
Helping Americans forget their troubles

Roosevelt considered Shirley Temple one of the weapons in fighting the Depression.
Depression refugees from Iowa, 1936

Nine children, father ill, no work - selling their possessions for money to buy food.
Skid row, San Francisco

Winter, 1937 - men literally sleeping on the street - in suits.
1939 Illinois shanty

This home was built from refuse.
Food line, 1935

Men in the front of the sign could get a 5 cent meal - the rest would have to beg on the street.
1933, FDR's inauguration

FDR with outgoing President Hoover - the stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression were during Hoover's term. He was therefore a one term President.
1901 political cartoon about a balanced economy

Eternal truth? When government balances the needs of workers and the captains of industry, there is prosperity.
1936 Iowa

Is that a washing machine??
1938 CA unemployment line

On one of the first days to sign up for unemployment, the lines were long. Only 22 states offered unemployment insurance. It was a new concept.
1936 "Street Meeting" in San Francisco

During the Great Depression, they were protesting in suits and hats.
1930's Iowa
Not many more possessions than a great smile!
New Orleans, 1939

"I am taking the photogka [sic] of depression anp [sic] starvation at once".
1939 - the rest of his story

This man was still trying to get compensation from his local government for damage to his farm by a broken levee 12 years later! :(
Congress & White House

Coming together to help the people. They were trying to create The New Deal to help the American people in very tough times.
1938, Indiana

This (projected) hotel had been sitting unfinished since 1929 - 9 years before!