Thread by @rortybomb

For the book, I wanted to read a bunch of primary sources around race and the New Deal, especially why black voters moved so decisively to the Democrats in 1936. With the help of the excellent @FDRLibrary staff, here's some neat stuff I found to share. (1/9)

@FDRLibrary First, a 1935 memo prepared for Rex Tugwell, with an electoral focus, bullet-pointing why blacks would be disappointed in or supportive of the New Deal. Not sugar-coated in either direction.

(If you were wondering if the two-page memo existed back then, it did.) /2

@FDRLibrary Next a very saavy-style August 1936 political take from The Nation, on why black voters might swing to the Democrats.

If it was written today it would be: “STAY SMART: CIO, WPA, Eleanor, convention drama, lack of GOP action might save the Dems from disarray.” (/3)

@FDRLibrary Fascinating to see CIO realigning race and Dems flagged in mid-1936. I always wondered if that was more late 30s/early 40s, but contemporaries saw it.

Also love how bad insider political journalism translates over time. 'Oh a classic Tieless Joe Talbert move here,' what? (/4)

@FDRLibrary It's mentioned in the Nation piece in how crazy she drove Southern Democrats over race, but worth saying again, Eleanor rules. (/5)

@FDRLibrary The Nation mentions it, and it's true, the race-neutral hiring practices under WPA comes up a lot. From a draft of a pamphlet, "Has the Roosevelt New Deal Helped the Colored Citizen?" used in the North to drive votes, citing a black newspaper. This sentiment is everywhere. (/6)

@FDRLibrary That pamphlet was from the Colored Committee of the Good Neighbor League, who ran the Dem campaign for black voters in the North. They held a massive Madison Square Garden rally for the New Deal on Emancipation Day (!), rebroadcasted across the country. (/7)

@FDRLibrary Event was wild. Robert Wagner (who doesn't have a modern biography because there's nothing for historians to complain about, he's amazing) called for Dems to do anti-lynching laws. Bishop RR Wright gave an amazing speech calling the New Deal America's "Second Emancipation." (/8)

@FDRLibrary Overall, easy to see why the New Deal detached black voters from the GOP, and why the growing link between economic and civil rights would split and realign the parties over subsequent decades. Story lines up well with Schickler's "Racial Realignment" imho. (/9)

@FDRLibrary Anyway, some thoughts in case anyone is running for President on trying to explicitly tie the Democratic Party back to its New Deal past. It works, quite well in fact. (/fin)