MAY 2020
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 FDR’s Fireside Chats were a staple of his presidency. During these evening radio addresses, Roosevelt calmly reassured a fearful America; explained the path to national recovery; and rallied national unity. Like all of you, we at the Living New Deal have been feeling our way into unknown territory. We take inspiration from the New Deal and those who in difficult times rise to the challenges and responsibilities of public service. We want to share such stories with you in The Fireside. We hope you find this compendium of news, commentary, history and highlights as welcome as a fireside chat.
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by Gray Brechin
 It is an old trope, but true, that disasters often bring out the best in people. That, I think, is the case in the midst of a global pandemic as neighbors too harried to know one another a month ago stop to ask how they and their families are doing and what they can do to help. But disasters can also bring out the worst; witness the current administration’s response to coronavirus, a catastrophe long in the making as the entire public sector largely stitched together by FDR’s New Deal to fight the Great Depression has been starved of the funds needed to protect the public. READ MORE
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by Vincent DiGirolamo
Despite many warning signs, the stock market crash of 1929 took the nation by surprise. One Oklahoma teenager was so baffled when he heard newsboys shouting “Extra! Extra! Stock Market Collapses” that he thought it referred to a disaster at a cattle auction barn. READ MORE
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“A Lens on FDR’s New Deal:” Photographs by Arthur Rothstein
Roosevelt House, Public Policy Institute at Hunter College
 Before COVID-19 pandemic compelled it to close, the Roosevelt House in New York City was in the midst of an exhibition of photographs taken by Arthur Rothstein, during his stint with the Farm Security Administration. Now online, this powerful pictorial archive of the impact of the Depression on everyday Americans serves as a reminder of how the Roosevelt Administration confronted the existential crises during the 1930s and 40s.
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 “I was very young, but I still remember Grand-mère getting off an airplane in Seattle and coming to stay with us on Mercer Island. My memories of her are more vivid from the years I was a student at Amherst College. My parents had gone to Iran for two or three years so she said, as was her way, ‘Johnny, if you don’t have a home to go home to, you have mine. Come to New York City or Hyde Park, or wherever I am.’ And I did.” READ MORE
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Some links may limit access for nonsubscribers. Please support local journalism, if you can.
by Julia Jacobs
New York Times, April 22, 2020
by Patrick Sisson
CURBED, April 16, 2020
by Ron Elving
NPR, April 4, 2020, Special Series
Should America Consider Restarting the Civilian Conservation Corps in Response to the Economic Crash?
Appalachian Magazine, April 3, 2020
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Please send stories, photos, comments, suggestions. We love to hear from you. The Living New Deal is grateful to be able to continue our work to make the New Deal a meaningful part of contemporary life. We appreciate your generous support during this challenging time. Thank you.
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