Interview with Robert Weaver conducted for The Great Depression.

Robert Weaver became the first Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1965. He was the first African-American to hold a cabinet appointment.

In this interview, Weaver discusses race relations during the Great Depression and the groundwork laid by the NAACP in breaking down discrimination in education and championing anti-lynching legislation.  While President Roosevelt depended on a congressional majority composed primarily of white Southerners, Weaver describes Eleanor Roosevelt as "a responsive ear."

Weaver also recalls his work at the Interior Department under Harold Ickes.  While Ickes has often been characterized as tough and hard to work with, Weaver remembers him as committed to public honesty and accountability.  Weaver also recounts Ickes role in Marian Anderson's 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the American Revolution barred her from singing at Constitution Hall.

Weaver remembers the rivalry between Ickes and Harry Hopkins, another architect of the New Deal.  He also recalls associates and acquaintences like Fiorello LaGuardia, Walter White, Charles Houston, Clarence Mitchell, Thurgood Marshall and Joe Louis.

There is frequent wild audio over frozen frames and color backgrounds thoughout this transfer.

Subject : Robert (Dr.) Weaver
Used in Episode Number : 317; 313