The Depression and the Atomic Age

(Google image search: nuclear hobo)I’m currently taking another class that’s been focusing on this time period, called Origins of the Atomic Age. So far, discussion has been centered around the lead-up, through the 1930s, to the first nuclear weapon test in the New Mexican desert in 1945 and the subsequent usage of two nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. I only recently realized that the first half of that story lines up, chronologically, with all of ours. I suppose since we’re focusing on such different, more complex aspects of the decade – the effort needed to live out on the road and off the land in this class; the race to uncover the mysteries behind a new and immensely powerful source of energy in that one – that I didn’t quite notice the very simple coincidence of temporal setting. Of course, there aren’t too many other coincidences. It would be downright incorrect to imply that the physicists charged with contemplating and constructing a nuclear weapon were concerned with homelessness or hitchhikers in the 30s; and on the flip side, hobos and Okies surely didn’t give a shit about the work of Niels Bohr, Leo Szilard, or Enrico Fermi. Travelers of the day were thinking small and personal, seeing the country and staying alive from day-to-day, while the scientists were out to save the world, always considering the big picture. Interestingly, though, the actions of both groups produced some major accomplishments still observed to this day. A handful of the artistic works that surfaced during the 30s – including photographs, novels, paintings, and early music recordings – are still highly-regarded as prime examples of the documentation of hardship in America. They are often stories of great physical and mental exertion and persistence. The work that went into and preceded the Manhattan Project, though controversial, was undoubtedly a great step forward for human creativity and innovation, and signaled a new age of American life. Like I said, there aren’t too many other links between the subjects; the Depression was winding down just as race to develop nuclear weapons kicked into high gear. But I find it to be rather noteworthy that these two completely dissimilar events were occurring at about the same time. I suppose it could be seen as a compelling indicator of how disparate living situations were at that time based on one’s occupation and class status. After all, there weren’t too many poor, struggling scientists out there, bumming around with unpublished scholarly articles in their back pockets.