I broke my Little Orphan Annie doll today. I don’t care, though, I’m too grown up to be playing with dolls anyways. I threw it at the front door and the head cracked off. Peter and Eric are leaving! I had a new dance to show them, like one of the the Rockettes numbers, but they just ran in the apartment waving some piece of paper in our faces:

Executive Order 6101 Starting The Civilian Conservation Corps.
April 5, 1933

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Act of Congress entitled “An Act for the relief of unemployment through the performance of useful public work, and for other purposes,” approved March 31, 1933 (Public No. 5, 73d Congress), it is hereby ordered that:
(1) For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of said Act Robert Fechner is hereby appointed Director of Emergency Conservation Work at an annual rate of compensation of $12,000, less the reduction prescribed in subparagraph (b), Section 2, Title II, of the Act of Congress entitled “An Act to maintain the credit of the United States Government” (Public No. 2, 73d Congress), approved March 20, 1933.
(2) The Secretary of War, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Labor each shall appoint a representative, and said representatives shall constitute an Advisory Council to the Director of Emergency Conservation Work.
(3) There is hereby established in the Treasury a fund of $10,000,000 by the transfer of an equal amount from the unobligated balances of the appropriation for emergency construction of public buildings contained in the act approved July 21, 1932, as authorized by Section 4 of the said Act of March 31, 1933, which fund shall be subject to requisition by the said Robert Fechner, as Director of Emergency Conservation Work, on the approval of the President.
(4) Subject to direction by the President, supplies and materials of the several departments or establishments shall be furnished on the requisition of the Director of Emergency Conservation Work, and the departments and establishments furnishing such supplies and materials shall be reimbursed therefor in accordance with instructions of the President.
(5) Reimbursement, if any, to the departments or establishments for other services rendered shall be made in accordance with instructions of the President.

I don’t know what all of it means, but Peter told me that he and Eric were joining something called the Civilian Conservations Corps so they could go live and work in shacks in Green Lake State Park. Mommy’s started to cry again, because they are going so far away, so I crawled in her lap and cried too. Daddy didn’t cry. I bet he was just happy that there would be two less mouths to feed. And, according to the camp rules, they’d have to send a lot of money back home to us.
First President Roosevelt interrupts all my favorite radio programs and then he sends my brothers upstate.

I hate him.

Have farmers’ prayers been answered? Today the Agricultural Adjustment Act was passed by Congress—finally a little help from the folks in Washington! I’m sure your asking yourself what types of relief this is going to entail for us farmers? Well, basically it is going to reduce the production of crops for the season, thereby driving up the price. I know we were trying that ourselves, but with the AAA in place, the government is actually going to pay us not to produce. From the reports I’ve heard, almost 90% of all the farmland in each of the agricultural states of the Midwest and South are covered by this voluntary program. Farmers will receive money for reducing the amount of their crop size. A friend of mine in Georgia just wrote me the other day lamenting the fact the 1933 cotton crop is projected to be larger than that of the past two years, producing a great surplus. Through this act a considerable percentage of the cotton crop will be destroyed to reduce the crop size.

I do not see this act as solving all the problems inherent in the current agriculture system, but as a means of economic recovery. This act is mainly about reducing crop production as well as fostering the idea for farmers or collectives to make a conscious choice to produce less. I think that that can potentially work in the short term, but I am skeptical about the long term viability of this method. I expect there will be further legislation, especially because while this provides some relief to us, most of us are still faced with the potential for foreclosure.

Here is the text of the act for you to see for yourself the assistance coming our way.

The President is talking to us through the radio again. I don’t really understand all the reasons why, but he’s saying the country was dying. The Bank vacations and sending Peter and Eric away were part of the New Deal (not the Jew Deal, I got a real spanking when I repeated Uncle Rolf’s words when I got home!)
Those things are supposed to help Mommy and Daddy so that Daddy can find a job and Mommy can stop crying. The President is already trying to help the farmers and now he’s saying it’s Daddy’s turn:

I don’t really understand baseball either, but Eric really likes it, he took his glove to Green Lake. And President Roosevelt says I have been really patient, and I have! I would rather hear the Lone Ranger or the Shadow, but Mommy felt better after she heard the President, so maybe I should listen more carefully next time.

Well, golly, I know I should be furious FDR held firm about his cuts to veteran’s benefits, but I’m not as angry anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I still want my bonus, but instead of being attacked by the police or the army like last year, the government put us up at Fort Hunt, where they provided us warm food, hot coffee, medical services…and a job! I was just as surprised as you are right now. The first lady herself came out to visit us, serving coffee, chatting with us, and even leading us in a rousing version of the wartime favorite “There’s a Long, Long Trail a’Winding.” I was able to speak with her for a bit, talking about the hardships my family and community was facing in the wake of the recent years of drought and factory closings. While I know she could not begin to truly understand what life was like in eastern Tennessee, she seemed genuinely concerned and compassionate to my plight.

In the end we were told that FDR had signed an executive order that allowed for 25,000 veterans of the Spanish-American War and the Great War to join the Civilian Conservation Corps. Until the order, only young men ages 18-25 could join. Since the pay was only $1 per day, some men said “forget reforestation!” but nearly 2,500 of the 3,000 vets at Fort Hunt signed up, including me. The idea that I’ll be able to feel like a productive member of society again and a provider for my family makes me feel happy for the first time in a long time.

Dear Mr. President,

I wanted to say how thankful I am that you are our President. My first ever vote went to you, even though my family has always been loyal to Republicans. I can tell that you speak truth over the radio. My wife listens to you when she is at work.
I have never taken a dime of relief in my life. My family, my neighbors, we could always turn to each other. But now, I don’t know where else to turn. They have cut back my hours at work again. My daughters need new shoes, and everyone knows that if white women are looking for work, they’ll get the jobs as domestics over a colored woman any day.
Those work camps you started look like they’ll help some folks, but I can’t leave my family right now. I’m no good to them here, but I’m more harm than good if I’m gone. We need job security right here, in the city. As neighbors we would like to organize for our fair share. My company won’t let me get relief from any charities either.
I watch friends fired over less qualified whites, and little outside encouragement to change their luck. Isn’t there anything you can do? My family and I would be forever grateful.

Sincerely,

Solomon Horton

You are looking at the newest secretary at the headquarters of Sunkist Growers, Incorporated! My friend Ann works there and was able to get me a job. Before starting I hadn’t typed or taken shorthand notes since high school, but Ann assured me I’d be able to pick it up quickly. Thankfully after a few days she was right. I’m hoping to work enough to afford to get Al’s shop opened up again for both our sakes. It is impossible to keep a neat kitchen when your husband is cutting hair in it all day!

The women’s magazines have run articles stating that a majority of Americans do not believe married women should be working, especially if their husbands are employed. I was surprised to see, then, that nearly half of the women in my office were married women well into their thirties and forties. Just a few days ago there was an article in the Los Angeles Times by a Mrs. Mary Z. Miner about married women working. The article was a commentary on married women in the workplace, calling us the “stepdaughters of industry” because largely the only acceptable jobs for women to excel in are domestic jobs despite the major industrial changes of the past few decades.

Gladys’ story is not a new phenomenon either, it is exactly what I faced when I was first married and asked to leave my teaching job in the middle of the school year. Through this article it becomes clear that the standards for hiring men and women are dramatically different.

I was happy to hear that the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt recognized the plight of married women who needed to work. She said who knew better than the women if they needed to work or not? I do agree with Mrs. Roosevelt, though, that women who do not need to work should not be working in this economy with unemployment at nearly 25%.

People who think women should not work in this economy must be under the illusion we slave away for long hours and little pay just to make “pin money” for ourselves, and not the reality, which is to support our family and pay our bills. Besides, I do not know any men who would work as secretaries or phone operators—that’s a woman’s job.

Cheap power coming up!

Today marks a turning point. The government is going to bring cheap power, erosion control, flood control, reforestation, and malaria prevention to the Tennessee Valley through the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority. More importantly it is going to mean jobs! I am hoping that this will lead to more development in Elizabethton, TN, where I’m from because we are known as the “City of Power” since the first hydroelectric dam constructed in Tennessee was built there in 1909. It seems only natural that the new TVA would focus some of their effort to produce cheap electricity there. My only fear is that if new factories or dams are being built that it will necessarily displace people and take their land. My family has been on the same land since 1773 and I will not leave it, even if it means sacrificing jobs and electricity for my community. Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that. The legislation allows for long-term contracts, so that must mean the government is looking to revitalize this very impoverished region over a long period of time and I’m for that.

Here is the text of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act.

Sometimes I feel so removed from the people that we are trying to help. With that in mind, I want to give you an opportunity to see the back-and-forth involved in the upcoming bill for industrial relief. I come down on one side rather passionately, but I will reserve my opinion until I have displayed the two options.

First, the Black Bill:

• Cap work weeks at 30 hours
• Ban interstate trade of products made by workers who had hours greater than 30 per week
• Force the hire of 25% more workers
• Workers who were working more than those hours would see their wages adjusted to compensate for the cut in hours

Then, the National Industrial Recovery Act:

• Businesses can develop “codes of fair competition”
• minimum wage and child labor protections
• Union organizing protections
• $3.3 Billion in Public Works

Which suits your needs best?
The former is much more focused than the latter, and Secretary Perkins tried to work with it, but the Senator from Alabama whose name is on the bill was rather rigid about the stipulations in their entirety. Congress, in turn, was not amenable to the bill at all. And so now we hope for passage of the NIRA.
Now you know what it is like to work for the President. There were three other bills various departments were also working on, simultaneously! The cabinet, the House, the Senate, are all throwing ideas together under the President. The outcomes are hardly guaranteed, and compromise is key.

The wall of dust coming right for us!

We were hit with a dust storm today, as my wife and I were nearly to town to see our son and daughter-in-law. It was such a beautiful, sunny spring day, but as we neared town we knew a storm was coming. We saw a giant flock of birds fly across the road and rabbits and a few prairie dogs following in the same direction. My wife turned and gave a little yelp as the dark storm cloud that stretched from the ground far into the sky rolled toward us. I hoped to reach town and pull along the east side of a building to escape the storm’s initial impact, but I was too slow. The force of the storm hitting our truck felt like we hit a brick wall. I very nearly drove off the road due the shock of the storm descending on us and the dust that was suddenly filling my nose, mouth, eyes and lungs. It was like being in the barn when the door closes: sudden, blinding blackness.

Here is another image of what the storm looked like

We did make it safely to my son’s house. Shortly after we arrived he came in from the storm carrying our granddaughter, who had been out playing with a few of the neighborhood children. Although we were all inside, we did not escape the wrath of the storm. You could see the dust particles penetrating every crack and crevice then just hanging in the air before settling on any and every surface. In addition to the discomfort of the dirt particles, the eerie darkness and feeling the electricity that surges through air during and after the storm bring to mind tornadoes. Honestly, I would take a tornado over a dust storm any day. At least with a tornado there is rain.

I’m so mad I could spit. The situation at Betsy Ross School has become unacceptable. My daughters have been trying to learn under these conditions for too long. The place has gotten so overcrowded that they can only stay in the classroom for 3 hours a day. They’ve redistricted the neighborhood, and white children don’t even have to attend Betsy Ross even though it’s a white neighborhood. There is only one white child in the whole school.
We went to the school board to protest with some other parents this morning. Susan wants to keep the girls home if they’re crammed into a room with 40 other students and one teacher. But Susan has to work, and for the most part, so do I! How am I supposed to better their situation if I’m stuck in my own? They go to a white school, I work at a white-owned steel mill, and we need them to survive. Do you know what the superintendent told my wife? “If you don’t back down, I’m gonna send you back to the Jungle where you belong!”
I’m so agitated, but you’re not allowed to be an agitator anywhere, even if you’re only trying to get what’s fair.
No one can help me, and I can’t even help my family or myself.