Art from the Great Depression
If you have ever wondered what society would look like without a social safety net, then you should look at the work of Ronald Debs Ginther. Ronald was born in 1904, and was raised on an Oregon farm. However, he spent most of his life in and around Portland and Seattle during the Depression. He married Edna Minota Bott and had 2 children. He became part of the regions radical movement joining The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). He taught himself art when he was not working, and sold his paintings to make money. Ronald also made a living doing different kinds of laboring work, including being a cook. He painted works of art that were a reflection of some of the events, places, and people he experienced or was involved in during the 1930s. He spent time in places like the Hoovervilles where life was rough for homeless men, hobo jungles, soup kitchens and jails. He was active in radical politics, including the Unemployed Council movement led by the Communist Party. Later on, he helped organize unions and became an officer of the Cooks and Assistants Union. These experiences were what inspired him to paint images of unemployed demonstrations and police attacks, strikes and radical protests. Ginther set down most of his paintings in the 1960's, which became a pictorial memoir of his experiences during the depression times when a quarter of Seattle workers were unemployed. In 1967 he suffered from lung cancer and sold his work to the Washington State Historical Society and died on March 21, 1967.