Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man

by Robert S. McElvaine (Editor)

Down and Out in the Great Depression is a moving, revealing collection of letters by the forgotten men, women, and children who suffered through one of the greatest periods of hardship in American history. Sifting through some 15,000 letters from government and private sources, Robert McElvaine has culled nearly 200 communications that best show the problems, thoughts, and emotions of ordinary people during this time.

Unlike views of Depression life "from the bottom up" that rely on recollections recorded several decades later, this book captures the daily anguish of people during the thirties. It puts the reader in direct contact with Depression victims, evoking a feeling of what it was like to live through this disaster.

Following Franklin D. Roosevelt's inauguration, both the number of letters received by the White House and the percentage of them coming from the poor were unprecedented. The average number of daily communications jumped to between 5,000 and 8,000, a trend that continued throughout the Rosevelt administration. The White House staff for answering such letters--most of which were directed to FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt, or Harry Hopkins--quickly grew from one person to fifty.

Mainly because of his radio talks, many felt they knew the president personally and could confide in him. They viewed the Roosevelts as parent figures, offering solace, help, and protection. Roosevelt himself valued the letters, perceiving them as a way to gauge public sentiment. The writers came from a number of different groups--middle-class people, blacks, rural residents, the elderly, and children. Their letters display emotional reactions to the Depression--despair, cynicism, and anger--and attitudes toward relief.

In his extensive introduction, McElvaine sets the stage for the letters, discussing their significance and some of the themes that emerge from them. By preserving their original spelling, syntax, grammar, and capitalization, he conveys their full flavor.

The Depression was far more than an economic collapse. It was the major personal event in the lives of tens of millions of Americans. McElvaine shows that, contrary to popular belief, many sufferers were not passive victims of history. Rather, he says, they were "also actors and, to an extent, playwrights, producers, and directors as well," taking an active role in trying to deal with their plight and solve their problems.

For this twenty-fifth anniversary edition, McElvaine provides a new foreword recounting the history of the book, its impact on the historiography of the Depression, and its continued importance today.

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Down and Out in the Great Depression is a moving, revealing collection of letters by the forgotten men, women, and children who suffered through one of the greatest periods of hardship in American history. Mainly because of his radio talks, thousands felt they knew President Franklin Roosevelt personally and could confide in him about their troubles. Sifting through some 15,000 letters from government and private sources, Robert McElvaine has culled nearly 200 examples that best show the problems, thoughts, and emotions of ordinary people during this time. For this twenty-fifth anniversary edition, McElvaine provides a new foreword recounting the history of the book, its impact on the historiography of the Depression, and its continued importance today.
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Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Historical

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Robert S. McElvaine is Elizabeth Chisholm Professor of Arts and Letters and Chair of the Department of History at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.

Reviews

[Leslie]

Read this book and you will start bawling like a little girl and become as depressed as a teenager. Go ahead. I dare you !!

[Skipr]

These letters are a treasure. From less than 100 years ago, some of them made me realize just how different Americans were then, and others could have been written today. Many are heart wrenching. The agony of a mother pleading with the President of the United States to please loan her some money, because her family has nothing to eat and is about to be thrown out on the street—it hurts to read it. It's also awkward to read many of the letters because of the naïveté of the writers; they really did think that the President and his wife might send them some of the Roosevelt's hand-me-down clothes. There's also anger, ignorance, exasperation, desperation, and bigotry on full display. Definitely a worthwhile read.

[James]

Down and Out in the Great Depression, compiled by Robert S. McElvaine, is a collection of ordinary people from all walks of life who wrote letters to President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the long desperate decade of the 1930s. The letters are divided up into sections, such as critics, people begging for relief, rebelliousness, cynics, children, elderly, african-americans, etc. What is really striking is a lot of the letters from very poor people are often very crudely written with pretty bad grammar and spelling, and they tended to be the ones demanding the most action, whether it be handouts or SOMETHING. Oftentimes, they do the old "if only the King knew" routine, where they write to complain to the President or Eleonor Roosevelt about how a local administrator is screwing with them even if they totally believe in the New Deal. On the other hand, the letters with perfect grammar and well written are usually done by well-to-do conservative critics who wish the lazy undeserving poor would stop begging and start working, who they blame for being shiftless instead of a huge lack of jobs in the era. The economic disparities are just really striking, which means that many of the gaps between rich and poor were pre-existing to the Depression, especially around access to basic education.

A lot of the letters are heartbreaking stories of desperateness, where the writers beg the President or Mrs. Roosevelt to send a spare coat or hope that they can give a personal loan. Others complain about how little the New Deal relief was and how the rent was still due even when no jobs could be had. While it may have been nice to put the letters in chronological order to see if there were any patterns, the thematic version probably is better. It seemed like the bulk were in the mid-1930s, as they didn't really talk about the late 1930s rising CIO movement or even the coming of the Second World War. The letters very much focused on bread and butter issues, or lack thereof. 

Of course, the highly educated professionals who rip the unemployed for being lazy or blame minorities/reds were just laughably out of touch, except that sentiment never seemed to have gone away. I'm reminded of It Could Happen Here, or the very real Business Plot, that could have sent the United States down the path of fascism to meet the long emergency. It seems like the New Deal didn't go far enough, and indeed, the massive government  war spending which absolutely dwarfed the New Deal programs were the only thing that got the US out of the Depression.

[Henry]

- Debt is a very common theme: people were heavily leveraged (most often home mortgages) with very little rainy day fund. And when the economic is bad, many people are loosing their homes along with their financial and personal health

- Most of the pains occurred around 1935-1936 - about full 6 years after the initial shock of the stock crash

- At first, people blamed "rich people" and "wall street"

- Not all were happy with relief program: many believed at the time that others weren't worthy of relief while "taxpayers are facing ever increasing burden"

- Starvation as well as lack of clothing was the common theme

- Unfairness or inequality was also a common complaint

- Anti immigrants (namely the "Italians, Spanish and Jews") was brewing in the background as well, often from the conservative arena

- A rather common theme of the poor writers are, they usually have a lot of children - high single digits to low double digits.

- The New Deal while gave hope to the majority, it wasn't universal: the extreme of liberal and many conservatives disliked the new deal

[Julie]

Letters from average Americans during the Great Depression of the 1930's written to Pres. and Mrs. Roosevelt and other government leaders. Surprisingly, the attitudes and problems endured are not uncommon of what struggling Americans face today. A must read. It sheds light on the fact that the poor are NOT to blame for their circumstances. Things happened in their lives that were beyond their control. The same negative attitudes expressed by the wealthy and the Republican voter are sadly the same today as they were in the 1930s.

[Dianne Oliver]

Not a bad way to recalibrate.
This is relatively recent history, our parents being raised at this time. Each of these letters opens a vault of humanity and understanding that I could learn from, and I feel it has served me well to attempt to do so. The great respect I have always felt for their tenacity, strength and wisdom, only grows.

[Erin]

A little hard to read in a day when people (including myself) are struggling with low income and high rent. But important to realize not only could it be way worse, a reminder to not let it happen again.

[lukas]

veľmi pekná zbierka prameňov

[Kristine Lenda]

Full disclosure: I may not have gotten the full impact this book had to offer as I rushed through it for an exam paper.

The being said this book was such a great insight into the lives of the Americans during the great Depression. Which was a great help during the writing process. The whole thing with the letters was so interesting as well!

[Jennifer]

One of the best books you can read to understand what daily life was like for many Americans during the Great Depression. The letters themselves are moving and interesting; the larger picture, though - that hundreds of thousands of letters just like these were written to FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt - is even more amazing. The fact that citizens felt they could share their stories and plight with the President and First Lady, speaks volumes about how these public figures were perceived. A very interesting perspective on a time that shaped this country.

[MaryBeth]

I can't believe that President Roosevelt was THE President who received the most letters while in office. What i find even more fascinating is that his cabinet personally responded to almost all letters. What is even more fascinating is that this was during the Great Depression and the majority of the letters were to thank him during such a time of tragedy and despair.

Ok so I didn't finish reading this one....it was too depressing.

[Alyssa Fayer]

A primary source good when talking about the Great Depression and Hoovervilles that some secondary sources leave out. Some stories just grab your heart. All letter to President Roosevelt and his wife, some asking for ice-skates for the winter, others for mom to get a new dress. Sweet letters, very honest.

[Helen Stout]

I really enjoyed reading this book to my son and it allowed him to learn about the Great Depression from some of those individuals who lived through it. I strongly recommend this book to any reader.

[Julia]

Another history book that you might initially think would be a boring read, but that is really fascinating, wonderful, and revealing.

[Magen Zawko]

A great account of history.

[Beth Sholtis]

Real letters from real people; not exactly what I was looking for but poignant.

[Brannigan]

A great collection of letters written by a wide range of social and economical points of view about their experiences during the Great Depression.