The Great Depression was not merely a financial crisis but a seismic global event that reshaped the 20th century. Beginning with the infamous stock market crash of 1929 and stretching throughout the 1930s, this period saw the world stagger under unparalleled economic hardship.
Defining the Great Depression solely by the financial panic that gripped the world is to ignore the broader human story.
Millions were forced to confront the stark realities of hunger, unemployment, and unprecedented social upheaval, from the dusty despair of the American Dust Bowl to the rise of shantytowns or “Hoovervilles.”
Two young boys sit on their porch, 1935. Hooverville built in Central Park. Civilian Conservation Corps members repair a truck in Yosemite.A bank run, 1933.Kids line up for free soup and breadHomeless man sleeps by the docks, 1935. A soup line ran by Al Capone.The homeless sit outside of their huts in Manhattan, NY.A poor family during The Great DepressionHanding out food packages to the needy in New York CitySalvation Army soup kitchenSharecroppersA family of migrants say grace before lunch.The iconic children for sale photoTwo boys play a game of golf. Waiting in line for assistance.Waiting in line for food at a Franciscan church.A dust storm in Stratford, Texas. April 18, 1935.The iconic photo by Dorthea Lange of a migrant mother. Heading to California in search of work.Waiting for foodA young girl at a migrant camp.A family poses outside of their shack in Klamath Falls.A young boy shows off his bike. Photo by Dorthea LangePublic works project in Washington DCA dugout homeA juke joint in a sharecropper camp.Children eat BBQ
