The Great Depression was a very significant time and affected the economy, arts and creative process. As a result, music was heavily influenced by the time and the hardships that many faced.
Peter Hacker, assistant professor of history, and Wayne Zatopek, professor emeritus of sociology, will present Music from the Great Depression.
The presentation will take students back in time to the 1930s, one of the darkest periods in U.S. history.
Time will be reversed Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 12:30 p.m. in the NFAB Theatre on NE Campus.
Hacker said the musical styles he and Zatopek will present include a few different genres. A prominent style of music at the time was the blues, but the presentation will continue into jazz and even country to spiritual.
All the messages of the songs and lyrics have underlying meanings of what the artists were going through, Hacker said.
The ideas came from real-life events, whether the songs were discussing the struggle of getting by, the search for food or even the hardship of trying to pay the monthly rent.
This musical presentation is open to all students who would like to learn more about The Great Depression and the effects it had on music.
Music from the Great Depression coordinates with another NE Campus event. This Great Nation Will Endure: Photographs of the Great Depression, a national touring exhibit, in the NSTU Center Corner, gives students a chance to visualize what that time was like. Both events are sponsored by the NE Campus history department and student activities.
