New Deal Network
New Deal Network: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute: Dear Mrs. Roosevelt
Resources and lesson plans concerning the thousands of letters Mrs. Roosevelt received from young people asking for help during the Depression. Students learn how to use primary source documents.
Curated OER
America in the 1930s: The Great Depression
Well-rounded and succinctly-worded site that focuses on how the Great Depression affected the more vulnerable segments of society, particularly working families, women, and minorities. A good site for giving students a quick overview of...
Curated OER
America in the 1930s: The Great Depression
Well-rounded and succinctly-worded site that focuses on how the Great Depression affected the more vulnerable segments of society, particularly working families, women, and minorities. A good site for giving students a quick overview of...
Curated OER
Clip Art by Phillip Martin: Great Depression
A clipart illustration by Phillip Martin titled "Great Depression."
University of Washington
University of Washington: Civil Rights
Minorities were hit the hardest by the Great Depression. Explore the challenges African Americans, Japanese Americans, Native Americans, Filipinos, and the Jewish people faced and how those challenges led to activism. Included is a...
ibiblio
Ibiblio: Herbert Hoover the Basics
This site is a compilation of the captions that appear in the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. What results is a thorough look at Hoover's life. Divided into nine parts to make navigation easier. Also includes fact sheet for general...
Digital History
Digital History: The Human Toll
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.
Curated OER
History Matters: The Bum as Con Artist
History Matters reprints a 1929 newspaper article by journalist Tom Kromer, who contended that the beggar was a con man in the beginning of the Great Depression. It seems that Mr. Kromer became unemployed himself within the year, so...
US National Archives
Nara: A New Deal for the Arts
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.
US National Archives
Nara: A New Deal for the Arts: Rediscovering America
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.
US National Archives
Nara: A New Deal for the Arts Activist Arts
The turbulence of the Great Depression is reflected in these images of workers in artwork from the NARA on this site.
The History Place
The History Place: Dorothea Lange: Migrant Farm Families
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.
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.
Digital History
Digital History: Why It Happened
How did a country with such a booming economy in the 1920s sink into economic disaster in the 1930s? Prosperity was just an illusion. See the many causes of the Great Depression, and find out how all the signs were missed or disregarded.
Historica Canada
Historica Canada: Heritage Minutes: Maple Leaf Gardens
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...
ibiblio
Ibiblio: Hoover Library: A Thousand Fronts
Provides a clear description of the problems Hoover faced as President during the Great Depression.
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: New Deal Programs: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Photographs and life histories aid students in examining the lives of real people during the Great Depression, specifically those impacted by the New Deal programs and agencies. The culminating student products of this lesson will...
PBS
Pbs Online News Hour Extra: u.s. Economy Officially in a Recession
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...
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...
Wessels Living History Farm
Living History Farm: Bank Failures
The bank runs and bank failures of the 1930s are described here, as well as personal interviews with people who experienced the Great Depression.
Digital History
Digital History: Keynes and the Multiplier [Pdf]
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...
US National Archives
Nara: Teaching With Documents: Fdr's First Inaugural Address
Features background on FDR and his platform for dealing with the Great Depression. Included are primary source documents of his first inaugural address and photos related to his New Deal programs.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: The New Deal
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.