A period of destitution and inspiration
The Environmental, Political, Financial, and Societal Consequences that led to The Greatest Generation
When the Great Depression erupted, Mississippi had not yet recovered from the boll weevil or the Flood of 1927. Its land suffered from depleted forests and soil. Plus, the state had yet to confront the racial caste systems imprisoning poor whites, African Americans and other minorities. Nevertheless, innovative Mississippians managed to keep their businesses and services open. Meanwhile, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs fostered economic stimulation within the state. Author Richelle Putnam also highlights the state’s spiritual and cultural giants, who rose from the nation’s poorest state to create a lasting footprint of determination, pride and hope during the Depression era.
“Anyone with even a passing interest in Mississippi history will find Richelle Putnam’s “Mississippi and the Great Depression” (The History Press) enthralling. If one’s passion is Mississippiana, “Depression” deserves a prominent space on the bookshelf. Ruminations about the Depression by aged relatives and oft-repeated family lore does little to dispel the fact that if times were tough nationally, then it was especially grim in the poorest state in the nation.” Clarion Ledger
Mississippi and the Great Depression was nominated for the 2018 Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters Award, Non-Fiction category. See nominees here
From Publishers Weekly
In this worthy illustrated history, Putnam (The Inspiring Life of Eudora Welty) narrates the hardscrabble Great Depression years in Mississippi, beginning with the Great Flood of 1927 and ending with WWII, accompanied by a trove of photographs recording daily life and special events. As Putnam recounts, the white, black, Choctaw, and Chinese people who lived in the Deep Southern state experienced significant hardship on top of pre-existing natural disasters (such as flooding, multiyear droughts) and manmade crises (extensive deforestation). She excerpts the pleading letters Mississippians of all economic classes wrote to their congressman, William H. Colmer, about the extreme lack of education and jobs. Putnam shows that the state proved ripe for Roosevelt’s then-controversial New Deal programs; the Tennessee Valley Authority, Civilian Conservation Corps, and National Industrial Recovery Association kept residents from starving. The photos reveal not only deprivation but also a rich culture influenced by the state’s Great Depression-era writers Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, and Walker Percy and legendary musician Robert Johnson. Ideal for readers fascinated by the idea of the New South, Putnam’s spare account of a difficult era provides insight into modern Mississippi’s struggle to overcome an impoverished past with grit and a remarkable cultural legacy. (BookLife)
Mississippi and the Great Depression received the bronze medal in the 2017 Foreword INDIES Book Awards, Regional Category. See all winners here
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