New Jersey in the Great Depression (1929-41)
M. Wasserman
Office: Van Dyck 106
Telephone: 732-932-6735 (O)
732-572-6553 (H)
Fax: 732-932-6763
Email: [email protected]
Office hours: Monday: 11:15 am-12:00 pm; Thursday: 2:30-3:30 pm
and by Appointment
Class Requirements.
Students will write a 25-35-page research paper based on primary source materials, such as newspapers, private papers, diaries, government documents, and oral interviews. They shall choose a county, town or city in New Jersey (many students elect to study their hometowns) as their subject. I expect students to investigate in municipal archives where they are available.
We are interested in the impact of the Great Depression on the local level. Students might explore such topics as how the depression affected daily life, how local governments helped the unemployed and the poor, how people’s attitudes toward government changed, how municipal governments and individuals interacted with the state and federal governments, and how the incursion of the federal government affected people’s notions of citizenship. They also might investigate how the depression affected different segments of the population, different types of businesses, and gender relations.
Please note that class attendance is mandatory. It is especially important that students communicate regularly with me about the progress of their papers. We should discuss any problems as soon as possible so as not to create any last minute obstacles to the completion of your project.
Your grade will depend primarily on your finished paper. The course, however, also requires five short (two-page) papers, class participation, and two oral presentations.
This research project can be enormously interesting and, believe it or not, a great deal of fun. Discovering new historical sources, poking around in old archives, reading yellowed manuscripts, and talking with old-timers are the historian’s trade. But like anything else, the project is what you make of it.
GOOD LUCK !!!!!
M. Wasserman
506:402.06
Wednesday, 1:10-4:10 pm.
Scott 215
January 18 INTRODUCTION; Lecture: The Origins of the Great Depression
January 25 Lecture: The Depression in World Context; PAPER TOPICS, PRELIMINARY OUTLINES, PLAN FOR RESEARCH, FIRST PARAGRAPHS
READ: McElvaine, The Great Depression
FILM: The Road to Rock Bottom (60)
February 1 Lecture: The Depression in the United States
READ: McElvaine, The Great Depression
WRITE: McElvaine, The Great Depression, TWO-PAGE PAPER; INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATIONS
FILM: Breadline 1929 (56)
February 8 Lecture: The Depression at the Grass Roots
READ: Stock, Main Street in Crisis
WRITE: Stock, Main Street in Crisis, TWO-PAGE PAPER; INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATIONS
FILM: We Have a Plan (60)
February 15 Lecture: The Depression at the Grass Roots
READ: Lowitt and Beasly, One Third of a Nation
WRITE: Lowitt and Beasly, One-Third of a Nation, TWO-PAGE PAPER; OUTLINES DUE, REVISED RESEARCH PLAN
FILM: The Great Depression and the New Deal (60)
February 22 Lecture: New Jersey in the Depression; INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATIONS
READ: Sternsher, Hitting Home
WRITE: Sternsher, Hitting Home, TWO_PAGE PAPER
FILM: Mean Things Are Happening (60)
New Jersey in the Great Depression (cont.)
March 1 Lecture: New Jersey in the Depression
READ, Hyland, River Rats
WRITE: Hyland, River Rats, TWO-PAGE PAPER
FIRST DRAFTS DUE. The drafts do not have to be full-length (10-15 pages is sufficient). Students should leave annotated spaces indicating future additional materials. Include scholarly apparatus, such as notes and bibliography.
March 8 INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATIONS ABOUT FIRST DRAFTS.
By appointment.
March 15 SPRING BREAK
March 22 CLASS PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH AND THEMATIC PROBLEMS. 5-10 minutes each.
March 29 SECOND DRAFTS DUE. Include notes.
APRIL 5 INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATIONS ABOUT SECOND DRAFTS
By appointment.
APRIL 12 INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATIONS, IF NEEDED. By appointment.
APRIL 19 CLASS PRESENTATIONS. 10-15 minutes
New Jersey in the Great Depression (1929-41)
M. Wasserman
Spring 2006
READING:
McElvaine, Robert S. The Great Depression. NY: Times Books, 1984.
Hyland, Alison. River Rats: Growing Up on the Raritan River. NY: Writers’ Club Press, 2000.
Lowitt, Richard and Beasley, Maurine, eds. One Third of a Nation: Loretta Hickok Reports on the Great Depression. Chicago; University of Illinois Press, 2000.
Sternsher, Bernard, ed. Hitting Home: The Great Depression in Town and Country.
Revised Edition. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2000.
APPROVED 5707 NEW JERSEY TRADEMARK COUNTERFEITING ACT (NJSA 2C2132C)
ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS (BOVINE SEMEN) (AMENDMENT) (JERSEY)
ASSEMBLY CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO 173 STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Tags: wasserman, depression, jersey, great, (192941)