Great Depression in Minnesota and BemidjiNick Emanuel, Colin Shinabargar, Zane Den Ouden, Adam McCullough, Pete Phillips & Evan Haglund

National Causes

∙       Overproduction and Under-consumption-        Dust Bowl-        Factories

∙       Mishandling of money by banks∙       Large gap between classes

WPA• The Works Progress

Administration was a program of the new deal.

• It employed unemployed people on public work projects.

• At its peak, it employed around three million men

• Area of interest for WPA improvement were: Schools, Parks, and Highways.

Education• In 1940, a new high

school auditorium was built.

• In 1940, a new gymnasium was built for Bemidji State University.

• Highways of main concern were school bus routes.

Parks• In April of 1935, there were 60 men employed at

Diamond Point Park.• Hospital Park (George T. Baker Park) had dramatic

improvement as a result of the WPA

Highways• One of the earliest

projects found, 1934, employed 44 men, and redid a highway near Nymore.

In 1935, 200 men were employed throughout the county on road

improvement projects.

Minnesota in the Depression

• The local economy took a hit just as the rest of the nation in the 1930’s.

• U.S. unemployment rose to 10.5 million in 1931.

• 10,000 families in Minneapolis area were on government Poor Relief aid.

• MN businesses, like national businesses, overproduced in the 1920’s which affected the economy in the 1930’s.

Working Through the Depression

• By 1932 up to 70% of the state’s Iron-Range workers were unemployed.

• The production outputs of all goods dropped to 63% of that in 1929.

• 5-10% of the population in Beltrami, Cass, Hennepin, and Hubbard counties were on some form of state or national relief funding. (Less than 2.5% in most other counties.)

Live in Beltrami County

• By 1932, average farm income fell to $304 per year. Less than 1/3 than that of 1929.

• The farming industry in Minnesota was depleted all through the 20’s, took a great hit with droughts of Great Plains in the 30’s.

• Shipping agriculture and livestock became too expensive to be productive for local farmers.Local farmers faced foreclosure, but the Farmers’ Holiday Association marched on the capitol to stop foreclosure and sale/auction of equipment and land.

Poor Relief Funds• State Employment Relief Agency estimated 200,000 MN

families needed relief.• In 14 months, $22.9 million was earned by unemployed on

51.3 million hours of work provided by SERA.• Relief fund distribution methods were inefficient in rural areas.

Local voters were asked to weigh in on proposal to change from 5 county commissioners/distributors to a system of nearly 200 employees.

• Locals were scared that change would be worse, and eventually take much needed money out of their pockets.

Different New Deal programs

• Civilian Conservation Corps• Civil Works Administration• Farm Security Administration• Federal Emergency Relief Administration• Federal Housing Administration• Federal Security Agency• Home Owner’s Loan Corporation• Public Works Administration• Social Security Act• Works Progress Administration

Civil Works Administration 1933 - 1934• A short term agency established by the Federal

Emergency Relief Administration.

• The idea was that providing jobs rather than cash payments would create more self esteem for the workers.

• Provided temporary jobs directly to unemployed workers.

• Focused on local based projects.

• Replaced with the WPA.

Public Works Administration

• 1933 - 1943

• Focused on large scale projects rather than smaller community projects.

• The PWA would hire out project contracts to private firms who hired their own workers to fill positions and thus did not hire unemployed workers directly like the WPA.

Public Works Administration

Minneapolis Armory Upper Mississippi River Dam Winona

Pine City Hall

Works Progress Administration 1935

• Replacement to the CWA

• Became one of the largest new deal program

• Focused on smaller community projects thoughlarge projects were also accomplished.

• Projects included building roads, bridges,Schools, and even in producing artwork andOther forms of media.

• Almost every community in Minnesota was impacted by a project from the WPA.

WPA

Lac qui Parle Dam Watson MN Minnesota Machinery Museum

WPA Projects in Bemidji

• Viaduct on Irvine Avenue (pictured right)

• Minnesota forestry Department buildings

• Park improvement

• Erosion control of lakeshore

• Improvements at Diamond Point park

• County highway Garage (pictured right)

Civilian Conservation Corps 1933• Designed for young unmarried, unemployed men

• Goal was to provide relief to the family's of these men who had trouble finding work themselves.

• Focused on outdoor, natural projects

• Members would live at camps made around the areas they were working at.

• They were paid $30 a month of which $25 went to theirparents

Camp Rabideau

• Located in the Chippewa National Forest in northern Minnesota

• Projects included road construction, erosion control, wildlife protection, park maintenance and planting trees to name a few.

The Scale of the Great Depression

• The Depression was signified by a massive decline in United States economic output.

• Worse still International Trade Evaporated as Well.

The Scale of the Great Depression

• This led to massive unemployment at the national level.

• It should be noted that Minnesota’s unemployment was comparable, at least in 1932.

A Human Face on the Depression• M.A. Rognlien, of Wilton, Minnesota, was the owner of the

Wilton Lumber Company and also owned a General Merchandise store.

• In 1927 his net worth was $136,420.35 or in 2013 money $1,833,468.50.

• All totaled his, ‘liquid’ assets were $75,276.86 or over 51% of his wealth.

• In the same year, his business was running a net profit (profit minus expenses) of $6,801.12 or $91,393.61 in 2013 dollars.

• What’s more, his 1924 labor costs were $15,195.93 or $207,880.33 2013 dollars.

• In short, Rognlien was a highly profitable Northern Minnesota businessman.

A Human Face on the Depression

• In 1944, M.A. Rognlien’s net worth was $99,235.42 or the equivalent of $1,319,831.09 in 2013. This marks a decline of about 28% from pre-Depression wealth. Remember this number even comes during the heart of the WWII economic boom.

• 1931, was a particularly hard year. He lost about $16,098.88 ($247,761.76 in 2013) or 13% of his wealth, including $3,346.41($51,499.71 in 2013) in a run on the bank in Trail, Minnesota.

• His ‘liquid’ assets had decreased to about 10% of his wealth.

• His business endeavors had all failed. Still, he seems to have survived the Depression wealthy, but what about his employees?

Runs on the Bank were all too common during the Depression. On March 5, 1933 President Roosevelt even ordered the closure of every bank in America to prevent more banks from collapsing.

This is an example of an advertisement designed is the account statement, proclaiming its financial health, of the bank printed in the Bemidji Pioneer early July, 1934.

Relief for Farmers• During World War I, US agriculture expanded rapidly to fit

the demands of the army and the allies. This led to massive overproduction in the post war period, especially with the recovery of Europe. The Great Depression started very early for farmers.

• Still, in 1929 the price of a bushel of wheat was $1.09, in 1930 it fell to $0.71 per bushel. A decline of some 35%.

• Worse the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 (increasing the duties on imports from 19.86% to 33.62%) caused reciprocal tariffs that eliminated the foreign market for US agricultural products.

• As shown earlier, the purchasing power of farmers had declined by half since the middle 1920s.

Northern Minnesota Agriculture• The price of agricultural products in Bemidji, Minnesota,

like national agricultural prices, declined sharply from 1929 to 1933.

• In 1929 a dozen eggs were sold for $0.50 or $0.40, depending on size. By 1931 the same dozen eggs would cost $0.10 or $0.08. Even in 1938 the prices hadn’t returned to pre-Depression levels, $0.15 or $0.11 a dozen.

• The fall off was less dramatic in the price of ‘heavy’ hens from $0.19 in 1929, $0.10 in 1931, and $0.16 in 1938.

• Cattle fell from $9.00 in 1929 to $5.75 in 1931, and $7.25 in 1938.

The AAA• The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 was a new deal program

designed to address the situation of US farmers.• It’s approach to the problem was two-fold: 1st Raise the price on

agricultural goods by reducing supply. 2nd A resettlement program to improve the lot of farmers on marginal land and to decrease the tax burden from isolated farmers.

• To reduce the supply of agricultural produce, the AAA paid farmers not to plant crops. 10,400,000 acres were removed from cotton production and 7,595,000 acres were removed from wheat production. • Importantly for Northern Minnesota, since it accounted for 43% of all farming

income in the region, dairy farming was not initially included in this program.

• However, the program was only modestly successful at first: the price of a bushel of wheat was increased only to $0.74 a bushel in 1934. The total purchasing power of farmers only increased to 59% in 1934, compared with 53% in 1933.

The AAA continued• Northern Minnesota was especially impacted by the Resettlement

program.• Central to this was the Beltrami Island Project, some 400,000

acres in Lake of the Woods, Roseau, and northern Beltrami counties.

• Part of the reason that this area was chosen was because of the marginal farm land it contained, but also because it was drain of the state of about $25,000 per year. More benefits than taxes to pay for them.

• The Grubstake plan, would have the state buy land from the families at market rate and then offer the farmers loans to buy better lands. • This was not a give away, it often entailed the farmers take on debt to

improved their future prospects. In fact the average price paid to farmers on marginal land was between $1.25 to $3.00 per acre. While the cost of the more productive land was usually priced between $5 and $10 per acre.

• By 1938 over 100,000 acres of land had been purchased and some 200 families had been relocated.

Reflections of Life In Bemidji

Using the Local Resources

Reflections of Life in Bemidji

Tell it like it was

Works Cited• “Many new miles of highway will be added” The Bemidji Daily Pioneer. Friday, June 16th 1933. Pg. 9 BSU

Library Database• “Work projects improvements here reviewed” The Bemidji Sentinel, December 31st, 1937 BSU Library

Database• “WPA Workers petition for change” Northland Times, May 12th, 1939. Cover Highway project will start

Monday employing 44 men” The Bemidji daily pioneer. April 1934 BSU Microfilm• Amadeo, Kimberly. "The Great Depression of 1929." About.com. About.com, 17 Dec. 2010. Web. 22 Oct.

2013. <http://useconomy.about.com/od/grossdomesticproduct/p/1929_Depression.htm>. About.com• "The Depression." Minneapolis Tribune [Minneapolis] 21 Oct. 1979: 4. Print. Beltrami County Archives• Wilson, A. D. (November, 1938, Vol. 14, No. 4 ). Settler Relocation: A Description of the Minnesota Plan.

The Journal of Land & Public Utility Economics, 402-416. Primary source from JSTOR library database.• (1979, October 21). Minneapolis Tribune, pp. 4-6. Primary source from the Historical Society.• A Minnesota Depression Scrapbook. (n.d.). Primary source from the Historical Society. Author and

publishing date was unknown for this pamphlet.• (1932, November 3). Bemidji Pioneer, Relief Vote, pp. 6. Primary source from Microfilm room.• Lord, Lewis. "A Winter That `Chilled like the World's End.'" U.S. News & World Report 20 Jan. 2003: 12.

Print. BSU Library Database• Rosenberg, Jennifer. "The Great Depression." About.com. About.com, 17 Dec. 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.

<http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/p/greatdepression.htm> BSU Library Database• "Social and Cultural Effects of the Depression." U.S. History. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.

<http://www.ushistory.org/us/48e.asp>. BSU Library Database• HAROLD L ICKES, Public Works Administrator and Secretary of, the Interior. "THE PUBLIC WORKS

DRIVE: A SURVEY BY ICKES." New York Times (1923-Current file) Sep 24 1933: 1. ProQuest. 20 Nov. 2013 ProQuest

• Hoyum, Wanda. "Camp Rabideau - Civilian Conservation Corps." (1996) Print. Beltrami County Historical Society Archives

Works Cited• Hacker, Louis M. A Short History of the New Deal. New York, F.S. Crofts & Co., 1934. BSU Library

Database• Record, Norman K. A Popular History of Minnesota. Saint Paul, MN, Minnesota Historical Society: 2005.

BSU Library Database• Wilson, A. (1938). Settler Relocation: A Description of the Minnesota Plan. The Journal of Land & Public

Utility Economics Vol.14, 402-416. BSU Library Database• My Minnesota. (2008, Spring). Minnesota History, 60(1), 4-11. doi:10.2307/20188648 BSU Library

Database• 487-08, S-1289, Tax Returns & Statements, 1930s-1952, Wilton Lumber Company, Beltrami County

Historical Society. Bemidji, Minnesota accessed October 24th. Beltrami County Historical Society• Bemidji Daily Pioneer: Multiple dates. BSU Microfilm• Bogue, Donald J., and Beale, Calvin L. Economic Areas of the United States. New York. BSU Circulation• Free Press of Glencoe, Inc. 1961. BSU Microfilm Room• Mitchell, Broadus. Depression Decade: From New Era Through New Deal 1929-1941. New York, Rinehart

& Company, Inc. 1947. BSU Database• Dearing, Charles L., Homan, Paul T., Lorwin, Lewis L., and Lyon, Leverett S. The ABC of the NRA.

Washington D.C., The Brookings Institution, 1934 JESTOR• Ellis, N. (2008, November 27). Survivor Stories of the Great Depression. Retrieved from National Public

Radio.com: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97468008 BSU Database• Berger, G. (Producer), & Berger, G. (Director). (2009). Bemidji: Between the Wars, 1918-1941 [Motion

Picture]. Bemidji State University Library. doi:F 614.B4.B465 2009 Source from BSU library• Tax Returns and Statements. (1930s-1952). Wilton Lumber Company. Id# 487-08, Series # S-1289.

Bemidji, MN: Beltrami County Historical Society. Retrieved October 29, 2013 Primary Source from Beltrami County Historical Society

• McKeig, Cecelia Wattles. Bemidji. Charleston: Arcadia, 2013. Print. BSU circulation• "States and Cities: Minnesota." Living New Deal. Living New Deal, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. BSU

Database• By, a. W. W. "I AM ON THE WPA"." New York Times (1923-Current file): 142. Nov 27 1938. ProQuest.

Web. 30 Oct. 2013. BSU Database