Social Education
Volume 60 Number 5
September 1996

A New Deal for America

Guest Editors John F. Sears and Fred Crouch

The New Deal: An Overview
Alan Brinkley
To pull the whole country out of the Great Depression, the Roosevelt Administration forged a new role for government.

An Informal Supper With FDR
Robert Hopkins
For one private, a pass home meant a visit to the White House, where his father lived and worked as Roosevelt’s advisor. Robert Hopkins recalls an evening with FDR on the brink of Pearl Harbor.

Labor Comes into Its Own
Edmund F. Wehrle
The New Deal offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for labor organizations.

The Politics of Polio
Hugh Gallagher
How could FDR’s paralysis remain such a well-kept secret during a Presidency that lasted more than twelve years? A complex set of deceptions made the President appear able-bodied.

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Cries For Help from Depression Youth
Robert Cohen
Numerous children and teenagers were convinced that Eleanor Roosevelt was on their side because of her involvement in youth and relief issues.

Public Works: The Legacy of the New Deal
Howard Rosen
Roosevelt’s public works programs put millions of the desperate unemployed to work, and built America’s modern infrastructure.

Roosevelt’s Army of Community Service Workers
Sherry Field
Home front classrooms during World War II were a model of community service efforts.

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Wartime Campaign Against Jim Crow
Allida M. Black
Undaunted by fear of controversy, the First Lady took bold stands for racial justice.

The Safford, Arizona, Murals of Seymour Fogel:
A Study in Artistic Controversy
Jared A. Fogel and Robert L. Stevens
The aim of Federal arts programs was to inspire Americans to a new vision of the future. But when Seymour Fogel included Native Americans in his mural for the Safford, Arizona post office, he was greeted by an outburst of prejudice.

Teaching Ideas

A North Dakota New Deal
Rachel Yarnell Thompson
Two veterans of New Deal jobs programs remember what it meant to have a friend in Washington.

Primary Source Teaching Segments: “To Mrs. Roosevelt, who ‘Looks for the Poor” and “To FDR: the CCC ‘Is a Vain Effort to Placate Youth”
Robert Cohen
Letters written to FDR and the First Lady are ideal classroom focal points.


Depicting Disability: The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
C. Todd Stephenson
The issue of whether to depict FDR’s disability in the Roosevelt Memorial can stimulate avid debates.

Instructional Technology: Internet

The New Deal Network
Thomas Thurston
The launch of a major Internet site on the New Deal is scheduled this October.

Resources

Resources for Teaching the Roosevelt Era
John F. Sears and Fred Crouch
There is an abundance of useful books, teacher kits, videos, and CD-ROMs on the Roosevelt era.

Articles

Conflict Between Law and Religion: A Peaceful Solution for the Teaching of December Holidays
Arthur Gross Schaefer and Michelle Britton Bass
Practical guidelines are presented for dealing with this sensitive issue.

Point of View

Rx for Social Studies
Ron Wheeler
Thanks to technology, teaching students to analyze data well is no longer just a dream.