The Facts: The Great Depression and Memories of the Era

by Elizabeth Larkin (written as the granddaughter of Jean Louise Finch, Anna Finch)



Beginning in 1929, the Great Depression was an economic downfall experienced worldwide. Industrialized countries such as the United States and the European nations were hit the hardest because of their manufacturing power in comparison with the rest of the world. Because of the Great Depression, unemployment rose to an all-time high with the halting of factories that kept many families clothed and fed. The worth of the United States economy was seriously doubted by manufacturers who refused to hire workers for a goods market that had suddenly disappeared. This time of economic downfall was possibly one of the worst moments in U.S history for several reasons.

One of the most widely-known causes for the Great Depression is the stock market crash, which occurred in October of 1929. The Dow-Jones stock market lost over five hundred points in a single day, affecting not only America, but countries all over, as one of the economic staples of the world declined at a rapid pace. As the value of different stocks on the Dow decreased, investors sunk into debt, changing the economic value of goods (such as crops). Deflation occurred, the worth of currency and products decreased as more money was printed and put into circulation. Even though the effects of the Great Depression were nation-wide, the Southern United States were affected even more; the south held most of the United States's farms.

In a detached town such as Maycomb, Alabama, the Depression must have seemed slightly out of reach, as if you had read a book but didn't remember all the details. Obviously, the larger parts of Alabama, such as Montgomery, were affected because of it's farm land, but because of it's small size, Maycomb remained inconspicuous in regards to the econonmic strife happening all around it. By reading the accounts of my grandmother, Jean Louise Finch, I inferred that life in Maycomb had a specific order to it, different from the large and bustling cities around it. Everyone had a place in the town, unfairly determined by the wealth of your previous ancestors that continued for generations; rich families remained rich, and poor families stayed poor. Most jobs kept within families and the tight- knit community did not suffer much of a downfall. However, this only seemed to apply to the white residents of the town. From the way my grandmother described the "negro" area of Maycomb, it sounded as if the black community was a bit worse off than the white community. It was mostly black workers who culled the land of white farmers, and when work opportunities began to vanish with the onset of Depression, the men and women who had once worked the farms fell onto hard times. In addition, whenever a crime was committed in Maycomb, as rare as that was, it was often a black person who suffered the blame. For example, my great- grandfather, Atticus Finch defended a black man, Tom Robinson who had been accused of a horrible crime. Clearly the disdainful view of my grandmother's neighbors towards the black famalies of Maycomb didn't help the situation much, but it was the most that could be expected of them in such an ignorant time as the 1930's.