American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Franklin Delano Roosevelt: First Inaugural Address
This is the text, audio, and video [7:04] of the swearing in and the first Inaugural Address of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on March 4, 1933.
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: Mexican Americans
Read about the terrible treatment of Mexican American citizens and immigrants during the Hoover presidency. See how they received some help with the New Deal.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Seeing Through Dorothea's Eyes
A learning module that begins with the "Seeing Through Dorothea's Eyes" by Sudipta Bardhan, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Market Crashes
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...
A&E Television
History.com: New Deal
An article regarding the New Deal and its development from the beginning of the Great Depression.
Library of Congress
Loc: America From the Great Depression to World War Ii
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...
Library of Congress
Loc: America From the Great Depression to World War Ii
This resource contains 160,000 black and white photos and 1600 color photos documenting America from 1935-1945. These images make up the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection.
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...
Library of Congress
Loc: Learning Page: Labor Unions During the Great Depression and the New Deal
A timeline of events related to the Great Depression, labor unions and the New Deal along with primary sources.
Library of Congress
Loc: Hoovervilles: Photographic Collage
A brief description of Hoovervilles with accompanying photos that show the different types of shelters throughout the United States.
Library of Congress
Loc: Learning Page: Primary Source Set Dust Bowl Migration
Set of primary documents, photos, audio and sheet music having to do with the movement of homeless families during the Great Depression. Teaching guide included.
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: Out of the Dust: Visions of Dust Bowl History
Primary sources, in addition to Karen Hesse's award-winning historical fiction "Out of the Dust", guide students as they explore the the Dust Bowl and its effect on school life, community, family, and agriculture.
The History Cat
The History Cat: The Great American Dust Bowl
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.
The History Cat
The History Cat: The New Deal
Discusses Franklin D. Roosevelt's First and Second New Deals and the different programs that got people back to work and put food on their tables. Looks at the successes and failures of these programs and the criticisms leveled at...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Esperanza Rising: Learning Not to Be Afraid to Start Over
In this instructional activity young scholars will explore some of the contrasts that Esperanza experiences when she suddenly is forced to leave the life of a wealthy landowner's daughter surrounded by servants to become a servant...
Kansas Historical Society
Kansapedia: Alfred M. Landon
One of the few progressive Republicans to hold state office during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, Landon was tapped to run against him in 1936. Read about the life of this interesting Kansan both before and after his run for the...
University of Oxford (UK)
American National Biography Online: Depressions, Economic
Depressions are sustained troughs in the business cycle characterized by declines in output, employment, income, and trade. While they date from the earliest years of American history, little is known about them from the Colonial Era....
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
Selected (12) reading passages (grades 7-11) to pair with "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. A young Scout watches her father, prominent lawyer Atticus Finch, defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman in the...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred D. Taylor
Selected (8) reading passages (grades 6-10) to pair with "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred D. Taylor. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry tells the story of the Logan family combating racial tension and segregation in Mississippi during...
University of Illinois
University of Illinois: About the Dust Bowl
Thorough discussion of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s with accompanying map, photos, and timeline that describe it in detail.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck
The Joad family leaves Oklahoma in search of work after their farm is destroyed by the Dust Bowl. They arrive in California only to find that fair jobs, food, and sympathy are scarce. Selected (9) reading passages (grades 8-11) to pair...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Great Depression
Read a brief overview of the causes of the Great Depression. See that there were several reasons which fed on each other to plunge the country into economic chaos.
Wessels Living History Farm
Living History Farm: Farming in the 1930s: Crash!
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.