FDR Portfolio Project

 

FDR

Objective:Investigate, study, analyze, and search for the zeitgeist of any topic, program, controversy, character or event of the New Deal Era. Using primarily newspapers and periodicals of that period link the event to at least 10 political cartoons. If you have more cartoon links so much the better. If you want an example, template or real live rubric look at the work of Valerie Dorn. Her work is part of the Niskayuna web page. You may work with another student to complete this project. We have the largest resource of its kind outside of Hyde Park. The department has the largest collection of FDR cartoons of any educational institution in the nation. Use them. Cartoons may not leave the Social Studies Resource Center. Any cartoon on the web site may be downloaded from home and it makes no difference whether you are using a PC or a MAC. Be sure to download the detailed view.



Fail-safe Topics

John L. Lewis
Trip To Mexico
James A. Farley
Airmail And Lindbergh
The Bonus Issue Of 1932
Tammany Hall, The Tiger
Harold Ickes And The PWA
Chief Justice Hughes In 1937
Beer And The End Of Prohibition
Justice Hugo Black And The KKK
Supreme Court "Reform" Of 1937
William Borah Senator From Idaho
Al Smith And The Campaign Of 1932
Golddust Twins, Cohen & Corcoran
Casablanca Conference During W.W.II
A Month In The Life Of The New Deal
Gunboat Panay & The Ludlow Amendment
Pick a cartoonist, any cartoonist and write about the person





Start Here. Remember C.C.C.; Controversy, Color and Characters. The best papers will include all three. The logical starting place for a topic is Franklin D. Roosevelt, His Life and Times. Two paperback copies of the Graham Wander book are in the Social Studies Resource Center. This encyclopedia is edited by Otis L. Graham, Jr. & Meghan Robinson Wander. The book is loaded with great ideas suitable for additional research using the FDR Editorial Cartoon Website. Find relevant cartoons first then the books, magazines and newspapers.

Search the FDR Editorial Cartoons web site. Use the search engine on the Editorial Cartoons of the New Deal Era Website first. That will uncover potential cartoons. As you examine the cartoons record the key concepts given and additional ideas will occur. Record the dates of potentially useful cartoons. For example 37021401.gif means the date is 1937, the month is February and the date is the fourteenth. GIF means the cartoon is stored in the GIF format. Search the Basil O'Conner files in the Social Studies Resource Center archives to find additional cartoons.

Read several sources. Encarta and various other CD-ROM's can't do this project for you. Use them to get a feel for the topic and background material. This is not a book report.

Bibliography. Your final bibliography must have a minimum of twenty-five (25) sources not counting the cartoons. There must be a minimum of:

Method of Attack. Magazine and newspaper articles must be the primary sources of information and must come from the months under investigation. Use the microfilm collection at the municipal, college or newspaper library. Real searching The New York Times volume numbers are in Roman numerals on page one in the upper left hand corner. Every time you use a newspaper, magazine or book be sure to start another 3X5 card. Record all the information you need for your bibliography. Sample entries are provided below.

Earlier you found potential cartoons. Now use the date of each cartoon to find the reports of events in magazines and newspapers that caused the cartoon to be drawn and published. You will have to look in issues of magazines and newspapers published prior to the cartoon date. Check the headlines. Be sure to read each editorial page. Your completed piece must include reference to and comment about at least one editorial. The New York Times will most likely be the paper of choice. Don't overlook The New York Herald Tribune. In the 1930's The New York Herald Tribune was a competitor to The New York Times. It is still published overseas but back issues of the New Deal era will be available on microfilm in more complete libraries. Remember to bring 3X5 cards with you.

Local Papers. Many libraries will have a microfilm record of local paper(s). Read these papers to find the local flavor of a political event. If the year is 1932 newspapers from Iowa like the Des Moines Register might lean toward Hoover. The Times Union in Albany, New York would likely support FDR. If your library does not have any microfilm call the editor of your local newspaper and ask the paperís librarian where back issues of the local paper are archived.

Link the cartoons. Identify key ideas from the cartoons and your writing. Using no more than four words link the concepts in your writing to the cartoons you have chosen. See the work of Valarie Dorn. She used 19 cartoons in her work. You will find Val's work under Teacher Resources on the FDR Cartoons opening page. Limit your word links to three or four words.

Proofread. Proofread your work several times. Your final work (nothing is really final in history) must have two signatures at the end of your work. Members of the AP class will read your work, make constructive comments and sign your work. This part of the assignment will be done in class. Readers will be assigned by lot.

Specs. Except for footnotes and bibliography all text submitted must be double spaced, Times New Roman font, size 11 with one inch margins on the left, right, top and bottom. Submit your final work (deadline #6) in Word, either MAC or PC. If you favor another word processor use the Save As command to save as a Word file.

A Bibliography. A bibliography of consulted sources must be included. A sample bibliography is included below. For cartons, use the same format as a signed newspaper article. Instead of a page number use the following at the end: The Basil O' Conner Collection; The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, Box ##. Get the box number from the shelves in the Social Studies Resource Center and replace ## with the O' collection box number.

Evaluation of the project. At the end of the project each student must complete an evaluation of the project. The evaluation will be used to improve the FDR Website in the years ahead. Keeps detailed notes as you work. Your evaluation need not say this was fun, you enjoyed it or that it has altered your life. The instructor needs to know how to make this a better project.

Progress reports. Progress reports will be submitted every week. There is no particular day when the reports must be submitted but reports are due no later than Friday. The reports should describe what work you have completed, what cartoons you have found and the progress/problems you are having. Double space all progress reports and drafts. See Specs above for details. Progress reports are an integral part of the project. Nothing may be done at the last minute. No e-mail submissions will be accepted. The first progress report is due the week of _____________________.

Deadlines

Deadline #1 is _________ __/__/__. By this date the following work must be submitted: your topic and what you have found regarding the topic. Did you check out An Encyclopedic View edited by Otis L. Graham, Jr. & Meghan Robinson Wander? It is the best resource for getting started. Each section does have suggestions for further research. It is not the sole source of information. Does your topic have C.C.C.; Controversy, Color and Characters? This is not a book report.

Deadline #2 is _________ __/__/__. By this date the following work must be submitted: your bibliography of ten cartons and bibliography of useful books. Pick out your "front page" cartoon. Which of the cartoons you found do you want to appear at the top of your work? Think of it was the picture on page one of the newspaper. Does the front page cartoon reflect the C.C.C. of your work? Be sure to use correct bibliographic format. See examples at end. This is not a book report.

Deadline #3 is _________ __/__/__. By this date the following work must be submitted: your book, magazine and newspaper bibliography. The dates should be targeted to investigate an aspect of CCC, Controversy, Color, and Characters of the New Deal Era. Your should now have many headlines, text from newspaper articles and additional information from the periodicals of the day. Donít neglect C.C.C. This is not a book report.

Deadline #4 is _________ __/__/__. By this date the following work must be submitted: opening paragraph, headline cartoon and a tentative outline of the research paper. This is not a book report.

Deadline #5 is _________ __/__/__. By this date the following work must be submitted: your first draft is due. Papers are due when you walk in the door. Each paper will be read and edited by two of your peers. The instructor will be the third reader. All editors will be searching for C.C.C. When first drafts are returned you will be expected to incorporate the comments of your peers and instructor. Incorporate means to correct gross errors. Incorporate does not mean each and every comment and suggestion must be utilized. This is not a book report.

Deadline #6 is _________ __/__/__. By this date the following work must be submitted: Turn in two copies. One copy is for your portfolio and the second will be evaluated and edited for the web site. You must also scan any cartoons that are not presently on the web site. Hopefully you will have several new cartoons uncovered by careful research. A list of cartoons that need to be scanned most come immediately after the evaluation section of your project. Your completed work returned several times if it is to be posted on the school's Website. Once editing has been completed and final changes have been made turn in a disk with your most recent edition and scans of any cartoons not presently on the web. Did you remember this is not a book report?

My Friends Good luck!

Sample Bibliography

Us the format below. Even if it is not the format used in your other classes, use the format below. Different colleges and different professors have different requirements and idiosyncrasies. It's all part of life. Use the format below.

"As Bad as the Original Court-Packing Bill." Business Week, 22 (July 10, 1937), 64

"Beer Bill Signed, South Carolina Dry." The New York Times, LXXXII (April 15, 1933), 14.

Cargill. "Good Neighbors, But For How Long?" Brooklyn Times Union (January 4, 1937) The Basil O'Conner Collection, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, Box 20. 

Catledge, Turner. "Report: Brandies and Van Devanter Will Quit in June." The New York Times, LXXXVII (May 11, 1937), 1.

"City Beer Output Is 65,000 Barrels." The New York Times, LXXXII (April 15, 1933), 14.

Leuchtenburg, William E. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. Harper, New York: 1963.

Pease, Lute. ""To Six Of The Nine," Newark News (January 7, 1937) The Basil O' Conner Collection, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, Box 20.

Rauch, Basil. The History of the New Deal. Capricorn, New York: 1944.

Seibel, Fred O. "The Spirit of '37." The Richmond Times, (January 8, 1937) The Basil O' Conner Collection, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, Box 20.

"South Looks At Dry Laws." Newsweek, 4 (July 21, 1934), 5.


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