People of the Great Depression

Jordan Laufenberg, Owen Weber,

Liz Saatoff, Karly Lent, Tylar O’Brein

Unemployment: Jack Wells

I am the forgotten man. I used to be an ordinary citizen, worked in a factory, and I was able to put food on the table every night for my family. When the stock market crashed, I lost everything: my money, my job, and my pride. I had a hard time getting things done; I had to walk by the railroad tracks to collect coal just to start a fire. Luckily, Franklin Roosevelt is our president. His philosophy is to help people like me, forgotten men at the bottom of the economic pyramid. With all of his new organizations and the New Deal, I could get back on my feet and have some money. I can now afford food and a home, and I have a job to get some income. The Great Depression and the New Deal had a large impact on my life.

Dustbowl: Karly Lent

My name is Earl & in 1929 I was a farmer. I grew food for people in the city to eat but as The Great Depression worsened, nobody could buy my food. Since people were getting layer off and loosing jobs, they didn't have the money to spend on buying my crops. Not only did I live through the Great Depression, but my farm suffered The Dust Bowl.

The Dust Bowl was a long lasting drought, and when wind storms took place, the dust from the dry ground b,we everywhere creating drift mounds and it also choked crops and buried my equipment. We went through a lot of rough times but luckily I'm still here!

Investors: Owen Weber

Hello my name is Chip And I worked at a bank But one day I saw the stocks slip I thought it might be a prank I tried to stop people from selling But they kept going down People began to start yelling And it seemed all I could do is frown So I went home that night My wife had heard the story There was a kettle that was rusty I saw a scene that was quite gory She had cooked my dog Dusty

Youth: Tylar O’Brien

Hi, my name is Bobby and I am 11 years old. I live with my mommy mostly because daddy is always working or trying to work he says, but mommy said we will start seeing him again when things get better. We don't have a house anymore, daddy said that we lost it when the "dumb untrustworthy" bank closed.

Cause after that we couldn't afford it anymore. Mommy lost her job too. Me and my sister Ally always have to stay right by mommy under the big tree. That's where we sleep. I can't wait until things get better because I really miss my bed, but mommy said It would and I trust mommy. So I know it will get better soon.

Women: Liz Saathoff

Hi! I am a woman of the Great Depression. My husband is still employed but he is receiving below minimum wage. I have 2 children both who are not in school because we can't afford it. My husband and I have been forced to cut are clothes down to our children's size but they seem to look better on them then they did on us.

I enjoy seeing my children everyday it's gets are family more together. Sometimes we go to the market to get our day old bread they love playing outside. Our lives are not the worst but wears still being strong. Women is the support to our me and are families. In the Great Depression, woman were made stronger.

Business: Jordan Laufenberg

I am the CEO of General Motors. In 1936 the United Auto Workers launched a sit-down strike in our plant in Flint, Michigan. The workers just sat down in the factory and wouldn't work. People on the outside sent them food and took care of their families. We couldn't break the strike for fear it would turn violent.

There were lots of valuable things inside the factory that could be torn up and we didn’t want the workers getting injured. The governor would not help us, and when we tried to shut off their food supply, the workers fought back and then the police backed off too. We tried shutting off the heat and the workers stayed anyway. They were determined.

The strike cost GM tens of millions of dollars every week it went on. After six weeks we had no choice but to give in. Unions didn't always win their disputes, but nearly 1/4 of American workers had joined unions by the early 1940s. Organized unions meant that American buisiness would never be the same.