Since Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen
"Since Yesterday" by Frederick Lewis Allen is a historical account focused on the United States during the 1930s, serving as a sequel to his earlier work, "Only Yesterday," which covered the 1920s. Written for a popular audience, the book begins with the onset of the Great Depression, providing insight into pivotal political events, including Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidential elections in 1932 and 1936, as well as the New Deal legislation. Allen examines the economic turmoil of the decade, detailing not only the Great Depression but also the subsequent recession in 1937-1938 and the impacts of the Dust Bowl.
The author delves into the psychological effects of economic hardship, illustrating how widespread depression affected many Americans. He connects political ideologies, from left-wing movements like communism and Huey Long's Share Our Wealth program to right-wing extremism, and positions Roosevelt's policies as a stabilizing force against such extremes. Additionally, Allen highlights cultural shifts, particularly the rise of participant sports, reflecting changes in leisure activities due to economic conditions. Overall, "Since Yesterday" presents an engaging, human-centric view of history, capturing how significant events shaped the everyday lives of individuals during a tumultuous decade.
Since Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen
Identification Informal history of the United States through the 1930’s
Author Frederick Lewis Allen
Date Published in 1940
Frederick Lewis Allen presented an informal history of the 1930’s. He treated politics, economics, and culture, beginning with the crash of the stock market in 1929 and ending with the British and French declaration of war against Germany after the invasion of Poland in 1939.
The author of a series of books about individual decades in the twentieth century, Allen wrote Since Yesterday as a sequel to Only Yesterday (1931), on the 1920’s. The earlier book ends with the Panic of 1929, and the later one begins with it. Both books are written for popular audiences rather than for specialists.
Allen gives insight into important political events of the period, including the elections of Franklin D. Roosevelt to the presidency in 1932 and 1936 and New Deal legislation. He also treats economic events of the period, including the Depression, the recession of 1937 and 1938, and the effects of the Dust Bowl. For him, the Depression was both an economic and a psychological event, leading many people to become depressed. He also connects economic and political events to the everyday lives of the American people. He shows ways in which left-wing views, such as communism and Huey Long’s Share Our Wealth program, and right-wing views, such as Nazism and the anti-Semitism of Father Charles E. Coughlin, became popular, and he treats Roosevelt’s policies as a middle ground, ultimately saving the United States from extremism on the left or right.
Allen discusses lesser-known aspects of the period, including technocracy, which claimed that using scientific knowledge and technical progress could prevent any future depressions. He discusses sports, especially the rise of participant sports, such as golf and bicycling, in the light of the fact that people found themselves with more leisure because of shortened workweeks and an inability to find full-time jobs.
Impact
Allen’s informal history of the 1930’s gave an engaging view of the period. He showed human aspects of history and ways in which important historical events impacted the lives of individuals. His work had an immediacy that many later, more scholarly histories of the period lacked.
Bibliography
Payne, Darwin. The Man of “Only Yesterday”: Frederick Lewis Allen, Former Editor of “Harper’s Magazine,” Author, and Interpreter of His Times. New York: Harper & Row, 1975.
Schwarz, Benjamin. “Life in (and After) Our Great Recession.” Atlantic (October, 2009): 91-98.