A New Deal for South Dakota: Drought, Depression, and Relief 1920-1941

by R. Alton Lee

Overview

In South Dakota, drought, grasshoppers, and low commodity prices were the final blows in a long economic slump that culminated in the Great Depression and brought the state of its knees. Many residents fled; other held on with the aid of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, administered by politicians like the colorful Democratic governor Tom Berry. At the height of the depression, New Deal projects supported nearly half of South Dakota's entire population. The built landscape and economic underpinnings of present-day South Dakota are direct legacies of this era. Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration projects expanded the state's infrastructure with dams, civic facilities, and highways that are still used today. Other programs offered additional opportunities for young people, women, and minorities. The state's modern political culture also harkens back to the Great Depression, as South Dakotans rejected their short-lived Democratic government and entrusted the administration of the New Deal to Republican lawmakers such as Governor Leslie Jensen. The story is one of desperate times, intense rivalries, and rare moments of cooperation as a devastated Plains state fought to keep its head above water. Author R. Alton Lee examines the New Deal's effect on families, farmers, miners, youth, women, American Indians, and others. He evaluates south Dakota's efforts to avoid both starvation and federal dependence as its people endured the worst natural and economic disaster of modern times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781941813119
Publisher:	South Dakota State Historical Society
Publication date:	09/29/2016
Sales rank:	641,324
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Before the New Deal 3

2 The New Deal Comes to South Dakota and the Nation 26

3 Work for the Unemployed, Food for the Hungry 45

4 Building Public Projects: The PWA and the CCC 74

5 Berry's Second Term and the Second New Deal 92

6 A New Deal for Minorities and Youth 124

7 Developing the Black Hills 149

8 Republicans Administer the WPA in South Dakota 164

9 The Third New Deal and the Preparation for War 196

Conclusion 216

Afterthoughts 222

Notes 227

Bibliography 253

Index 261