Townsend Plan
Datec.1935
Artist
George L. Patzer
American illustrator, 1910–1981
Illustration CitationDate and place of publication not identified
MediumInk on illustration board
Dimensionscomposition: 17 5/8 × 15 1/4 in. (44.8 × 38.7 cm)
sheet: 17 5/8 × 15 5/16 in. (44.8 × 38.9 cm)
sheet: 17 5/8 × 15 5/16 in. (44.8 × 38.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Helen Farr Sloan, 1987
Object number1987-62
On View
Not on viewClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextProposed by Dr. Francis Townsend during the depths of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the Townsend Plan proposed offering Americans over age 60 a monthly pension if they stopped working and spent the money within a month. It was to be funded by a 2% national sales tax. Though it never passed, the popular support it generated encouraged the US Congress to pass the Social Security Act.
