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Handout
New Deal Network

New Deal Network: Great Depression and the Arts

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Part of a wonderful website devoted to researching and teaching the Great Depression and the New Deal. These pages are focused specifically on the arts during this time.
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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.
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Handout
Other

Nyit: School of Management: New Deal

For Students 9th - 10th
Explains the programs instituted by FDR between 1933 and 1938 to curb the effects of the Great Depression. Lists and briefly defines such programs as the Agricultural Adjustment Act, WPA, National Housing Act, etc.
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Activity
Other

University of Exeter: Money in North American History

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides information about money in North America from Wampum to electronic transfer.
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Website
Other

Woody Guthrie: The People's Troubador

For Students 9th - 10th
The story of Woody Guthrie, the folk musician who wrote the score for the 1930s and the Great Depression.
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Website
Other

Reel Classics: John Ford

For Students 9th - 10th
A profile of film director John Ford who earned academy awards for How Green Was My Valley and The Quiet Man--includes movie posters.
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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.
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Website
Other

American Military History: Bonus Army

For Students 9th - 10th
This brief lecture on the Bonus Army explains why the World War I veterans amassed in Washington, D.C., and the several ramifications of the government's response to the occupation.
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Website
Other

Amistad Digital Resource: The Great Migration

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the reasons for the Great Migration of African Americans from the Deep Sourth to northern cities in the first few decades of the 20th century. After the Great Depression, the migration numbers increased again. Find out what...
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Handout
Other

Honky Tonks, Hymns, and the Blues: Jimmie Rodgers

For Students 9th - 10th
An extensive look at the father of country music, Jimmie Rodgers, along with audio clips, a biography, and sources for more information.
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Handout
Other

Broward County Library: The Wpa and Its Sub Agency, the Museum Extension Project

For Students 9th - 10th
A description of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and some of its projects.
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Website
Other

American Girl: Kit, Growing Up in the Great Depression

For Students Pre-K - 1st
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.
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Website
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Woody Guthrie and the Grapes of Wrath

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson plan provides ideas for exploring Woodie Guthrie's music while reading John Steinbeck's book The Grapes of Wrath.
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Handout
Chicago History Museum

Chicago Historical Society: History Files: Century of Progress 1933 34

For Students 9th - 10th
In the midst of the Great Depression, Chicago managed to put on an incredible World's Fair, complete with Hall of Science, Transportation Building, and Enchanted Island.
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Website
Mount Holyoke College

Mt. Holyoke College: The World in Depression, 1929 39

For Students 9th - 10th
A book chapter which provides an explanation for the causes of the global depression that started in 1929. Gives several reasons, reactions, and consequences, both nationally and worldwide. Also provides a bibliography of sources.
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Primary
Other

Social Security Act of 1935

For Students 9th - 10th
A good overview of the Social Security Act, what it included, why it was proposed, and those whom it protected. Included are reasons for opposition to the act and mention of those who were left out of coverage. You can also read Franklin...
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Website
PBS

Pbs Online News Hour Extra: u.s. Economy Officially in a Recession

For Students 9th - 10th
The verdict is in and the U.S. is in a recession. Find a succinct explanation of the 2008 recession and backtrack to the Great Depression. Follow up with discussion questions and a lesson plan complete with a glossary of terms. December...
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Primary
Other

Michigan.gov: Reminiscences of the Great Depression

For Students 9th - 10th
This website features reminiscences about the Great Depression.
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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...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: American Women: Eleanor Roosevelt

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief account of Eleanor Roosevelt's importance to her husband's administration and agenda. Accompanied by a photograph taken by Lotte Jacobi.
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Activity
New York Times

New York Times: Looking Back at the Crash of '29

For Students 9th - 10th
This site takes a look back at the stock market crash of 1929 and compares it to modern day confidence in the market. Content also includes the full text of the front page articles from the New York Times, dated October 28, 29, and 30,...
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Handout
Ohio History Central

Ohio History Central: Works Progress Administration

For Students 9th - 10th
A good look at the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and some of its subsets. Read about how the WPA helped the unemployed and the infrastructure of the United States.
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Website
Historica Canada

Historica Canada: Heritage Minutes: Maple Leaf Gardens

For Students 9th - 10th
During the Great Depression, to create work, an icon of hockey was built. This dramatization of the building of Maple Gardens gives a great background to the Depression as well as other links to digital sources. The resource is available...
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Website
University of Virginia

Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: John Calvin Coolidge

For Students 9th - 10th
Identify the steps to John Calvin Coolidge's (1872-1933 CE) successes and defeats. Explore AmericanPresident.org for biographical information on President Coolidge.