Byron Gross and Sam Weber: What was something people wished for?

Byron (born in 1914) and Sam (born in 1913) talk about President Roosevelt’s fireside chats, how the crisis affected them and their fellow St. Louisans, and lessons they learned from the Great Depression.

In this segment, Byron and Sam talk about things people wished for during the Depression.

Margaret Barrett:

Margaret (born in 1917) talks about bank closings, struggles in farming communities, her jobs and salary, going to school during the Depression, and the wonder of modern conveniences like electricity, indoor plumbing and the radio.

Raymond and Anna Marie McIntyre:

Raymond (born in 1923) and Anna Marie (born in 1927) discuss how neighbors and family helped each other during the Depression, entertainment during hard times, their jobs and salaries and transportation options.


The Great Depression Curriculum Interview series, recorded in 2008, is made up of conversations with St. Louis-area residents who lived through the Great Depression. The interviews provide students with first-person accounts of life between 1929 and 1940.

Teachers can get students talking about the videos with discussion questions (pdf) based on the interviews.

For additional Great Depression-related multimedia resources, from newsreels to oral histories, visit our audio and video collections.

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