Assignment 3 Rough Draft

It's really rough, but here's my draft for paper 3--

            The explosion of new popular media in the 1920’s and thirties allowed Americans everywhere to partake in the rapidly developing mass culture.  Paintings, photographs, murals, and films all helped to establish common experiences, which defined a unified idea of the American way of life. The American way of life was one in which an American would temporarily suspend his individuality to become ‘just another cog in the machine.’ In doing so, he betters his lot, the lot of his fellow countrymen, and perpetuates the idea of an American way of life founded on common experience and commitment to something larger than the individual. This could take the form of working for the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration, the Tennessee Valley Authority, or just settling into the anonymity of a movie theater along with sixty million of your fellow Americans; either way, in joining a group, the individual is helping to “reinforce a social order rapidly disintegrating under economic and social pressures” (Susman 1).

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an ardent supporter of the idea that everyday Americans should commit themselves to something larger than themselves so that they may help the United States recover economically, socially, and psychologically. In his speech to the members of the Commonwealth Club in California, Roosevelt proclaims that the times and circumstances in which the country found itself are cause for “man to stop and think of the deeper meaning of things, when he stands in this community” (Roosevelt 2). Here it is clear that Roosevelt wants Americans to pause in their pursuit of individual gain and consider doing good for themselves and for the community as a whole. Roosevelt also praises those in his audience who “are thinking…beyond their own personal interests” (2). Roosevelt believes that these are the people who are truly living an American lifestyle—taking care of their own affairs, but simultaneously mindful of the state of things beyond their own interests.  Invoking the establishment of representative democracy, Roosevelt again calls for Americans to move beyond “[conduct] for the benefit of the few” (3), and reminds Americans of our common heritage, which ultimately ties us into a larger sense of American identity.

Roosevelt’s New Deal programs enabled Americans to cast aside their individualistic tendencies, recommit to common ideals, and offered them the opportunity to be involved in group work that would not only benefit themselves, but all of the United States. In tough times, it is easy to retreat into one’s own world and forsake everyone else. Roosevelt did not see this as an option and so established the Public Works Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, and Tennessee Valley Authority—examples of programs that Roosevelt created in order to promote and enact his belief that Americans must be willing to—at least momentarily—shed their individualism and become a cog in the machine. Roosevelt saw this as the only way in which American society could be saved by the turmoil wrought by the economic crisis. These programs provided jobs to the unemployed and immense benefits to those for whom the projects were completed; most importantly, however, they gave the young men who partook a sense of collective purpose and identity that tied them into what it meant to be an American.

The murals subsidized by the federal government focus on the themes that Roosevelt eschewed: unity, cooperation, common goals, and shared experiences. One such mural, “Development of the Land,” is a perfect manifestation of such ideas. When looking at the mural, the first thing to draw attention is the huge man located on the left of the mural. He is racially ambiguous, and because he is neither clearly black nor clearly white, any man looking at the mural can imagine himself in that place. The man’s face is also very poorly defined, further allowing an individual to put himself in his place, and underscoring the importance of suspending one’s individuality to work cooperatively for the greater good. This underscores Roosevelt’s message of collectivism, that New Deal projects are for everyone, by everyone. The farmer’s size is also important to note; being greater than any one man, the viewer gets the sense that he symbolizes the group—a unit larger than any single component.

In the back right-hand corner of the mural, three men are helping logs downriver. These men, much like their larger counterpart, are of indistinguishable race and identity. This again emphasizes the idea of becoming a cog in the machine largely lacking identity. Anyone could imagine themselves doing this group work.

The nature of the work that the men are doing is also important to note. Roosevelt placed great emphasis on doing work that not only benefits the laborer, but that benefits the rest of the country as well. The jobs depicted in this mural here are of enormous value not only to those laboring, but also to those on the receiving end of the supply chain. Although there were many non-agricultural New Deal jobs available, the ideas of an American way of life—hard work and giving to a larger cause—are portrayed via the farmer and lumberjacks. Both are labor-intensive jobs that provide compensation not only to the laborer but to America as a whole.

“Development of the Land” is a successful piece of visual culture because of the various American ideals it portrays; the indeterminate nature of the workers allows for an interpretation that anyone can partake if they just join in the collective American experience, and the nature of the work portrayed hits home the idea that the American way of life is one in which people work hard and work together to bring profit not only to themselves, but to Americans everywhere.

 Another important government sponsored mural is “Industrial Life,” by Seymour Fogel. Just like “Development of the Land,” “Industrial Life” portrays several young men doing various jobs, likely under the auspices of a New Deal program. As with the other New Deal mural, several of these young men are racially ambiguous and have obstructed or ill-defined faces. The mural was likely painted this way so that just as before, any man could see this mural and imagine himself in any of their places. The work featured in the mural is varied, running the gamut from manual labor to what seems to be chemistry, all important to promoting the greater good of the United States.

In the mid- and background of the mural, a man is operating a machine comprised of two large cogs; his rigidity and obscured face give the impression that he is a part of the machine that he operates. This plays into Roosevelt’s belief that Americans must forego their senses of individuality in pursuit of worthwhile work for the betterment of the American people.

The murals painted in the time of the New Deal provided not only jobs to the unemployed, but also acted as a kind of propaganda. The murals depicted Americans and American life as Franklin Delano Roosevelt envisioned it: the average American commits himself to something greater, sacrificing his individual identity in the process so that he may better his lot, and that of his countrymen. The ambiguous characters and type of work featured in these murals promoted these ideals and helped in the economic and psychological recovery of the United States.

Essay #2--Making Cultural Claims In Turn of the Century America

Looked down upon and barred from fully participating in society, African Americans living in turn of the century America had to develop a way to work within the white dominated social system while maintaining and evolving their own culture.  African Americans and their allies were able to counter the demeaning signification of the times and establish themselves as fully American by changing the literature, music, goods and ideas that as a group they produced and therefore consumed; this in turn helped to change the assumptions that the majority white society held with regards to the African American population.

African Americans of the time period seized upon the idea of ‘democratization of consumption’; that is, they were emboldened to partake in the consumption but also saw and quasi-emulated what it was that the majority was consuming.  Harlem became “the pulse of the Negro world” and acted as a mecca of black culture from which African American culture poured (Locke, par. 23).

White Americans at the turn of the century would have subscribed to and read newspapers and magazines, presumably some so that they would seem worldly, especially in contrast to the supposedly unintelligent and unsophisticated African American minority. Attempting to combat misperceptions and raise their intellectual and cultural stock in the eyes of the white majority, African Americans living in Harlem began publishing an international newspaper written in several different languages.  This newspaper ran for over five years and was proof to the white majority that white claims on intellectual curiosity and capability were not unassailable, and that the African American community could not be so readily discounted.   Two major national magazines were edited in Harlem, lending further credence to the African American assertion that blacks were every bit as intellectual and aware as their white counterparts.  In producing and consuming these major news sources, African Americans gained intellectual territory that whites had unilaterally claimed, and showed themselves to be on par with the white majority.

Music offered African Americans another opportunity to show themselves to be sophisticated, talented Americans of equal value to the white majority.  James Reese Europe of the 369^th US Army Regiment and his Clef Club Orchestra were wildly popular and provided entertainment not only to white Americans but to white Europeans as well.  The widespread success of the band showed African American society to be innovative and equal, not a cultural backwater.  The mass consumption of the music amongst the white majority ensured that it would continue and constantly be perfected by the African American musicians who honed the genre.  Although jazz was viewed as unrestrained and almost primitive, its broad appeal put African Americans on the same level—and quite possibly ahead—of their white counterparts in this aspect of culture.

African Americans forced themselves upon white society with regards to consumer goods; if producing such models of culture as jazz would not allow African Americans entrance into mainstream society, then they would emulate what they believed white society was and what white society wanted. The size and opportunity of the African American consumer market could not be denied in the same way that their assertions of equality were.  As a result, of the three niche markets that were present in the early cosmetics industry, one—the ‘ethnic’ market—was dedicated to African American consumers (Peiss, 373).  As cosmetics took hold over the imaginations and purses of white American women, African American women wanted to be a part of what they perceived as an opportunity to make cultural claims for themselves and put themselves on equal footing with the white majority. The ‘ethnic’ market consumed large amounts of skin bleachers and other various cosmetic products in an attempt to assimilate into white society. In becoming more like those denigrated them, African American women hoped to move beyond being second-class citizens. African American entrepreneurs such as Madame C.J. Walker were able to bring themselves to a level of society that few white Americans achieved, and in doing so made a major claim for African Americans as equal to their white counterparts; such success clearly negated any assertion that African Americans were any less capable than white Americans.  The consumption of upper-class clothing was also an attempt at asserting African American cultural and social equality. James Van Der Zee’s Harlem photography depicts African American families impeccably dressed and partaking in what may be considered ‘white’ and ‘upper-class’ activities such as going to a salon or playing or listening to the piano. Again, African American families here tried to include themselves in the activities of the ‘dominant’ white culture.

The single most effective manner of establishing equality and making cultural claims was through the production and consumption of news ideas and theories on the part of the African American community. Writers and thinkers such as Alain Locke developed the idea of the “new negro,” an African American archetype who rejected the “historical fiction…[and] shadows” of the past (Locke, 1). This group sought to make a clean break with the past stereotypes and expectations of African Americans, and to prove that modern day African Americans should be treated as social and cultural equals. Widespread consumption of the ideas that came out of this movement was the most important factor in making and backing up claims for equality because it showed that African Americans were capable of articulating their grievances, were able to spot white-perceived faults, and were willing to take action to correct and disprove these supposed flaws in their culture and very beings. African Americans also made claims for full ‘Americanship’ by not only mentally and emotionally distancing themselves from the past, but by doing so physically as well. The diaspora of African Americans out of the South and into the North and Midwest in search of jobs helped to break the white impression of the African American as a Southern cultural and intellectual child. African Americans took jobs in white-dominated fields such as the army, and in doing so showed themselves willing and capable of doing the same work as white Americans.

In developing a vibrant culture that both borrowed from white culture and innovated, African Americans in turn of the century America tried to reject white American assertions that they were not fully American, but were rather intellectually and culturally at the same level of development as white Americans. In the ‘democracy of consumption,’ African Americans could partake in the same activities and buy the same goods as white Americans, in some cases improving upon what the white Americans developed. Where the ‘democracy of consumption’ failed to be inclusive, African Americans developed different aspects of their own culture, creating such popular cultural touchstones as jazz. Although the democratic nature of consumption in turn of the century America did not immediately yield fruit in regards to equal rights, it allowed African Americans to further develop their own culture alongside that of white America’s, which would eventually lead to full legal, social, and cultural equality.