In this issue: A Federal Writers' Project Podcast; Basil Smikle talks with William Harris about the Foundations of the Civil Rights Movement; Author Debra Bruno and A Hudson Valley Reckoning; Author Katherine Carter and Churchill's Citadel; Why The New Deal Matters with Eric Rauchway; Navy Day and #TheArtOfWar; Art of the New Deal.
A National Podcast on the 1930s Federal Writers' Project: what it achieved, where it fell short, and what it means for Americans today (www.peoplesrecorder.info). This conversation will center on Season 1, which takes listeners on a ride across the country with people on the frontlines of “holding up a mirror to America,” and will feature a short excerpt.
COMING SOON
Conversation Rebroadcast
Foundations of a Movement: Black Americans, Civil Rights, and The Roosevelts
At the annual Paul M. Sparrow Lecture, Basil Smikle examines the Roosevelt-era foundations of the Civil Rights Movement with FDR Library Director William Harris.
Conversation and Book Signing
A Hudson Valley Reckoning: Discovering the Forgotten History of Slaveholding in My Dutch American Family
with Debra Bruno
Wednesday, November 13
6pm ET
Henry A. Wallace Center
Free public event. Registration is required. CLICK HEREto register.
AHudson Valley Reckoning tells the long-ignored story of slavery's history in upstate New York as Debra Bruno uncovers her Dutch ancestors' slave-holding past and finds a deep connection with the descendants of the enslaved people her family owned.
Conversation and Book Signing
Churchill's Citadel: Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm
with Katherine Carter
Tuesday, November 19
6pm ET
Henry A. Wallace Center
Free public event. Registration is required. CLICK HEREto register.
In the 1930s, Winston Churchill found himself out of government and with little power. In these years, Chartwell, his country home in Kent, became the headquarters of his campaign against Nazi Germany. He invited trusted advisors and informants, including Albert Einstein and T. E. Lawrence, to strengthen his hand as he worked to sound the alarm at the prospect of war.
The mission of the Living New Deal is three-fold: research, presentation and education. FDR Library Acting Director William Harris leads the discussion with Richard Walker, the Director of the Living New Deal Project.
(Originally broadcast May 11, 2022; 48:37 minutes)
A color poster commemorating Navy Day in 1941. The poster features an illustration of a fleet of U.S. Navy vessels in open waters, led by a Navy destroyer at the forefront and reads: In the air, on the surface, and under the sea, the Navy maintains the traditions on which it was founded. It will ever be Our First Line of Defense.
FDR's New Deal provided federally-funded jobs for millions of unemployed Americans during the Great Depression. These included jobs for tens of thousands musicians, actors, dancers, writers, photographers, painters, and sculptors. Asked why the government should provide jobs for unemployed artists, New Deal administrator Harry Hopkins replied, "Hell, they've got to eat just like other people."
"Whatever our individual circumstances or opportunities, we are all in it, and our spirit is good... and do not let anyone tell you anything different." FDR, Oct 12, 1942, fireside chat.
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