Hope Restored: How the New Deal Worked in Town and Country
In the suffering and poverty of the Great Depression, American morale received a shock as powerful as the economic collapse. Many Americans who had nurtured a deep faith in democracy, hard work, and a free economy suddenly found themselves questioning their system. Others feared that in combating the Depression, democracy might give way to the totalitarianism of the left or right. In Hope Restored, Bernard Sternsher has assembled fourteen writings by historians that show how, even though the New Deal’s initiatives did not always work, FDR’s program was a psychological and political success. It restored hope to a battered nation. Mr. Sternsher’s focus is not on Washington, D.C., but on what was happening at the local level across a vast and diverse nation—how people responded in Providence and Atlanta, Minneapolis and Hermosa Beach. These snapshots provide a much different composite portrait of the nation than an exclusively “top-down” view. They reveal the influence of local politics on the success of New Deal measures; the often surprising relations between various levels of governmental administration; the disregard for matters of ideology; and the varieties of experience under the New Deal. Like Mr. Stersher’s earlier book, Hitting Home: The Great Depression in Town and Country, this one describes the workings of the New Deal on a scale we can all comprehend.
1100066977
Hope Restored: How the New Deal Worked in Town and Country
In the suffering and poverty of the Great Depression, American morale received a shock as powerful as the economic collapse. Many Americans who had nurtured a deep faith in democracy, hard work, and a free economy suddenly found themselves questioning their system. Others feared that in combating the Depression, democracy might give way to the totalitarianism of the left or right. In Hope Restored, Bernard Sternsher has assembled fourteen writings by historians that show how, even though the New Deal’s initiatives did not always work, FDR’s program was a psychological and political success. It restored hope to a battered nation. Mr. Sternsher’s focus is not on Washington, D.C., but on what was happening at the local level across a vast and diverse nation—how people responded in Providence and Atlanta, Minneapolis and Hermosa Beach. These snapshots provide a much different composite portrait of the nation than an exclusively “top-down” view. They reveal the influence of local politics on the success of New Deal measures; the often surprising relations between various levels of governmental administration; the disregard for matters of ideology; and the varieties of experience under the New Deal. Like Mr. Stersher’s earlier book, Hitting Home: The Great Depression in Town and Country, this one describes the workings of the New Deal on a scale we can all comprehend.
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Hope Restored: How the New Deal Worked in Town and Country

Hope Restored: How the New Deal Worked in Town and Country

by Bernard Sternsher
Hope Restored: How the New Deal Worked in Town and Country

Hope Restored: How the New Deal Worked in Town and Country

by Bernard Sternsher

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Overview

In the suffering and poverty of the Great Depression, American morale received a shock as powerful as the economic collapse. Many Americans who had nurtured a deep faith in democracy, hard work, and a free economy suddenly found themselves questioning their system. Others feared that in combating the Depression, democracy might give way to the totalitarianism of the left or right. In Hope Restored, Bernard Sternsher has assembled fourteen writings by historians that show how, even though the New Deal’s initiatives did not always work, FDR’s program was a psychological and political success. It restored hope to a battered nation. Mr. Sternsher’s focus is not on Washington, D.C., but on what was happening at the local level across a vast and diverse nation—how people responded in Providence and Atlanta, Minneapolis and Hermosa Beach. These snapshots provide a much different composite portrait of the nation than an exclusively “top-down” view. They reveal the influence of local politics on the success of New Deal measures; the often surprising relations between various levels of governmental administration; the disregard for matters of ideology; and the varieties of experience under the New Deal. Like Mr. Stersher’s earlier book, Hitting Home: The Great Depression in Town and Country, this one describes the workings of the New Deal on a scale we can all comprehend.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781566630030
Publisher: Dee, Ivan R. Publisher
Publication date: 03/24/1999
Pages: 256
Product dimensions: 5.60(w) x 8.36(h) x 0.78(d)

About the Author

Bernard Sternsher is Distinguished University Professor of History at Bowling Green State University; among his many books are the award-winning Rexford Tugwell and the New Deal and Hitting Home: The Great Depression in Town and Country. Judith Sealander is Professor of History at Wright State University and author of As Minority Becomes Majority.

Table of Contents

Introduction1
1.Atlanta, Georgia7
The New Deal in Atlanta: A Review of the Major Programs
2.Mobile County, Alabama32
The Civilian Conservation Corps in Mobile County, Alabama
3.Pocatello, Idaho41
The New Deal in Pocatello
4.Providence, Rhode Island57
Impoverished Politics: The New Deal's Impact on City Government in Providence, Rhode Island
5.Flint, Michigan74
Flint and the Great Depression
6.Grand Forks County, North Dakota85
The Civil Works Administration in Grand Forks County, North Dakota
7.Tampa, Florida99
The PWA in Tampa: A Case Study
8.Key West, Florida115
"State of Emergency": Key West in the Great Depression
9.Memphis, Tennessee131
The Persistence of the Past: Memphis in the Great Depression
10.Minneapolis, Minnesota161
Politics and Relief in Minneapolis During the 1930s
11.Houston, Texas182
"Heavenly Houston" or "Hellish Houston"? Black Unemployment and Relief Efforts, 1929-1936
12.Hermosa Beach, California196
"The N.Y.A. at the Sea-Side": A New Deal Episode
13.Hillsborough County, Florida207
Stitching and Striking: WPA Sewing Rooms and the 1937 Relief Strike in Hillsborough County
14.Dawson County, Nebraska221
Dawson County Responds to the New Deal, 1933-1940
Selected Bibliography243

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