The Great Depression In Iowa

The Great Depression was the longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. In the United States, the Great Depression wiped out millions of investors and American spending which resulted in high rates of unemployment and crime. Most historians consider the stock market crash of 1929 to be the start of the Great Depression; however, in the state of Iowa, the Great Depression started years before the stock market crash. The depression effected Iowan families with high unemployment rates and low income, but through the rough times, families were able to overcome the depression with great sacrifices and compromises.
The start of the Great Depression for Iowa started soon after the First World War. During
World War 1, European countries were facing food shortages and demand for food was high and prices rose drastically. Farmers worked diligently to produce food for soldiers. Farmers borrowed money from local banks to buy more land, equipment, and livestock to supply for the high demand. When crop and livestock prices dropped, they worked even harder to produce more yields to have a sufficient income to care for their family and pay off taxes and debts. Then when the stock market crash of 1929 happened, farmers could not pay loans back to the banks which resulted in bankruptcy. This was the start of the longest-lasting economic downturn in American history.
The first apparent impact the Great Depression had on the Iowans was unemployment.
Because the demand for food was high, farmers worked hard expanding farms and buying supplies. Farmers produced food at extreme levels that surplus appeared. As a result, crop prices dropped dramatically because there was no demand for food. Farmers who had borrowed money from local banks could not pay off their loans. Most had to sell their farm, but the money they received in return was still less than what they owed. In an attempt to save families’ farms, in 1933, the Iowa State Legislature passed a foreclose moratorium law that kept banks from foreclosing farms unable to cover their mortgages. Local businesses in Iowa experienced the wrath of the depression also. Businesses began selling less than what they had been producing. The only solution businesses had was to cut back production, which led to laying off workers. The businesses who survived the depression were the ones able to adjust to the new living conditions. Bill Nusser, resident in Iowa City, Iowa, is the current owner of Hands Jewelers; Hands Jewelers is one the few businesses that survived during the Great Depression. He believes that his grandfather’s generosity allowed the store to survive during the depression. Nusser said that his grandfather used to accept chickens as a substitute for money because it was all people had to offer. Nusser also says that, “Everyone was willing to give whatever they had to keep everyone alive. Other Iowan cities were adjusting to the effects of the depression also. In Dubuque, Iowa 2,200 workers lost their job in a six-year span and only 13 new businesses opened. In 1931, Dubuque’s railroads employed 600 workers; only 25 employees remained three short years later. In an attempt to help the unemployed, the Dubuque City Council authorized public work improvement projects to provide labor. On a national level, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration created the Civil Works
Administration, a short-lived job creation program for the millions unemployed. For Dubuque, the CWA program constructed public buildings such as schools which allowed the few families to send their kids to school.
Because of the high unemployment percentage, money was scant for families. Many families went on the government welfare program. With a limited amount of money, living conditions significantly changed. Town families could not produce their own food, so the government set up food drives. The Civilian Conservation Corps hired teenage boys for labor. Most of the boys willingly agreed to work because the CCC gave clothes and free meals to the boys. as well as a small salary. The salary the boys earned was sent back home to help their family. For farmers who were fortunate to have their farm, gaining an income off the farm was non-existent because of the selling prices. The cost of growing corn averaged 35% more than the income, and later the average rose to over 50%. In 1932 farm prices fell to an all-time low. Corn sold for eight cents a bushel, pork at three cents a pound, and eggs at ten cents a dozen making it impossible for a steady income. However, families who owned a farm were better off than city folks. Farming families had the benefit of raising their own vegetables and fruits, if they did not burn, and grinding corn for cornmeal. Many also used corn as a source of heat since coal cost too much. The mothers sewed dresses, shirts, pants out of flour sacks for the children.
The Great Depression was a time period that most today never want to experience again. But, for the millions who faced the depression every single day for ten years, it was just another obstacle in life. Neither unemployment nor low-income rates inhibited families from living life. As Dorothy Smith, a 96-year-old resident in Iowa City, Iowa, said, “We never felt poor. It was the Great Depression, but we did not talk about it, we just lived it.”