The Depression Era

Through a diversity of primary source resources that include works by politicians and literary figures, book reviews, and interviews, this book enables student readers to better understand literature of the Great Depression in context through original documents. Oklahoma drought refugees seeking livelihood in California, rural white Mississippians, and African American migrants making new lives in Chicago all represented the dramatic transitions across the spectrum of American life during the Great Depression. These vastly different groups of Americans still shared common experiences of desperation and poverty during the 1930s. This book focuses on literary works by three Depression-era authors-William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Richard Wright-and supplies dozens of primary source documents that serve to illuminate the harsh realities of life in the 1930s and enable students to better appreciate key pieces in American literature from the Great Depression era. The Depression Era: A Historical Exploration of Literature gives readers historical context for multiple works of American literature about the Great Depression through a wide range of features, including chronologies, essays explaining key events, and primary document excerpts as well as support materials that include activities, lesson plans, discussion questions, topics for further research, and suggested readings. The book's coverage includes William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying (1930), John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937), The Grapes of Wrath (1939), and Richard Wright's Native Son (1940).

Aaron Barlow, PhD, is associate professor of English at New York City College of Technology (CUNY) and faculty editor of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) magazine Academe.

Series Foreword,
Introduction to the Depression Era,
Chronology of the Depression Era,
1 As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner, 1930),
Synopsis of As I Lay Dying: "Following the Path in Single File,"
Historical Background,
About William Faulkner,
Why We Read As I Lay Dying,
Historical Explorations of As I Lay Dying,
Documenting As I Lay Dying,
Southern Culture,
Document: From "On Leaving the South," Howard Mumford Jones, 1931,
Document: From "Regionalism: Cult or Culture?," B. A. Botkin, 1936,
Document: From "A Memoir: Growing Up Poor and White in the South," Vernon Johnson, 1994,
The Writer in the South,
Document: From "The Literary Landscape," Herschel Brickell, 1932,
Document: From "Wherefore This Southern Fiction?," Benjamin T. Spencer, 1939,
Faulkner and His Influence,
Document: From "William Faulkner at Home," Adwin Wigfall Green, 1932,
Document: From The Paris Review Interview with William Faulkner, 1956,
American Writers,
Document: From Literature and the American College, Irving Babbitt, 1908,
Document: From "A Paris Letter," Ernest Hemingway, 1934,
Document: From "New Techniques in the Novel," John T. Frederick, 1935,
American Culture in the World,
Document: From A Comedian Sees the World, Charlie Chaplin, 1932,
Document: From "Society and Personality," Albert Einstein, 1935,
Document: From Give Me My Own God, Aimee Semple McPherson, 1936,
Sex and Alcohol,
Document: From "Booze," A Sermon by Billy Sunday, 1916,
Document: From What Every Girl Should Know, Margaret H. Sanger, 1922,
Document: From The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, 1938,
Suggested Readings,
2 Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck, 1937),
Synopsis of Of Mice and Men: "A Path through the Willows,"
Historical Background,
About John Steinbeck,
Why We Read Of Mice and Men,
Historical Explorations of Of Mice and Men,
Documenting Of Mice and Men,
The West,
Document: From "Social Forces in American History," Frederick Jackson Turner, 1910,
Document: From "Review of The Rediscovery of the Frontier," Lucy Lockwood Hazard, 1932,
The Economy and Transient Workers,
Document: From "An Alien in the Pines," Hamlin Garland, 1910,
Document: From "The Harvest Gypsies," John Steinbeck, 1936,
Mental Disability,
Document: From The Mind and the Brain, Alfred Binet, 1907,
Document: From Feeble-Mindedness: Its Causes and Consequences, Henry Goddard, 1914,
Document: From The Measurement of Intelligence, Lewis Terman, 1916,
Document: From Types of Mental Defectives, Martin Barr and E. F. Maloney, 1920,
Suggested Readings,
3 The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck, 1939),
Synopsis of The Grapes of Wrath: "I Got to Figure,"
Historical Background,
Why We Read The Grapes of Wrath,
Historical Explorations of The Grapes of Wrath,
Documenting The Grapes of Wrath,
Migrant Labor and the Dust Bowl,
Document: From "The Tragedy of Eldorado," Christopher Isherwood, 1939,
Document: From "Farms into Factories: Our Agricultural Revolution," Carey McWilliams, 1941,
The Okies and Their Milieu,
Document: From "Will Rogers on Dust Bowl Origins," 1935,
Document: From "Review of Migrant Families," W. Wallace Weaver, 1940,
Government Assistance and Migrant Workers,
Document: From "Nursing Care for Migrant Families," R. C. Williams, 1941,
Document: From "Interstate Migration and Intervening Opportunities," Margaret L. Bright and Dorothy S. Thomas, 1941,
Document: From "Education and the Recent Western Migration," Lester A. Kirkendall, 1941,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
Document: From Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Address Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, July 2, 1932,
Document: From the First Inaugural Address by Franklin D. Roosevelt on Saturday, March 4, 1933,
Document: From "The Fireside Chats," Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-39,
The Road to Recovery,
Document: From Every Man a King, Huey Long, 1934,
Document: From America's 60 Families, Ferdinand Lundberg, 1937,
Suggested Readings,
4 Native Son (Richard Wright, 1940),
Synopsis of Native Son: Fear, Flight, and Fate,
Historical Background,
About Richard Wright,
Why We Read Native Son,
Historical Explorations of Native Son,
Documenting Native Son,
The Specter of Communism,
Document: From the Communist Party of America, Manifesto and Program, Constitution, Report to the Communist International, 1919,
Document: From The American Jitters: A Year of the Slump, Edmund Wilson, 1932,
Document: From the Testimony of Walter S. Steele, National Republic, Chairman of the American Coalition Committee on Nation Security, Representing Various Organizations, 1938,
Fear and the Law,
Document: From the Files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1934,
Document: From "Letter to Paul Harper," Alexander Woollcott, 1935,
Document: From a Letter from J. Edgar Hoover to Walter Winchell, 1937,
Fears of Fascism,
Document: From The Good Society, Walter Lippmann, 1936,
Document: From Fascism and the American Scene, Dwight MacDonald, 1938,
Jim Crow and Its Impact,
Document: From The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois, 1903,
Document: From "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain," Langston Hughes, 1926,
Document: From "How 'Bigger' Was Born," Richard Wright, 1940,
The Scottsboro Boys,
Document: From "The Freight-Car Case," Edmund Wilson, 1931,
African American Migration and Its Impact,
Document: From "Checking Migration," The Chicago Defender, 1919,
Document: From "The Causes of the Chicago Race Riot," Walter White, 1919,
Document: From "I Hope to God to Kill Me...," Interview by Ralph Ellison, 1938,
Document: From "Mishewango Miss'ippi's mah home...," Interview by Elizabeth Burke, 1939,
Urban Black Culture,
Document: From "Policy Players," Interview by Grace Outlaw, 1939,
Document: From "Backroom of a Tailor Shop," Interview by Grace Outlaw, 1939,
Document: From "The Savoy Ballroom," Sam Ross, 1939,
The Dreams of African Americans,
Document: From "The New Idealism," Paul Robeson, 1919,
Suggested Readings,
Index,