Primary
The History Place

The History Place: Dorothea Lange: Migrant Farm Families

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the history of migrant workers in America by viewing the work of Dorothea Lange, one of the most famous photographers of the Great Depression.
Primary
US National Archives

Nara: A New Deal for the Arts

For Students 9th - 10th
Some of the New Deal programs during the Great Depression were designed to support artists and the arts. This National Archives and Records Administration site explores the products of the time period.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Herbert Hoover and the Depression [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Herbert Hoover was a very smart man, but could not save the United States from the Great Depression. Read about his philosophy of government, helping those large coprorations which needed government assistance, and helping individuals...
Website
Wessels Living History Farm

Living History Farm: Farming in the 1930s: Crash!

For Students 9th - 10th
A multi-page site that focuses on the effects of the Great Depression primarily in rural America in the early days before the election of Franklin Roosevelt. Find videos interviews with those who lived through the trying times.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Market Crashes

For Students 5th - 8th
Although not the only cause for the Great Depression, the stock market crash in October 1929, showed the weakness of the American economy in a concrete way. Read about how the stock market values were run up by speculation, and how it...
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: America From the Great Depression to World War Ii

For Students 9th - 10th
Follow the documentation of a nation through photographs from the FSA-OWI that spanned the years of 1935-1945. You can choose to view either black and white or color images. Find pictures by a keyword search of the collection or browse...
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Migration During the Great Depression: Living History

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Most people in Central Florida came from somewhere else. Students first analyze life histories from American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 to learn oral history techniques. They then interview...
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Found Poetry With Primary Sources: The Great Depression

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Students explore poetry using American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 collection of American Memory, which covers personal stories collected by the Works Progress Administration. In particular,...
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: The Great Depression in North Carolina: Experiences

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This lesson plan will result in imaginary Works Progress Administration (WPA) interviews similar to those found in American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 of the Library of Congress that...
Primary
PBS

Pbs: Breadline

For Students 9th - 10th
How did people in countries around the world fare during the Depression? Read two personal narratives, one from Sweden, another from Chile, to form an impression of the Great Depression worldwide.
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: The Great American Dust Bowl

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the causes and the events of the Great American Dust Bowl, when farmland was destroyed through misguided practices, famine set in, and dust storms drove people to desperation.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Great Depression

For Teachers 6th - 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart is an overview of the causes and impact of the Great Depression and the effects of the New Deal. Included are many photographs from the time.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Documenting America: Tenant Farmers

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource on America during the Great Depression contains photographs of tenant farmers and their communities during the 1930's, taken by photographer Arthur Rothstein. Also includes information on the time period.
Lesson Plan
Other

University of California: Hard Times

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Lesson in which students analyze primary source photos and answer questions based on photos and informational text to learn about life during the Great Depression.
Primary
Curated OER

History Matters: Deaf and Unemployed in Dubuque

For Students 9th - 10th
Read this poignant interview, transcribed by a WPA worker, in which a deaf couple describes the hardships they encountered during the Great Depression, compounded because of their disability.
Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: Great Depression: Dust Bowl Migration

For Students 9th - 10th
Primary source photos showing the devastation of the Dust Bowl and refugee migration to California.
Primary
George Mason University

History Matters: Every Picture Tells a Story

For Students 9th - 10th
The Farm Security Administration sent photographers out to document how the Great Depression was impacting farmers across the United States. Walker Evans, one of those photographers, spent a summer in Alabama in 1936 documenting the...
Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

Univ. Of California: Calisphere: Great Depression: San Francisco General Strike

For Students 9th - 10th
Original photographs highlight the General Strike of San Francisco in 1934.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Naacp: The New Negro Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
Look through the items in this Library of Congress exhibition, NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom. This part of the exhibition deals with events the NAACP was involved with in the early 20th century just before the Great...
Handout
Tennessee History For Kids

Tennessee History for Kids: Depression Hits Home

For Students 3rd - 8th
This website provides information about how the Great Depression, Tennessee Valley Authority and The New Deal changed Tennessee.
Unit Plan
George Eastman Museum

Lewis Hine: Immigration and the Progressive Era

For Students 9th - 10th
Lewis Hine documented the conditions of life during the industrial development of America. His photographs show the impact of both child labor and immigration.
Article
Other

The Forgotten Depression: A Look at the Causes of the 1893 Depression

For Students 9th - 10th
Article discussing what has been written about the 1893 Depression, and how its importance has been overshadowed by, and it has been less analyzed than, the Great Depression.
Primary
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: The New Deal

For Students 9th - 10th
This primary source set allows you to explore the crisis of the Great Depression, as well as the dramatic developments of the New Deal, through photographs, speeches, letters, and oral histories. Includes a teaching guide.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Us History: 1890 1945: The New Deal

For Students 9th - 10th
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in 1933, he enacted a range of experimental programs to combat the Great Depression.

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