Wessels Living History Farm
Living History Farm: Farming in the 1930s
During the hard economic times of the 1930s, farm families turned to low-cost entertainment such as barn dances. By listening to personal stories, discover what farm life was like during the Great Depression.
Texas State Historical Association
Texas State Historical Association: The Great Depression
Read about the economy and politics in Texas during the time of the Great Depression.
University of Washington
University of Washington: The Great Depression in Washington State
This comprehensive and well-organized resource walks students through the Great Depression using concise summaries, pictures, and many primary source documents.
Other
American Girl: Kit, Growing Up in the Great Depression
Meet Kit, a character in the American Girl series, and learn about life during the Great Depression through this collection of stories, games, and activities. Also, includes teacher's guide and worksheets.
University of Illinois
University of Illinois: Modern American Poetry: A Photo Essay on the Great Depression
Series of annotated photographs that document the realities of Depression-era America.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Evaluate Tone in Various Media for Audiences and Purposes
This lesson will help you evaluate changes in formality and tone within printed texts written for specific audiences and purposes. It focuses on writing produced during the Great Depression. RL.9-10.4 Word choice, Tone
Curated OER
History Matters: Donners Recall the Great Depression
This description of a family in Dubuque, Iowa was part of a 1935 WPA sponsored project devoted to documenting the experiences of people during the Depression. From the book, The Great Depression, by David Shannon.
Curated OER
History Matters: The Great Depression in Iowa
From a book, The Great Depression, by David Shannon, you can read an interview administered by the Works Progress Administration detailing the struggle of an Iowa family through the trying times of the Great Depression.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: What Was So Depressing About the Great Depression?
This lesson focuses on the effects of the Great Depression on American life in the period from 1929-1940. Students learn about changes in art, music and literature that symbolize life of the everyday man. Students also learn about the...
PBS
The First Measured Century: Measurements and Myths of the Great Depression
This fascinating transcript from a PBS special about numbers in the 20th century focuses on people and how they were affected by the Great Depression in terms of employment, agriculture, and even marriage rates. Be sure to click on the...
Library of Congress
Loc: The Grapes of Wrath: Voices From the Great Depression
By examining primary sources, including songs, newspapers, interviews, and photographs of migrant farm workers in California during the Great Depression, students create a scrapbook from the point of view of a migrant worker, providing...
Digital History
Digital History: Popular Culture During the Great Depression
A great description of the tension in popular culture during the Great Depression with a focus on tradition abutting modernism in the arts and architecture. Read about the new comic book and radio superheroes, and commonality in American...
Lin and Don Donn
Sharing Memories: Stories of the Great Depression
Follow the stories of one farm family as the individuals lived during the years of the Great Depression. Find out that not all people were negatively affected by the times.
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
Univ. Of California: Calisphere: Great Depression: Everyday Life in Hard Times
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.
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: Mexican Labor in the 1920s [Pdf]
[Free Registration/Login Required] Review historical documents of Mexican-Americans in the 1920's. Students will address what it was like to be a Mexican in America during this time considering working conditions, home life, etc.
Library of Congress
Loc: Immigration and Migration:today/during the Great Depression
Students address these questions through activities using oral history methods and investigating life in the 1930s. They compare the immigration/migration experiences of their families to those of people living through the Great...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Dust Bowl Exodus: How Drought and the Depression Took Their Toll
Activity-based resource on the social and economic conditions of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. Students select from a list of comprehensive reference material to research the times and then choose a 1930s artist on which to report....
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Hardships During the Great Depression
Students will be divided into groups of 2 or more. Each group will be given a choice of jobs that were available during the 1930s. Students will learn to manage their cost of living and household expenses.
University of Washington
University of Washington: Everday Life During the Depression
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...
Curated OER
History Matters: Deaf and Unemployed in Dubuque
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.
Library of Congress
Loc: The Great Depression and the 1990s
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...
Other
State of Michigan: Reminiscences of the Great Depression
A site with a nice personal touch. Memories from four individuals about their time spent during the Great Depression years in the 1930s.
Other
University of California: Hard Times
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.
Digital History
Digital History: The Depression [Pdf]
Take this interesting look at life during the Great Depression. Find data about unemployment, bank failures, the Bonus Army, and the ways the depression affected ordinary individuals. [pdf]