In the 1930s, various economic, political, and environmental factors caused Americans to lose hope for a future beyond the extreme circumstances in which they had to survive. America prospered during the Roaring '20s, but the stock market crash of October 1929 set off a devastating chain of events; banks and factories closed and one in four Americans found themselves unemployed. The sudden economic collapse began the era of the Great Depression, in which millions of people were left jobless in 1933 and countless others roamed the country in search of work, food, and shelter. “The crux of the problem was the enormous disparity between the country's productive capacity and the people's consumption capacity” (Nelson). The economic recession combined with the ecological disaster of the Dust Bowl in the Great Plains resulted in farm foreclosures, inflated consumer food prices, and the ruin of the agricultural sector. Meanwhile, the film and entertainment industry provided many Americans with an escape from the long-term struggle of the Great Depression. Shirley Temple, the dimpled, curly-haired child star nicknamed “America's Sweetheart,” was one of those movie stars who brought hope to those affected by the Great Depression and left a lasting impression on the United States of America . Robinson 2Before and during his rapid rise to Hollywood stardom, Temple's family played an important role in his childhood. Born in Santa Monica, California on April 23, 1928, Temple was welcomed into the world by her parents and two older brothers. Mr. George Temple worked as a banker while Mrs. Gertrude Temple devoted her time to raising her little girl, as her two eldest sons, George Jr. and John, were already independent teenagers (Dubas 7-8). ......middle of paper......Dubas, Rita. Shirley Temple: A Pictorial History of the World's Greatest Child Star. New York: Applause Theater and Cinema Books, 2006. Print.Lundstrom, Mack. "America's Treasure." San Jose Mercury News February 11, 2014. SIRS Discoverer. Network. March 19, 2014. Nelson, Cary. "Depression in the United States: An Overview." Modern American poetry. Department of English, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013. Web. March 12, 2014. “Shirley Temple Black.” The Kennedy Center. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2014. Web. March 12, 2014. .Sonneborn, Liz. “Temple, Shirley.” The A to Z of American Women in the Performing Arts 2014. Facts on file. Network. March 19 2014. .