The Great Depression and the Average American

After reading about Ed Paulsen, a freight-train rider, Jane Yoder, a daughter of a WPA worker, and about Tom Yoder, Jane’s son, I have realized more about how harsh the Great Depression was on the average American. I thought it was amazing that Ed had to travel on freight trains to look for work, and that the Jane Yoder would not ask her father for food, because he didn’t have the money to purchase any. Paulsen talked about how the time of the Great Depression was filled with anger towards “Merchants, storekeepers, and landowners.” Paulsen also explained how “They had the fix that was just awful to live with.” This led Ed to travel around on freight trains to find work. Ed had also tried to sneak into the refrigerator car on the freight trains in order to get food in his belly. When Paulsen was caught riding on freight, he was shot at by a “railroad dick”, and was forced to jump off the train. He luckily landed into some mud. Paulsen then tried to get on another freight train, and was caught riding again. After being caught he was surrounded by armed men, and was sent to a “transient camp”. The NYA ran the camp and saved Paulsen from starvation and homelessness. Jane Yoder would return home from school and go straight to bed, because there was nothing to do and no money. The Yoder family were so poor that when they went to bed they had to “put the coat on the bed” in order to “get warm” at night. They knew that they did not have the money to eat on some nights. Jane Yoder “sensed (that her) father didn’t have the money. So we stayed hungry.” The times were so hard for the Yoder family, because the father did not have a job, or money to purchase food. When the WPA started hiring Jane’s father “immediately got employed in this WPA.” The Yoder family was practically saved, because the WPA had given Jane’s father a job. These stories raise a few questions in my mind. The first question is, how did the Great Depression impact these people’s decisions when dealing with money. These stories remind me of the panic of 1893. In the panic of 1893 the greenbacks, which were issued to help pay for the Civil War, were being withdrawn from circulation. The retiring of greenbacks was a problem for farmers, because farmers, who had borrowed money, had to pay back their loans in dollars that were worth more than the dollars they had borrowed, which caused farmers to fall deeper into debt. Southern Democrats and Populists believed that “free silver” was a fair solution to the currency issue, because silver was more plentiful than gold, and by backing currency with both metals, it would make currency more available. Supporters of “free silver” hoped that this measure would stimulate the economy. Republicans and Gold Democrats were for “sound money”, and against “free silver”, because backing the dollar with gold only, would provide a more stable currency. The Republicans and Gold Democrats also disliked “free silver”, because it would cheat lenders out of an honest return on what they had loaned out. This issue of which metal would be the basis of the nation’s monetary system was the central issue of the 1896 election. These stories also remind me of my grandma. My grandma was a little girl during the Great Depression. My Grandma would save up money in a little piggy bank, and on one day decided she would put the money into a real bank. My grandma waited in line at the bank with her mother, and opened a savings account five minutes before closing. The bank teller took my grandma’s money and closed the bank. My grandma never saw her five dollars again.

C.P. Ellis, The Former Klansman

After reading Studs Terkel’s interview with C.P. Ellis, the former President of his area’s Ku Klux Klan (KKK), I was shocked by the former Klansman’s change from racist to humanitarian. He first got into the Klan, because he wanted to be a part of something and because he wanted to blame someone for the injustice of his life. Mr. Ellis had many problems, which include having an alcoholic father, having to quit school before finishing the 8th grade after having his father die and needing to support his family, having a child who is blind and mentally challenged, and struggling financially. Mr. Ellis felt so much pain from all his problems that he decided to “blame the black people.” His father had always glamorized the Klan and was at one time in the Klan. Ellis followed his father’s footsteps and joined the Klan. He then moved up from “member to chaplain, from chaplain to vice-president, from vice-president to president.” Ellis felt like he was something by being apart of the Klan. This power led him to create a youth group that closely followed the Klan. Though, Ellis later became more understanding and eventually wanted to give up being in the Klan. He was later selected as a school board Co-President with Ann Atwater, who was a black, Civil Rights activist. Mr. Ellis despised working with a black woman, but eventually, Ellis came to realize that they were “two people from the far ends of the fence, havin’ identical problems.” The realization caused Ellis to change his mind about hating blacks for his personal problems. There are a few questions that this story raises in my mind. First question is, why can’t other people realize, like Ellis, that blacks, Jews, Catholics, and other races and religions are people just like them? The second question that this story raises is, why do we blame others for our problems? The story reminds me about the Civil Rights movement and how people’s opinions had changed greatly. People like President Johnson and President Kennedy, who did not care too much about the Civil Rights movement later became more involved with making it successful. This story also reminds me of Lincoln’s change in perspective over the issue of slavery. In Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, Lincoln did not truly care if the South continued to have slaves, but in Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln wanted to eliminate slavery and take care of this moral issue of racism. The story also reminds me of when I go to service at my synagogue. When going to services my synagogue has to have security, because of the acts of anti-Semitism in my neighborhood.