Still Images

Photographs

About.com: 20th Century History
Photographs of the Great Depression.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library Photos
Copyright-free photos.

Library of Congress: “America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA – OWI, 1935-1945”
These are the famous photographs that you know—Dorothea Lange, etc.

Library of Congress: “Voices from the Dust Bowl”
Audio and photographs from the Library of Congress.

New Deal Network Photo Gallery
Excellent photos of everything from bread lines to soup kitchens to bank runs.  To use, we must ask permission, but it appears that they have a generous educational policy.

Picturing the Century: The Great Depression and the New Deal
Online photos from a small collection at the National Archives and Records Administration.

Posters

Works Progress Administration Posters
at the Library of Congress

Timelines

About.com: America in the 1930s Timeline
Includes a timeline for each year from 1929 to 1940.

“Riding the Rails” Series: Great Depression Timeline
From the Public Broadcasting Service series’ web site.

Letters and memories

Turning Points in Wisconsin History: “The Crash on Wall Street”
Memories of Great Depression days.  From the Wisconsin Historical Society Digital Collection.

U.S. Department of Agriculture History Collection
Draft of a memo on unemployment, with a chart, to Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace, from his Economic Adviser, Mordecai Ezekiel (May 9, 1933).

Cartoons

FDR Cartoon Archive
Political cartoons from the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Moving Images

Movies and Newsreels

“Brother, Can You Spare a Billion? The Story of Jesse H. Jones”
Videos with historians describing the influence of Jesse H. Jones, who served as chairman of the Reconstruction Finance Corp. during the Great Depression.

Getty Images
Also has film available for a fee.

Library of Congress: “Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy:  1921-1929”
A wide variety of sources exploring American prosperity during the presidency of Calvin Coolidge and the transition to a mass-consumer economy.

Universal Newsreels: “Roosevelt Inaugurated”
A newsreel documenting FDR’s inauguration.

Universal Newsreels: “President Speaks to the Nation”
Fireside chat No. 2; video has sound, poor image of FDR.

Universal Newsreels: “President Roosevelt’s Emergency Bank Bill Passed by Congress”
An unfortunately silent film about FDR’s introduction of the bank bill.

Universal Newsreels: “President Visits Foresters”
FDR visits the Civilian Conservation Corps. in 1933.

Universal Newsreels: “President Outlines Recovery Progress”
Fireside chat No. 4; FDR details recovery; video has sound.

Universal Newsreels: “Highlights in the News”
News highlights from 1933; for example, a Kansas City businessman gives away coats to men, who line up around the block.

Universal Newsreels: “City Gold Rush Starts”
An apparent gold rush at a farm outside of Cincinnati gives a view of the Depression.

Universal Newsreels: “Farmers Arm to Break Picket Line”
In November 1933, farmers in Iowa strike over prices.

Universal Newsreels: “General Strike” newsreels 1 and 2
Newsreel footage of the general strike in San Francisco.
(newsreel 1)
(newsreel 2)

Universal Newsreels: “President Reports to Nation”
Fireside chat No. 5; progress made.

Universal Newsreels: “Better Housing News Flashes”
Footage from 1935, focusing on the Federal Housing Administration/National Housing Act.

Universal Newsreels: “FDR Sees Fear Vanishing”
Fireside chat No. 7; FDR tells nation that fear is vanishing.

Universal Newsreels: “FDR Buys First Baby Bond”
FDR buys $25 bond.

Universal Newsreels: “Roosevelt Landslide”
FDR wins in a landslide.

Universal Newsreels: “Work Pays America” newsreels 1 and 2
A film about the Work Pays America (WPA) program.
(newsreel 1)
(newsreel 2)

Universal Newsreels: “Money Stream Flow from Treasury”
Money stream flowing from the Treasury (and through the Federal Reserve System).  Unfortunately, the footage is silent.

Sound

Music

“Hobo Bill’s Last Ride”
Music by Jimmie Rodgers.

Library of Congress: “Voices from the Dust Bowl”
Audio and photographs from the Library of Congress.

“Riding the Rails” Series: Music
Hobo songs from the PBS series, “Riding the Rails.”

This Land is Your Land: Rural Music and the Depression
How country music evolved from the traditional rural music of the Depression.

Radio/News Broadcasts

FDR Library: Fireside Chats
Transcripts of the fireside chats from FDR.

FDR Library: Fireside Chats
Actual audio of a few fireside chats.

Internet Archive: FDR Fireside Chats
More fireside chats.

University of Virginia: Complete Audio Recordings of FDR Speeches
More speeches from FDR, and in a better format.

University of Virginia: FDR Presidential Recordings
Audio of FDR, beginning in 1940.  A limited collection, but growing.

Oral Histories

More memories on life during the Great Depression, this from the New Deal site.

This oral gallery includes numerous interviews conducted by Studs Terkel for his book on the Great Depression, Hard Times.

Web Sites

The New Deal Network
Includes a document library and a photo gallery, as well as a “Classroom” section that includes lesson plans, web projects and bibliographical materials on the Great Depression; a moderated discussion forum for teachers and historians; an arts section, and more.

America in the 1930s
Great site with links to films, music, radio programs, photos, art and more.  Unfortunately, it is not clear if they have copyright permission for these items, and some of the links don’t work.

The FDR American Heritage Center Museum
Web site for the museum, which is located in Massachusetts.  Includes a New Deal timeline, background, and links to transcripts and visuals of historic documents.

The FDR Memorial – Official Site
Official site with text of all the inscriptions.

The FDR Memorial – University of San Diego History Department Site
Links to photos and information about the Washington, D.C., memorial.

Documents

New Deal Network Document Library – Economic Policy
Included in the links is an open letter to President Roosevelt from John Maynard Keynes.

New Deal Network Document Library – Economic Conditions
Includes links to letters detailing the economic conditions of the time period.

Federal Home Loan Bank Board – Annual Reports (1933-1952)
Includes links to the annual reports by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board between 1933 and 1951(1952), a special report on Social and Economic Effects of Existing Foreclosure Procedures and Emergency Moratorium Legislation in 1936, and the Final Report of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in 1952. This Board was established by Congress in 1932 when it created the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Subsequent legislation, some based on President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program, created subsidiaries that included the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, the Federal Savings and Loan Association, and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation. The purpose of the Board and its subsidiaries was to facilitate refinancing of homes to stem the tide of mortgage foreclosures, to make mortgage loans more affordable, and to provide supervisory and regulatory oversight for thrift institutions.

Fiction Books

Adler, David A.  The Babe & I.  Voyager Books, Harcourt Inc., 1999.

Curtis, Christopher P.  Bud, Not Buddy.  Random House Children’s Books, 2004.

Freedman, Russell.  Children of the Great Depression.  Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006.

Heidenry, John.  The Gashouse Gang.  Perseus Publishing, 2007.

Hunt, Irene.  No Promises in the Wind.  Penquin Press, 2002.

Jiles, Paulette.  Stormy Weather.  HarperCollins Publishers, 2007.

Paquette, Jack K.  A Boy’s Journey through the Great Depression.  Xlibris Corp, 2005. 

Steinbeck, John.  The Grapes of Wrath.  (Centennial edition).  Penquin Press, 2002.

Turkel, Studs.  Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression.  New Press, 2005.

Non-Fiction Books

Cohen, Robert.  Dear Mrs. Roosevelt:  Letters from Children of the Great Depression. University of North Carolina Press, 2002.

Dudley, William.  Examining Issues Through Political Cartoons: The Great Depression. Thomas Gale, 2004.

Dunar, Andrew J., and McBride, Dennis.  Building Hoover Dam:  An Oral History of the Great Depression. University of Nevada Press, 2001.

Egan, Timothy.  The Worst Hard Time:  The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.  Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005. 

Eichengreen, Barry.  Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939.  Oxford University Press, 1992.

Galbraith, John Kenneth.  The Great Crash:  A Laymen’s Guide to the Stock Market Crash of 1929.  Houghton Mifflin Co., 1997.

Gordon, Linda, and Okihiro, Gary Y. (eds.).  Dorothea Lange and the Censored Images of Japanese American Internment.  W. W. Norton & Co. Inc., 2006.

Group, G., and Hanes, Sharon M.  Great Depression and New Deal:  Primary Sources.  Gale Research Inc., 2002

Hoover, Dwight W.  A Good Day’s Work:  An Iowa Farm in the Great Depression.  Ivan R. Dee, 2007.

McElvaine, Robert S., editor.  Down and Out in the Great Depression.  University of North Carolina Press, 1983.

McElvaine, Robert S.  The Great Depression:  America 1929-1941.  Crown Publishing, 1993.

Young, William H., and Young, Nancy K.  Music of the Great Depression (American History through Music Series).  Greenwood Publishing Group Inc., 2005.