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How Did Women Suffer In The Great Depression ?
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When the economy already failed, the stock market crashed 1929. Businesses and banks failed; workers lost their jobs and homes. In Arkansas, women struggled to survive, during this economic disaster. The depression affected women directly and indirectly.
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Married women faced discrimination and public resentment because they thought women are taking jobs away from men. The charitable organizations and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal government programs helped Arkansans. In 1935, Arkansas became the first southern state to fill all its Works Progress Administration slots for women.
Arkansas women did more than just seek help during the Depression. Mrs. Leona Marks sponsored health class in Stuttgart taught by Mrs. Belle Barnett. Other women sponsored WPA projects provided jobs for female applicants. Women grew gardens and canned food. Some worked outside the home as well. These were the women who were behind the volumes of ex-slave interviews who crossed lines, broke the walls that separated her from men and from African Americans.
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