Photographs

· Many display the social uncertainty of the era.

· Photographs such as Child in doorway of shack of migrant pickers and packing house workers, near Belle Glade, Florida and Farmers sleeping in a “white” camp room in a warehouse. They often must remain several days before their tobacco is sold. Durham, North Carolina (Both by Marion Post Wolcott, 1939) shows the audiences the helplessness of everyday people.

· Pictures such as San Francisco, California - Police and strikers battle (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum) illustrates the economic uncertainty of the 1930s.

· Other photographs depict the technical advances of the 20^th century.

· 1934 View of Assembly Line, Haer, Ind. (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division) demonstrates the progress and technical advancements of the United States.

Paintings

· The paintings made in the 1930s greatly reflected the turbulent society of that period.

· Paintings such as Apple Vendor (Barbara Stevenson, 1934), Flop House (Edward Millman, 1937), and Dispossessed (Mervin Jules, ~1938) goes to great detail to display the everyday life in America during this era.

· Used vivid color and different shape to display the emotions.

· In the late 1920s and early 1930s, painters painted industries and skyscrapers.

· By the end of 1930s, the focus shifted to the street corners.

· In the 1930s, laborers of all sorts were portrayed as heroic figures.

· Paintings such as Homeward (Frank C. Kirk, 1933), Paper Workers (Douglass Crockwell, 1934), and Automobile Industry (William Gropper, 1940) displayed the hope for progress inside many people of that time.

· In the 1930, more and more Americans looked at the folktale, folk-art and traditional music created by immigrants and native communities.

· Many of them realized the richness and diversity of their country.

· Painters created paintings such as Taos Indian Woman (Kenneth M. Adams, 1920~1930), Brothers (Malvin Gray Johnson, 1934), and Joseph Roy, Portrait of Worker (William Gebhardt, 1934) to celebrate the colorful diversity of the United States.

Documentaries

· Many carried a strong theme.

· Some, such as Triumph of America (Handy Organization, 1933) shows the industrial progress that United States has achieved in the 1930s.

· Others, including General Strike (Burt Gould, 1934) examined the civil unrest during the depression.

· Everyday life of Americans are examined in Pick of the POD (American Documentary Films, Inc., 1939)

· However, not all documentaries are serious.

· Documentaries such as All-American Soap Box Derby (Handy Organization, 1936) have light-hearted themes.

· They were designed to entertain viewers.

These films are viewable through the webpage below:

http://americanart.si.edu/education/picturing_the_1930s/

Special Thanks to:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

http://americanart.si.edu/