The seventy-fifth anniversary of the New Deal: Oregon's legacy.

LOGGING, FARMING, AND MINing--industries that formed the backbone of Oregon's economy--began sliding during the 1920s and plummeted when the stock market crashed in October 1929. Ten billion board feet of lumber had been produced in Oregon during 1929. The following year, demand for lumber weakened because of a decline in construction, and production decreased 25 percent to 7.5 billion board feet. (1) Drought plagued the dry desert and plateau areas of eastern Oregon, wreaking havoc on farm production and causing increased layoffs in the agricultural sector. Oregon's mining industry also experienced a slowdown. As unemployment rose in Oregon, consumer spending declined, reflecting national trends. Nationally, unemployment peaked at 25 percent in 1933, and many who remained in the workforce were employed at reduced wages. (2) Over half of workers were underemployed or unemployed, impacting many Oregonians and leaving some homeless. In Portland, over 330 people lived at one shantytown at Sullivan's Gulch. (3)

President Herbert Hoover had initiated significant recovery efforts in 1930. Under his leadership, for example, the Federal Reserve System eased credit. Hoover also held conferences in Washington, D.C., encouraging businesses to maintain wages and railroads and utilities to expand construction. He substantially increased the budget for federal public works. (4) As the Depression deepened due to the ensuing banking crisis, however, Hoover's initiatives proved weak and ineffective. The public blamed Hoover for the economic hardships, naming homeless shantytowns "Hoovervilles." Oregon voters joined the rest of the nation in hoping that a political change would bring economic relief.

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president of the United States on March 4, 1933, he launched a barrage of legislation--collectively known as the New Deal--aimed at providing reform, relief, and recovery from the Great Depression. Because Oregon's economy revolved around rural industries that were ravaged by the …