Hey guys! It’s Mallory with JSK Stories and I’m here to help you see the stories in History. I teach you about Historical moments so that you can write about them in a way that’s fun and engaging, helping all of us to explore history at a deeper level and discover and tell untold stories.
Today we are going to be talking about The Great Depression.
The Great Depression was an economic crash that lasted from 1929-1939. Basically, what that means, is that there was a drastic crash in the stock market which caused severe unemployment in almost every country in the world.
At one point, almost 25% of US Citizens were unemployed during the Great Depression.
People who were super rich became super poor, even living on the streets, and many people in the middle class were in the same boat. Even if people weren’t unemployed, they may have faced major pay cuts or changes in employment.
While there are many factors that played a part in the Great Depression and a lot we could talk about, I really want you guys to focus on the individuals that may have been affected during this time, because that’s where the stories are.
One man in Particular, Robert Card, shares this experience. He said he set out for college with one suit, one necktie, one pair of shoes and $30 borrowed from a bank. (CNN)
Can you imagine leaving for college with so little?
Harry Terrell’s family lost their Iowa farm to foreclosure. Farming had become so difficult that one county near his home burned corn to heat the courthouse because it was cheaper than coal. (cnn)
His life was flipped upside down.
Diana Morgan was a pampered Southern belle in a small North Carolina town who knew nothing about the struggles of the black cooks and maids who served her family. She was forced to scrounge for a job after her family lost their cotton fortune
She learned a lot throughout the trials of the time. She continued to help black families and people in poverty because of what her and her family went through.
Feel totally free to research a bit more about specific people who lived at this time, but don’t be afraid to make up a fictional character based off the time period.
A businessman who was just fired from his job.
A child who doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from.
A woman taking up side jobs to try and help make ends meet.
Or perhaps you think on a more global scale.
Leaders of different countries gathering together to talk about how to handle this crisis.
A booming railroad business that completely falls apart.
How loved ones may have supported each other at the time.
What’s fascinating is that stories we can tell about the Great Depression are totally applicable to what’s going on today. With the COVID-19 crisis, there has been an economic crash and many people have lost work.
You can use history and find stories that relate to what’s going on in the world today, and people will naturally be drawn into those stories purely because it’s relatable.
You can tell people’s stories through history, helping them to feel validated and heard. For example, you might feel this way listening to music, like “Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo.
Even though you aren’t Olivia, you might be going through something similar with someone you like. We can create that same feeling in playwriting.
So what would that look like with the Great Depression and the current pandemic?
Well, for example, in the Great Depression many people were laid off suddenly. So what if you wrote a story about a family during the Great Depression in which the father is laid off suddenly and is at home all the time, and he is in search of a job.
Many people went through something similar during the pandemic, and would relate strongly to this story.
Even though these two events have differences and were hard in different ways, you can still create relatability.
Having said that, let’s get writing.
Our writing prompt for this week is:
You are walking down the street of New York City in 1929 during the beginnings of the Great Depression. What do you see? How do people look? How do the buildings look? Describe what you see.
You can go anywhere with this! It can be a description that turns into a story, or the background of the world you are creating for a story set in this time. Send me what you come up with with the link in the description below. See you later!