That Dam Newsletter: Print Media’s Influence on Safety Habits at the Grand Coulee Dam

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

Ellensburg

Event Website

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source

Start Date

15-5-2019

End Date

15-5-2019

Abstract

The Great Depression of the 1930s caused massive unemployment and many U.S. businesses to shut their doors . To combat this economic disaster, the Roosevelt Administration created public works projects like the Grand Coulee Dam. Construction conditions at the dam site were dangerous, so many workers were injured and some even died. To date, no research has been done on how employers encouraged safety at New Deal Era construction sites. This study finds that during construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, the Mason-Walsh-Atkinson-Kier Company implemented a number of strategies to promote safety at the work site. The main strategy to promote safety was the “Columbian,” a newsletter sent to employees of the dam. The goal of the “Columbian” was to influence the habits of employees, to ensure that employees followed safe practices while at work. This paper argues that the newsletter influenced readers by appealing to their masculinity, playing on their fear and guilt, and demonizing all unsafe work practices. These tactics provide an insight into how companies running New Deal projects attempted to prevent workplace accidents. Just as commercial advertisers were playing on fears and guilt generated by the Great Depression, so too did companies involved in non-commercial activities exploit these sentiments in their employees to get the message of safety across.

Winner: Outstanding Oral Presentation: College of Arts & Humanities.

Faculty Mentor(s)

Marji Morgan

Department/Program

History

Jordan Hughes SOURCE Presentation copy.pptx (35469 kB)
Slides for SOURCE 2019 presentation Hughes

Additional Files

Jordan Hughes SOURCE Presentation copy.pptx (35469 kB)
Slides for SOURCE 2019 presentation Hughes

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May 15th, 12:00 AM May 15th, 12:00 AM

That Dam Newsletter: Print Media’s Influence on Safety Habits at the Grand Coulee Dam

Ellensburg

The Great Depression of the 1930s caused massive unemployment and many U.S. businesses to shut their doors . To combat this economic disaster, the Roosevelt Administration created public works projects like the Grand Coulee Dam. Construction conditions at the dam site were dangerous, so many workers were injured and some even died. To date, no research has been done on how employers encouraged safety at New Deal Era construction sites. This study finds that during construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, the Mason-Walsh-Atkinson-Kier Company implemented a number of strategies to promote safety at the work site. The main strategy to promote safety was the “Columbian,” a newsletter sent to employees of the dam. The goal of the “Columbian” was to influence the habits of employees, to ensure that employees followed safe practices while at work. This paper argues that the newsletter influenced readers by appealing to their masculinity, playing on their fear and guilt, and demonizing all unsafe work practices. These tactics provide an insight into how companies running New Deal projects attempted to prevent workplace accidents. Just as commercial advertisers were playing on fears and guilt generated by the Great Depression, so too did companies involved in non-commercial activities exploit these sentiments in their employees to get the message of safety across.

Winner: Outstanding Oral Presentation: College of Arts & Humanities.

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2019/Oralpres/64