18. Women and the Great Depression
The Great Depression brought a new era of economic reform headed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Although these reforms mainly helped men who were unemployed, leaving women to fight for themselves. Women entered new job forces and faced struggles men didn't have. They were expected to maintain their houses and families but also work in offices, while not taking away from a man's chance to provide for his family.
How to cite this source?
Remedial Herstory Project Editors. "18. WOMEN AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION." The Remedial Herstory Project. November 1, 2025. www.remedialherstory.com.
In the years between World War I and World War II, the entire world suffered through one of the greatest economic disasters of the 20th century: The Great Depression. In the United States, this period of uncertainty would prompt some of the greatest attempts on the part of the federal government to provide economic relief to its citizens. However, gender ideologies deeply impacted how that relief was carried out.
On October 29, 1929, later referred to as “Black Tuesday,” the stock market crashed. Within hours, billions of dollars of market value disappeared. The US, and the rest of the world, found itself in the midst of one of the greatest economic catastrophes in modern history. After Black Tuesday came years of hard times for the United States, but the country hit its low point between 1932 and 1933. Unemployment reached 25%. President Hoover’s belief that private charity would be enough to meet the crisis and his reluctance to have the federal government provide direct relief led to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s landslide victory in the 1932 election. Struggling Americans were about to see more federal action.
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Roosevelt’s Brain Trust
President Roosevelt did not have a plan to tackle the Depression when he was elected to office, but he filled his cabinet with a variety of progressives--also known as FDR’s “Brain Trust”--who he believed would help shape an effective policy--including the first woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet: Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor.
Perkins was a labor rights activist who had previously volunteered at Chicago’s Hull House and served as head of the New York office of the National Consumers’ League. The Depression’s impact on Americans’ everyday lives cannot be overstated. Because of the ultra-high unemployment rates, most Americans found themselves out of work or underemployed. But for women? The Depression’s effects were compounded by existing gender ideologies.
Most women felt increased family pressures as they tried to make due with reduced income. Furthermore, many women who were immigrants, Black, or simply lower class, already worked for wages outside the home. Aside from that, most women still had their childrearing household obligations, and many of the opportunities that the federal government offered to aid American citizens were closed off to them. Regardless, many women’s ability to earn a wage--in whatever capacity they could--was often essential to helping their families get through this challenging time.
In his first 100 days in office, FDR’s priority was to confront the banking crisis. But his actions in this arena weren’t enough. Congress had to pass laws and create agencies to stimulate the economy, build infrastructure, put Americans to work, and boost morale. His critics were scathing in their reviews.
New Deal or Raw Deal
Most Americans are familiar with some of these “Alphabet Agencies,” like the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), the PWA (Public Works Administration), and the WPA (Works Progress Administration). These agencies were critically important to stabilizing the economy, but many explicitly excluded women.
The CCC, one of the most well-known, and well-studied agencies of the New Deal, only hired young men between the ages of 17 and 23. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was a little more lax--but they still almost exclusively hired men. Because of existing gender ideologies, women’s roles were mostly limited to those of housewife and mother. Consequently, those in positions of power didn’t really consider women in an economic recovery package, and many of the New Deal programs were not initially directed at them. Many in government assumed women would receive supports through federal programs that helped their husbands or fathers. Women as wage earners in their own right were largely ignored by New Deal programs.
This ‘raw deal’ also extended to Indigenous women as, when the US Department of the Interior created the Indian Division of the Civilian Conservation Corps, women were again excluded. Moreover, while the Indian Division of the CCC was unique insofar as it employed both single and married men over the age of eighteen without any upper limit—it employed more than 85,000 by some estimates—women were ignored despite the fact that amongst many Indigenous cultures, they traditionally worked in the fields whilst farming and/or gathering, joined men on hunts, etc. In short, the exclusion of Indigenous women was a continuation of the American government’s policy of both explicit and implicit gendered assimilation.
Some women did get to take advantage of New Deal programs--mostly via the Works Progress Administration. Some of the best-known WPA projects were federal artistic projects like theater, music, dance, murals, and historical or tourist guidebooks. However, even at the program’s peak, women only represented about 14% of WPA employees.
Generally, women were limited to jobs that fit within existing gender ideologies. They were considered unsuitable for physically-demanding jobs like heavy construction. In Federal Emergency Relief Administration (or FERA) Camps, women’s work included canning foods, sewing, producing clothes and mattresses, or working as housekeeping aides for families in need of additional help. Of course, these gender limitations on women were compounded with racial stereotypes. For example, most of the FERA employees who worked as housekeeping aides were African American women.
It’s difficult to measure the New Deal’s impact on women, when--essentially--the New Deal wasn’t written for them, or designed with them in mind. Between 1932 and 1937, there were laws against more than one person per married couple working for the federal civil service. Since the National Recovery Administration set lower minimum wages for women than men performing the same jobs it rarely made sense for women to keep their jobs over their husbands’ higher paying work.
Women working in the sewing room for the WPA (New Deal), Public Domain
“Pin-Money” Workers
How did the first female presidential cabinet member, Frances Perkins, feel about this?
Well, it’s complicated. Surprisingly, Perkins shared some of the same anti-work for women views as many of her male colleagues--particularly for married women. At one point, she even said: “the woman ‘pin-money worker’ who competes with the necessity worker is a menace to society, a selfish, shortsighted creature, who ought to be ashamed of herself.”
While Perkins’ statement might sound like an indictment against women workers, she was mostly opposed to married women who held jobs. Perkins also said:
“I am not willing to encourage those who are under no economic necessities to compete with their charm and education, their superior advantages, against the working girl who has only her two hands.”
Basically Perkins believed if women were married, ideally, they wouldn’t need to work. Their husbands should provide for them. However, if women were alone, they needed the ability to earn a decent living to protect themselves.
Perkins certainly wasn’t the only one displeased with working women. The targeting of women workers was broad scapegoating. Traditionally “women’s jobs” were less connected to the stock market, and less affected by its crash, than, say coal mining or manufacturing. So while many men were losing their jobs, women in some “women’s industries” simply weren’t! This point was lost on many, though. Journalist Norman Cousins once wrote, “Simply fire the women, who shouldn’t be working anyway, and hire the men. Presto! No unemployment. No relief rolls. No Depression.” Cousins’ short-sighted comment ignored that a coal miner or steel worker couldn’t (or wouldn’t) exactly fit the job requirements of a clerical worker or nurse.
The New Deal’s effect on women cannot just be determined by job quotas or gendered minimum wages. The Social Security Act--one of the landmark pieces of New Deal legislation--and the Fair Labor Standards Act did not initially even cover sectors of employment where women were disproportionately represented: agricultural work and domestic service. Furthermore, women who were not dependent on men got fewer Social Security benefits. This weird program structure seemed to suggest women deserved economic rights only in relation to men. They were often forced to take on more central roles within their homes and families--playing unrecognized roles in helping the country through the Great Depression. Or, they were working for less money than male peers and possibly being despised just for having jobs at all. Although the Depression was a time for many strong women to step up to the plate in their homes and workplaces, ultimately, the Depression did not subvert traditional gender roles--it reinforced them.
Frances Perkins, Public Domain
It’s Up to Women
However, in 1933, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote It’s Up to the Women. This was really the first time a first lady took action to speak on a current crisis. Women were rarely in positions of power to speak out, so Eleanor Roosevelt’s actions were quite modern and reshaped our expectations for White House First Ladies.
In It’s Up to the Women, Roosevelt provided a handbook for women during the Great Depression. It was inspirational at times, but mostly, it was practical. It provided inexpensive meal plans, recipes, instructions, and most importantly put forward the idea that women did have power to shape their homes and their destinies. She believed these trying times would help women forge strong character. She wrote, “The women know that life must go on and that the needs of life must be met and it is their courage and determination which, time and again, have pulled us through worse crises than the present one.”
It’s important to remember, as we’ve already touched on, women’s experiences of this hard time varied greatly based on many factors. Women’s age, marital status, geographic location, race, and ethnicity all affected how complicated a woman’s chance at surviving difficult Depression circumstances were. For example, an urban housewife with electricity and running water might have been struggling, but she arguably still had an easier time than a similarly struggling rural woman who also had to deal with the lack of these conveniences.
The typical married woman in the 1930s had a husband who was still employed, but who likely took a pay cut or reduced hours to keep his job. If he had lost his job, often the family had enough resources to survive without going on relief or losing all their possessions. Nearly every woman, rich or poor, faced a reduction in income.
"The executive commitee of the American Federation of Labor." Public Domain
Women and the Black Economy
For some women, though, this reduction of income and the effects of the Depression were more extreme than others. Many Black Americans experienced the Depression differently than white people. Many were already struggling under the yoke of discrimination and prejudice. Even before Black Tuesday, Black Americans had way fewer job options than white people. Many Black men worked in service industries that were particularly susceptible to difficult economic times. Chauffeurs, gardeners, and Pullman Porters were often some of the first to lose their jobs when their employers faced a reduction in income. Times were already hard, but then they became harder.
Charlotta Bass was born in Sumter, South Carolina in 1874. In 1910, she moved to Los Angeles, California where she became the owner of the California Eagle, a Los Angeles-based newspaper for L.A.’s growing African American community. She became a prominent figure in the community and organized a campaign to promote Black employment. By urging her readers to only shop at places that hire Black employees, she sought to reinvigorate the Black economy in Los Angeles.
Her efforts were mirrored in other communities with large African American populations. These movements did make change, but overall, Black Americans still had an unemployment rate that was twice that of white Americans, while simultaneously benefiting less from government relief and public works projects than their white counterparts–many of the alphabet agencies we discussed implemented racial quotas that mirrored the racial proportions of the population. The CCC, for example, limited Black workers to a maximum of 10% of the labor force.
Meanwhile, President Roosevelt was at least attempting to improve Black rights in the US. He himself hired Black Americans and placed critics of segregation, disenfranchisement, and lynching in key positions in his administration. One of these additions was Mary McLeoud Bethune. Bethune was born in South Carolina to former enslaved persons and eventually became one of the most well known educators and civil rights leaders of the 20th century. Servicing as Roosevelt’s advisor on minority affairs, Bethune’s appointment was a major step for Black women.
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Charlotta Bass, Public Domain
The Migrant Mother
Farm families also struggled beyond the typical American family with declining agricultural prices, foreclosures, and drought. Their plight became visible to the rest of Americans through photographer Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother.”In 1936, Lange was hired by the Farm Security Administration (FSA) to photograph migrant workers to raise awareness and urge the federal government to provide them with aid. Lange went to Nipomo, California where she encountered Florence Owens Thompson, the subject of the famous photograph.
While Roosevelt envisioned the New Deal as a broad support package to help as many Americans as possible, there were limits. Ultimately, cultural norms about race and gender shaped legislation. The ideal of a male-headed household certainly shaped policy and resulted in few women being covered by things like Social Security on their own.
However, the New Deal brought some progress to women. More women earned government positions than in any previous administration, and the First Lady used her power to push for reform in civil rights and labor laws. But on the flip side, there was no organized feminist movement in the 1930s, and the many calls for women--particularly married women--to exit the work force were anti-feminist.
Aside from Lange’s “Migrant Mother,” another iconic image from the Depression is the newly unemployed, downwardly mobile, breadline-waiting “Forgotten Man.” In hindsight it’s difficult to understand how most folks could look at this photo and feel empathy, but many would look at a photo of a woman in the same situation, desperately looking for work, and find her greedy or entitled. Nevertheless, women’s wages were crucial to families’ survival during the Depression, so the realities of the economy continued to pressure women to find paid work whenever, and wherever, they could. Once again, the Depression proved, despite cultural stereotypes, women work.
Florence Owens Thompson, “The Migrant Mother,” Public Domain
Olympic Women
Despite the desperate times, there were still accomplishments to be celebrated. At the 1928 Amsterdam Games, white women were finally allowed to participate in Track and Field, a cornerstone of the Olympics. Elizabeth“Betty” Robinson secured her place on the US team by finishing second in the trials. Despite competing against more seasoned runners, she clinched the gold medal in the 100-meter dash, becoming the first American woman to achieve this feat. In a much later interview, she recalled, “I can remember breaking the tape, but I wasn't sure that I'd won. It was so close. But my friends in the stands jumped over the railing and came down and put their arms around me, and then I knew I'd won. Then, when they raised the flag, I cried.” Robinson was elated. William L. Shirer from the Chicago Tribune wrote that “an unheralded, pretty, blue-eyed blond young woman from Chicago became the darling of the spectators when she flew down the cinder path, her golden locks flying, to win.” The emphasis on her physical image and whiteness notwithstanding, Robinson made history with her win. She also earned a silver medal as part of the 4 × 100-meter relay team.
Between 1928 and 1931, Robinson set multiple world records in distances ranging from 60 to 100 yards. She also won national titles in the 50- and 100-meter events at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championships in 1929. Notably, she was the first woman at Northwestern University to receive a varsity letter. In 1931, Robinson sustained serious injuries in a plane crash, which kept her out of competition for over three years. Despite permanent leg and hip injuries, she continued to excel in track and field, focusing on relays due to difficulty with crouched starts.
In 1932, other women stepped up to represent the US at the Los Angeles Games, but racism plagued the US team and prevented them from putting forward their best runners. Tidye Pickett and Louise Stokes both qualified for the team, but after traveling and staying in segregated accommodations, they were replaced with white runners in the line up due to their race. Ultimately, Stanisława Walasiewicz (Stella Walsh), a Polish citizen living in Ohio, won gold that year. She would continue to be a fierce competitor for US athletes in the 1936 Olympics too, but a new athlete came to the scene: Helen Stephens. Stephens raced against Walasiewicz in 1935 and won. She quickly earned the nickname the "Fulton Flash" after her birthplace, Fulton, Missouri.
For women, the 1936 Berlin Games were monumental. Similar to the ways that Black athlete, Jesse Owens’ gold medal win in the men’s 100 meter stood in the face of the Third Reich’s racist claims of supremacy, so did the women’s performances stand in opposition to the Nazi agenda for women’s subordination. Stephens was selected to represent the US in the 100 meter dash and had to again face Walasiewicz. Both athletes were accused of being trans women and, after being subjected to physical exams, both were permitted to compete. Stephens won. Adolf Hitler was said to be so impressed by Stephens that he invited her to his private box. She later recalled, “He comes in and gives me the Nazi salute. I gave him a good, old-fashioned Missouri handshake… Once more Hitler goes for the jugular vein. He gets hold of my fanny and begins to squeeze and pinch, and hug me up. And he said: ‘You're a true Aryan type. You should be running for Germany.’ So after he gave me the once over and a full massage, he asked me if I'd like to spend the weekend in Berchtesgaden.” She refused.
Stephens also represented the US on the 4x100 team with recovered champion, Robinson. They trailed the Germans, who had set a world record in a qualifying round. The Germans dropped the baton and were disqualified, and the US squad edged out Great Britain by less than a second. Decades later, in 1980, Stanisława Walasiewicz was killed as a bystander to an armed robbery. The autopsy revealed her to be intersex. Under current rules, this would have made her ineligible to compete, however, her 1932 gold medal still stands.
The Olympics were canceled due to World War II and didn’t resume until 1948. The London Games made history due to Alice Coachman's gold medal win for the high jump. She became the first woman of color from any country to win an Olympic gold medal. Track has remained a space where Black women have outperformed white women. This dominance is often “biologized,” but many other sports were played in segregated facilities or private clubs. Track and basketball are two of the notable exceptions here and so a culture developed in Black communities that celebrated these athletes rather than questioning their place in the sport.
Elizabeth Robinson and Bobbie Rosenfeld in Heat 7 of women's 100 meters, 1928, Public Domain
Intersex (Adj.), having sex organs or other sexual characteristics that are not clearly male or female, that are a combination of typical male and female organs, or that do not correspond to the individual’s chromosomal sex.
Conclusion
By the end of this era, so much remained in question. How did gender roles ultimately shape public policy? How did racial ideologies impact the roll out of the New Deal? What did the federal government’s neglect of women say about their status as citizens? While social factors were demanding that married women leave the workforce, economic factors were compelling them to work. How did federal programs fail to see the role that women played in the economy?
