Hard Times An Oral History Of The Great Depression

The United States of America was the richest nation in the world before the stock market plummeted and led to the crash (Arbios, The Great Depression). Unfortunately, the crash created upheaval and left many Americans destitute throughout the time of the Great Depression. Studs Terkel’s Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression recounts the experiences of many different individuals living through the Great Depression. The point of this documentation is to show that people lived through different perspectives and lives during the time period depending on their social class. The Great Depression was transformational: "Hundreds of thousands of people took to the road in search of work. Hungry men and women lined the streets of major

Terkel argued that this time of history should not be viewed from one lens but through the lens of many. There are various aspects to consider and it was not all misery, as the experiences of Jose Yglesias and David Kennedy illustrate.
Jose Yglesias was from Ybor City, a mostly Cuban town. His family was Cuban and Spanish and part of the working class. During the time of the Great Depression, Yglesias was in school but his family and most of the people in his community worked at cigar factories (Terkel, Pg. 109). He experienced many worker strikes that occurred, recalling that most of their efforts were lost, and even that some of the events that took place, “left a psychological scar on me” (Terkel, Pg. 110). After many of the strikes had been lost, the workers never let their spirits die. Yglesias recalls that workers would walk out on days when the tobacco was fresh, costing manufacturers to lose a fortune (Terkel, Pg. 111). Yglesias also explained how the KKK would forcefully break up meetings of radical talk or unions in the town (Terkel, Pg. 111).

For example, David Kennedy was a member of the Federal Reserve Board, working closely with the bank systems, and knew of many processes involving bank failures. He was also white and a member of the upper class in society (Terkel, Pg. 272). One of the many aspects that led to the Great Depression was the economic failure and stock market crash. These events, in turn, led to widespread panic among American depositors who decided to withdraw money from their banks, resulting in major shutdowns. Kendall recalls working closely with the bank system, dealing with major stresses as more and more banks could not stay open. He recounts the day President Roosevelt stepped in to declare a National Bank Holiday, explaining that it was the most dramatic event in the history of finance (Terkel, Pg. 272). This was happening all over America, and as panic spread across the country, 1,352 banks failed (Arbios, The Great Depression). The Great Depression disrupted the upper class differently, Kennedy was promised a raise but instead, he faced a large salary cut because of a freeze put in place by the government (Terkel, Pg. 273). Fortunately, Kennedy was still able to keep his job while many members of the lower class were not as lucky. Many individuals lost their life savings along with their jobs (GML, Pg. 816). The events that Kennedy dealt with were very different from Yglesias, but that is not to say that