Uplifting the Nation

A & M College Commencement

"...in that lies the hope of the future."

"This younger generation has educational advantages undreamed of by their fathers and mothers. The responsibility will soon rest in their hands. There is a wider point of view than the older generation possessed. They understand the terms state-minded and nation-minded; and in that lies the hope of the future"

Editor's Note: The Great Depression began in America in 1929. As President, Roosevelt created various programs and agencies as a part of the New Deal which are often referred to as "FDR's Alphabet Soup." Some of these agencies are still well known today: the FCIC , Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, 1938; the TVA, Tennessee Valley Authority, 1933; and the WPA, Works Progress Administration, 1939.

Along with creating programs to help pull the nation out of its economic difficulties, Roosevelt also worked to keep morale up. The speeches he delivered to young Americans in schools across the nation are evidence of this. The quote above comes from a speech he delivered to an Agricultural and Mechanical school in Carrollton, GA. This school has since merged with other similar schools in the area to create the University of West Georgia.