In the Economic Depression of the 1930s, many Oklahomans, including Norman citizens,
had to come to grips
with the economic reality that there
was little money and fewer
jobs. In 1932, some Americans
saw hope
in the election of Franklin
D. Roosevelt
as President
of
the United States. In
his first 100 days, he
proposed to the United States Congress a series of programs that were meant to stimulate the economy and
put people back to work. Those programs
were the beginning of a storm
of government
funding that reached every city, every
town, and every country side across America. For a small town the size of Norman,
with a population of 9,603 citizens in
1930, community leaders did not wait for the govern- ment
program to save the day; they organized and started programs they hoped would bring economic relief
to the citizens, while they waited
for the government’s economic response.
Along with growing
economic uncertainty in Norman
in the early 1930s, there was
weak eco- nomic leadership in the city.
After initial settlement in April of 1889, downtown
businesses did organize to promote
commerce, but it was not until 1933 that there was a concentrated ef- fort to
strengthen Norman’s economic future. It
was in that year, that the Norman
Chamber of Commerce
was formally organized. The
organization of the chamber
was no doubt due to the economic downturn
that many Norman businesses experienced. New Chamber
of Commerce leadership
believed that there needed to be local economic
stimulus programs that encour-
aged people to buy goods, the hope being that more money
would circulate and jobs would
be
created. The chamber
devised several economic programs
or events that preceded
the influx of Roosevelt’s
“New Deal” programs in the
mid to late 1930s.
One of the
chamber’s programs
was
called, “Auction It Off.” Citizens were
encouraged to bring
household items or farm implements
to an
auction fair, where the sellers could
realize some ready cash. The first auction
drew a crowd of 300 people.
The success encouraged planners to announce future auction dates. The merchants
also planned monthly Dollar Days to offer buy- ers
discounted merchandise, while the chamber
encouraged farmer markets. With the Farmer’s Market,
the thought was that the market
could do two things;
it could
help sell farm produce, and it
could bring farmers and town
folks together for a common
cause. There
was evidently an economic, social and
perhaps political
divide between those who lived in the Cleveland County farming community,
and those who lived in the City of
Norman. It was the chamber’s plan
to bring
the two groups together for the
economic betterment of both communities.
By the mid-1930s,
Oklahoma farmers were suffering
from
over-production and low commodity prices. The farmers were financially doing well towards
the end of WWI and
into the beginning of the 1920s. But, America’s
post-war agricultural needs were
not as
great as in the war years. Toward the end of
the 1920s, there was a glut
of agricultural
products on the market, prices be- gan to fall and
the farmer realized little for his
produce.
Without the same income, it was difficult
for
many in the farming community
to pay their loans; it
became a vicious cycle trying to make
ends meet. As a result, many Cleveland
County farmers joined farmer’s
unions. The unions
provided support,
education on the best
farming methods, and cooperatives
that helped in lowering
the prices of goods.
The Chamber of Commerce also encouraged civic groups
to organize so that they could coordinate
their efforts to help the
community’s needy. Over
twenty-four civic organizations formed a
federation; their mission was
to evaluate
the needs of the community and
to devise programs to help.
In late 1933, the Roosevelt Administration launched the National Recovery
Administration (NRA). The formal
definition of the programs was
“A New Deal
agency established to eliminate
cut-throat competition by bringing industry,
labor, and government together to
create codes of fair practices and set prices.” For
Norman, the NRA was probably
the most intrusive government program that
the city had seen thus far.
Although the program was not mandatory,
the federal government used a tactic from
WWI Liberty bond drive; it was
a person’s patriotic duty to sign up
for the NRA program, you were not
patriotic if you did not participate. The social pressure
was immense.
Washington NRA officials asked
local Chamber of Commerce’s across the country to
be
the local engine
for a successful program in
their area. In Norman the chamber members
visited every business to ask the owners
to sign a pledge stating that they would
hire more employees. When or
if the business owner signed
the pledge, they would get
a government card called the Blue
Eagle to put in the window of his/ her
place of business; consumers were
encouraged to only shop where
there was a card in the window.
The cards had the
symbol of a blue eagle, which became the symbol
of the NRA.
Blue Eagle cards were
also designed for citizens to
put in their automobiles or homes showing
their sup- port for the NRA program.
Newspapers ran
ads in support of the
program-- “Add a man. It
is cheaper
to add a man than to
give
unemployment
relief.” By August 1933, president
Roosevelt issued
further instructions to the NRA. Businesses were now persuaded
to
shorten work hours and enforce a minimum
wage. The idea of shorter
work hours would enable more
people an opportunity to work, therefore
more wages and more spending
power. Norman barbers were the first
group in Norman to approve a code
shortening hours of business. They agreed to limit
working hours to a 52hr. week
of a 70hr. and
to set a minimum wage. The Chamber of Commerce asked those who are unemployed,
both skilled and unskilled to register with the Chamber office.
A citizens committee
was appointed by the chamber to
visit businesses in Norman to determine
the “hold outs;” those
who did not sign the pledge. Citizens
formed a branch of a national organization called the Blue Eagle.
Members of
the organization looked for
the Blue Eagle cards in store
windows to make sure
companies and businesses were in compliance
with the NRA and the wishes of the Chamber of Commerce. The Blue Eagle organization
was organized like a military group.
They had generals,
lieu- tenant generals, majors,
and colonels. They went block to block canvassing the businesses. It is not
clear what happened when
they found a business out of compliance. By
August 1933, the Norman Transcript reported
that 50 citizens had received jobs
from the NRA program and 68 companies had
signed the pledge.
1933 was
only the beginning of the difficult economic stretch for
Norman and Cleveland County. The next article in CCHS newsletter will highlight the effort of the
Chamber of Commerce to up-lift citizens, to keep
their spirits high, and to incubate the feeling of economic confidence.
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