The 1930s Lifestyles and Social Trends: Headline Makers

James Cannon Jr. (1864–1944) James Cannon Jr., a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was one of the strongest proponents of Prohibition and a leader of the Anti-Saloon League, a group that campaigned against alcohol consumption. In the 1928 presidential election, he organized opposition to Alfred E. Smith (1873–1944), the Roman Catholic opponent to Herbert Hoover (1874–1964). Cannon was one of the most influential church leaders of the 1930s. His career was finally wrecked by a series of scandals. Although found not guilty in 1934 of stealing election money, he was forced into retirement.

Hattie Carnegie (1889–1956) Born in Vienna, Hattie Carnegie became one of New York's most celebrated dress designers of the 1930s. She began her career as a milliner, making hats, but made her name adapting French dress styles for American tastes. She believed clothes should be simple. If a dress is too often admired, she said, be suspicious of it. Clothes should "enhance the charm of the woman who wears them." In addition to creating her own designs, Carnegie trained many of the American designers of the younger generation.

Mary Williams Dewson (1874–1962) Known to her friends as Molly, Mary Williams Dewson studied history at Wellesley College. Her class predicted she would be president of the United States. After graduating, Dewson campaigned for women's rights, the rights of women prisoners, and for the minimum wage. She was influential in the first Roosevelt administration in various leadership positions in the Democratic National Committee and the Social Security Board, and she helped many women to positions in government. She retired because of ill health in 1938, although she remained active in politics at a lower level for the rest of her life.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) In 1895, W.E.B. Du Bois became the first black student to be awarded a Ph.D. from Harvard University. From this beginning he spent much of his life researching and writing about the black community. In his best-known work, The Souls of Black Folks (1903), he describes the difficulty of feeling both black and American. Du Bois eventually turned to direct action. He was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and is considered the father of the black civil rights movement.

Valentina (1904–1989) Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Valentina considered herself an architect of dresses. She relocated to New York City from Athens, Greece, in 1923, and her inspiration came from classical Greek architecture. Working with her husband she produced expensive dresses for wealthy customers. She was always determined to make dresses that fitted the customer perfectly in terms of both cut and appearance. Valentina also made stage and movie costumes for such stars as Greta Garbo (1905–1990) and was famous for using hoods, fur hats, and scarf handkerchiefs in her designs.

Stephen Samuel Wise (1874–1949) In 1907, Stephen Samuel Wise founded the Free Synagogue of New York. He spent the rest of his career there as a leading rabbi in Reform Judaism. He argued for Zionism, the return of Jews to Palestine, and tried to organize an opposition movement to the Nazis in 1933. His plan to withdraw the United States from the 1936 Berlin Olympics failed. Jewish immigration to the United States increased in the 1930s. But more significant was the movement of Jews from Europe into Palestine. Wise supported this movement even though it created an antiSemitic backlash in the United States.

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) America's most famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright had a career that spanned seventy years. He pioneered the use of concrete blocks in building, but he also tried to make his buildings blend well with their environment. Open plan interiors are one of his trademark styles. His mature career began with the Prairie Style, a revival of the architecture of the Great Plains. Wright worked on some of the most important buildings of the twentieth century, including the Imperial Hotel (1922) in Tokyo, Fallingwater (1936) in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, and the Johnson Wax building (1939) in Racine, Wisconsin.