Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: The Great Depression and the 1990s

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This site includes a unit about the Great Depression. Learners will create a creative writing based on Dorothea Lange's 1936 "Migrant Mother" photograph. They will also write a position paper on the United States' current welfare issue....
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Lesson Plans: The Great Depression

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students will gain a strong understanding of the Great Depression with these lesson plans for a variety of academic levels. Topics include literature, government and migration.
Handout
US Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Compensation From Before Wwi Through Great Depression [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
This interesting article from the Bureau of Labor Statistics discusses how working conditions and low pay prior to World War I led to the increase in union membership. Read how the government viewed labor and labor unions during World...
Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

Univ. Of California: Calisphere: Great Depression: Everyday Life in Hard Times

For Students 9th - 10th
Original photos that look at housing, employment, and unemployment during the hard times of the Great Depression and the changing role of the federal government with the New Deal.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Great Depression in Global Perspective

For Students 9th - 10th
This article gives a great overview of the effects of the Great Depression all over the world. Find the four main responses of various countries to the depression, and see how some of these responses brought about World War II.
Lesson Plan
Council for Economic Education

Econ Ed Link: Where Did All the Money Go? The Great Depression Mystery

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Use this lesson plan to have students investigate how the American economy went from boom to bust in the 1920s. Find the resources needed for the lesson plan as well as important discussion questions for individual and class consideration.
Website
Other

Banking During the Great Depression

For Students 9th - 10th
A summary of the book " The Banking Panics of the Great Depression" that discusses the activities and policies pursued by banks and governments during the Great Depression.
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: The Great Depression and the 1990s

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students frequently echo sentiments such as, "The government is too big," or "The government should make welfare mothers pay for their own needs." It seems that many citizens, high schoolers included, have begun to believe in reduced...
Website
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: The Great Recession

For Students 9th - 10th
In 2008, America faced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Examine how we got to this point and how the government worked to end it the crisis. Examine the following resource that contains a summary, graphs,...
Website
University of Washington

University of Washington: Everday Life During the Depression

For Students 9th - 10th
The culture in America was transformed by the Great Depression. How did the families cope? Read essays about topics such as changing advertising trends, prohibition, Anti-Semitism, gender equality, new family roles, and sports during the...
Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Docsteach: The School Lunch Program and the Federal Government

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Learners will draw upon the visual and textual data presented in photographs and documents to gain an understanding of how the federal school lunch program is a direct result of the Great Depression, how it became a permanent part of the...
Handout
US Government Publishing Office

U.s. Government Publishing Office: Golden Age to the Great Depression

For Students 9th - 10th
Document from the Senate Agricultural Committee explores acts and laws from 1900s through to 1929 that traced Progressivism in the treatment of agriculture in the early part of the century to problems that resulted in the farm crisis at...
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
Other

Hamilton College: The Emergence of Public Housing

For Students 9th - 10th
Read a history of the federal government's funding of public housing during the Great Depression. Find information about the Housing Act of 1937 and 1940.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Human Toll

For Students 9th - 10th
The Great Depression took a terrible toll on individuals and families. Read about the massive unemployment, ways people tried to survive, and the subtle change in people's attitudes toward the role of government in helping its citizens.
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.
Graphic
US National Archives

Nara: A New Deal for the Arts: Rediscovering America

For Students 9th - 10th
As part of the artistic nationalism that took place during the Great Depression, this website from the National Archives and Records Administration focuses on many American scenes. Lots of focus on small-town life and various regions.
Graphic
US National Archives

Nara: A New Deal for the Arts Activist Arts

For Students 9th - 10th
The turbulence of the Great Depression is reflected in these images of workers in artwork from the NARA on this site.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Keynes and the Multiplier [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
John Maynard Keynes was an English economist who had definite ideas on how to end the Great Depression. Read about his economic theories and see whether Franklin Roosevelt followed his advice. Charts show information about the country's...
Activity
Ibis Communications

Eyewitness to History: America in the 1930s: The Bonus Army

For Students 9th - 10th
Vivid and succinct account of the efforts and struggles of WWI veterans who marched on Washtington D.C. to demand their veterans' benefits. Article describes their forced dispersement by the army, which strained the confidence of the...
Unit Plan
Department of Defense

Do Dea: Ap Us History: Unit 7: Facing Challenges at Home and Abroad

For Students 9th - 10th
This extensive learning module examines the role of economic fluctuations in creating new demands on the government to design reforms and how the United States became a dominant military, political, cultural, and economic force in the...
Primary
New Deal Network

New Deal Network: Extemporaneous Address on Aaa to Farm Groups 14 May 1935

For Students 9th - 10th
Text of remarks made by FDR on the effects of the Agricultural Adjustment Act and of other government programs to aid farmers.
Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Economic Growth and Stability

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview of the early 20th Century, post-depression era period of economic growth and stability brought about by Keynesian economics and the New Deal.
Handout
Ohio History Central

Ohio History Central: Emergency Relief Appropriation Act

For Students 9th - 10th
Read the general outline of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act and how it was set up to relieve unemployment during the Great Depression.