failure. The dramaturgy was also captured by the wave of the Great Depression so that local theatres could not afford to order the play screen of respectable writers. Nonetheless, though the writers’ creative work was hampered by economic hardships, the plays were regularly written and staged. Hence, this period saw such famous playwrights as Clifford Odets, Maxwell Anderson, Lillian Hellman, and Eugene O’Neil (Eldridge 2008). Despite these deplorable conditions, the literature prospered as writers and readers experienced the same difficulties.
It is worth saying that the Great Depression made the artist of the 1930s reject the social reality and indulge in a new modernistic stream where painters despised the economic instability and social status. One of the main representatives was Jackson Pollock who greatly contributed to the development of Abstract Expressionism (Sutton 1999).
One could not but mention that the era of the Great Depression in America was marked by the emergence of radio culture. About 80 percent of the population recognized the future and the main hope for the Americans who were desperately waiting for a positive answer. The famous commentators of that time, H.V. Kaltenborn and Edward Murrow helped to keep the country informed about the situation in the country (Sutton 1999).
The time of the Great Depression gave rise to the emergence of documentary photography thus making it possible to witness the misery of social life. Hence, such photographs as Russell Lee, Dorothea Lange, and Carl Mydans greatly contributed to the discovery of a person under the depressed conditions of life. The main topic of their creative work was the depiction of the abhorrent life of the immigrants (Eldridge 2008).
The movie art rejected to recognize the severe reality and instead the films were aimed at showing fictional stories. The Hollywood actors were trying to raise the people’s spirits so they could forget about their troubles. Again, the story of immigration was also inserted into the plot of numerous films (Sutton 1999).
Science and education in the period of the Great Depression
Certainly, scientific research and inventions were not on the rise during this period, as there was no sufficient funding for that. Despite this, the development of psychics and incredible experiments of atom-smashing showed the expected results. The immigration of Albert Einstein to America also enriched the intellectual inheritance of the country. In 1930, the world witnessed the discovery of the ninth planet is a sensation for the development of astrology (Sutton).
Regarding industrial development and research, there emerged a variety of synthetic products, such as nylon and cellophane thus capturing mass production and sailing. At the end of the 1930s, Chester Carlson invented a technical device called xerography, which is of high importance nowadays (Sutton 1999). As it can vie, science was continuing its gradual growth despite the lack of financial sources. Moreover, society was living in the quest for the future and elusive technology that might help. America strived to eliminate the crisis and to return to a normal life. The development of science was closely connected with the rise of fashionable tendencies where nylon captured women’s hearts. Apart from this, American society rejected the fashionable dresses from Paris thus introducing American designers.
Education also suffered from the lack of funding. Children were hardly provided with the necessary books, clothes, and other supplies in order to regularly attend school. As per teachers, their salaries left much to be desired thus being forced to work for free. Of course, there were such teachers who realized the situation and were ready to work for the sake of children’s education improvement (Sutton 1999).
References
Eldridge, D. (2008). American culture in the 1930s. UK: Edingburgh University Press.
Sutton, B. (1999). American Culture History. Web.
Young, W. H., and Young, N. K. (2007). The Great Depression in America: a cultural encyclopedia, vol 1. US: Greenwood Publishing Group.