Young Historians: February 3

The Young Historians are now up to 1934 in our history timeline. This was the first full year of being President for Franklin Roosevelt. He passed many laws to help ease the problems of the depression.

The combination of high winds and no rain created major problems in the middle of the country. The wind carried the topsoil off the land. In Washington D.C., Congress had Texas soil on their office windows. The center of the country became known as “the dust bowl.” Without the soil and rain, it is hard to grow food. People were starving.

While life wasn’t easy for people in Cavendish, they could still grow vegetables and hunt. President Roosevelt passed a law so farmers did not have to worry so much about the banks taking away their land if they were unable to pay their bills.

1934 was the year Shirley Temple starred in “Bright Eyes,” the film we watched a few weeks ago.

This week we will continue with the rag rug project and for those finished with their rugs, they can work on figures for our 1930s Center Road School project.

1934 History Timeline

Movies: The Thin Man with William Powell and Myrna Loy; Babes in Toyland with Laurel and Hardy Watch the previews for Babes in Toyland

Songs: Moonglow; The Good Ship Lollipop; Inka-Dinka Do; Good Night Irene; Night and Day by Fred Astair; Babes in Toyland with Laurel and Hardy

Books: Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton; Tender is the Night by F.Scott Fitzgerald; Murder in Three Acts by Agatha Christie; The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain. The 1930’s were considered the “golden age” of the mystery novel.

January
• President Roosevelt signs the Farm Mortgage Refinancing Act to help farmers pay their mortgages with easier credit terms.

February
• Congress passes Civil Works Emergency Relief Act, allotting new funds for Federal Emergency Relief Administration to run new programs of civil works and direct relief.

March
• Walt Disney wins an Academy Award for the cartoon Three Little Pigs
• First Annual Master Golf Tournament is held in Augusta Georgia
• Henry Ford restores $5.00 per day minimum wage. Note: Today’s minimum wage is more than $5 an hour.

April
• President Roosevelt signs Home Owners Loan Act to encourage the building of new homes
• The NHL Stanley Cup is won by Chicago Black Hawks, who beat the Detroit Red Wings 3 to 1
• Shirley Temple appears in her first movie “Bright Eyes” and sings “On the Good Ship Lollipop.” Note: We watched the video “Bright Eyes” several weeks ago.

May
• Bill Cummings wins the Indianapolis 500 with an average speed of 104.86 miles per hour.
• A severe dust storm blows much of the topsoil of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Colorado to the east coast. People in Washington D. C. found the dirt on their window sills.
• Drought is the worst ever in US history, covering more than 75% of the country and affecting 27 states severely

June
• President Roosevelt signs the Federal Farm Bankruptcy Act stopping the foreclosures of farms.
• National Housing Administration is established
• Securities and Exchange Commission established
• Roosevelt signs the Taylor Grazing Act, which allows him to take up to 140 million acres of federally-owned land out of the public domain and establish grazing districts that will be carefully monitored. One of many New Deal efforts to heal the damage done to the land by overuse, the program stops the problem but cannot undo the damage that has already been done.

July
• Babe Ruth hits 700th home run.
• American League wins 2nd annual all star baseball game.
• Joe Louis wins first professional fight
• First general strike in US history takes place in San Francisco in support of striking members of International Longshoreman’s Association

August
• Alcatraz prison opens in San Francisco Bay. Until 1937, prisoners were not allowed to talk
• The comic strip Li’l Abner, by Al Capp appears for the first time

October
• World Series won by St. Louis Cardinals
• Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to two scientists for their treatment to cure anemia

December
• New York Giants win NFL championship
• The Yearbook for Agriculture for 1934 states that approximately 35 million acres of formerly cultivated land have been destroyed for crop production; 100 million acres now in crops have lost all or most of the topsoil; 125 million acres of land now in crops are rapidly losing topsoil.

To learn more about 1934, go to http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s2/Time/1934/1934fr.html