Hopeless Times and Dreams of Flight - StoryMapJS

For this portion of the project, I composed a story map using the StoryMapJS tool. Entitled, The Life & Adventures of Oscar Winchell this story map describes the life of the legendary, Nebraska aviator Oscar Winchell. In addition to providing audiences with a colorful history of this man's life, this story map allowed me to investigate the means employed by those people living during the Great Depression to face this crisis.

The life of Oscar Winchell is one that, on the surface, seems to be one of individualism. From the time that he departed from his family's farm in Nebraska, Winchell made a name for himself through his own determination. Prior to his career in aviation, Winchell travelled the country working as a farmhand and a hunter. Wishing to be more successful in these fields, Winchell began the practice of aviation.

In this story map, I have collected a number of Winchell's adventures in Alaska. However, unlike his careers prior to aviation, these stories come together to reveal a deeper truth about individualism and its success in surviving the economic collapse.

The first story that I wish to discuss involves a mercy flight performed by Winchell. During this flight, Winchell was bringing a young boy in desperate need of a brain operation to a medical center. However, encountering poor weather conditions, Winchell was forced to land his aircraft, and the boy's life was lost. Despite his great talents as a pilot, outside forces resulted in the loss of this young boy's life.

In another example, Hope County, Alaska was destroyed, and Winchell was asked to deliver aid to the county. In a feat of daring and skill, Winchell took a shortcut from Anchorage to Nome, one which had never been successfully piloted prior to Winchell's attempt. Although Winchell was able to arrive in the county in record time and provide its citizens with much-needed aid, Winchell was one of the lucky few. Had flying conditions proven poor, forcing Winchell to down his aircraft, Hope County may have been without the aid it desperately needed, and Winchell's life may have been lost.

In this project's final story, Winchell and his passengers were brought down due to poor flying conditions and stranded at the head of Happy River for ten days. Although the chances of survival were slim, Winchell and his passengers banded together to collect supplies and contact rescue. Because of their coming together to face this enormous difficulty, Winchell and his passengers were able to survive the unsurvivable. 

However, aside from providing a fascinating history of an almost unknown pilot, what can we learn from the adventures of this aviator in reference to the Great Depression? The adventures of Oscar Winchell provide a reflection of the many ways in which Americans sought to confront the crisis that was the Great Depression.

Some believed that their own will and determination would allow them to weather the storm. However, as we see can learn from the first two stories provided in this project, facing adverison alone does not always result in success and can oftentimes lead to disaster. How many men lost hope when they were unable to support their families during the Great Depression, and how many more were profoundly affected by this loss of hope? 

The final story provided in this project mirrors the solution employed by the Roosevelt Administration to confront this problem - national unity. The Alaskan wilderness is unforgiving, and so too was the Great Depression. The economic collapse was unavoidable and affected everything within its path. However, because Winchell and his passengers were able to band together, they managed to survive this challenge. 

At the close of the previous portion of this project, I stated that aviation was practiced by those who sought to place their fates firmly into their own hands. However, outside factors will always play a crucial role in determining one's fate, despite one's own skill or prowess. 

In an ironic twist of fate, the incredible life of Oscar Winchell reminds us that adversity, especially one that is as powerful as the Great Depression could not have been successfully surmounted without national unity. Just like the passengers of Winchell's aircraft, the American people were required to band together and face one of the greatest difficulties of the 20th century and eventually overcome it.