During the time of the Great Depression, many Americans were suffering due to lack of money and food. The stock market crash of 1929 hurt many a man's pocket and shattered many dreams. Hope still lingered and families who were not as fortunate dealt with what they had and dreamed of better times to come. Gertrude A. Young, my grandmother, is a living witness of the unbearable economical situation that dominated in the late 1920's and early 1930's. Her story is revealed here. It is commonly familiar to many others that lived through this disastrous time as well.
Linsey Garrant
The Depression was a serious time in history that was filled with great sorrow and poverty. My family was fortunate enough to have survived. My father was a very wealthy man. He owned four restaurants that served liquor, and in that day liquor was very valuable to have around. However, my father died before I was born, leaving my mother with four sons, a daughter on the way, and a lawyer that would soon take all he had ever worked for. I was raised by my brothers and lived a very sheltered and protected life. They were the workers of the house and their ample income was what kept the home together. I never really understood what the Depression was all about because my brothers kept it from me. As much as they tried to keep me naive of the situation, I couldn't help but notice the poverty that lurked throughout the city. My family didn't own a home, but the apartment that we stayed in was suitable enough for the time being. We weren't on the streets, so that's all that mattered. Many families didn't even have that. You would often see young, hungry families living on the streets and scraping for all they could get. Friends of my mother also lost everything due to bad stock investments, which consequently ended in the crash anyway. Everyone was hurting, but my brothers continued to work harder to keep our family alive.
I do recall an incident which happened in 1933. I voluntarily collected my brothers' wages and put them in their savings account for them. The day before the Moratorium, which was a closing of all banks in the country, I deposited money for my brothers and the next day all their hard earned money was only worth 10% of its original value. All anybody had ever saved or invested in the banks was now instantly worth nothing. The economy was horrible and instead of getting better, it became worse. Again I can't really say I was a product of the immense poverty, but I did see it and my family did experience it to some degree. We were among the lucky to have had four incomes in one family, at a time when one was basically unheard of. We may have been in an even worse position than I can imagine, but my brothers worked hard to give me the necessities that I would need to survive. And truthfully when you have food, clothing and a loving family, money has no value anyway.
Gertrude Young
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