Bright Dreams, Hard Times: America in the Thirties

Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, Calif. Longshaw Card Co., Los Angeles

1. The changing relationship between Americans and their national government

2. Flowering of artistic and intellectual activity

3. Role of religion in public life

4. Democratization of American culture through new technologies (radio and sound movies)

Role of religion in public life

Another response to the crisis of the 1930s was individualized and personal approaches to religion as people sought solace for their daily problems. Charismatic Pentecostal leaders like Aimee Semple McPherson reached out to followers through radio programs. New approaches to religious solace quickly spread as Depression-era Americans turned to faith to find relief for their desperate lives. Also important was that religion found a place in the public sphere as it ministered to desperate people in both urban and rural America

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