American History Since 1877

Resources selected to supplement American History Since 1877 (HSTY 202) taught at Tompkins Cortland Community College.

The Great Depression

Books in Our Library

• Down & Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the "Forgotten Man" [E169 .D746 1983]
• Eudora Welty: Photographs by Eudora Welty (1909-2001) [TR654 .W422 1989] Volume contains photographs of the rural South during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, as Welty turned the lens on the Great Depression and the New Deal, especially during her work for the Works Progress Administration. Book includes an interview with Eudora Welty. Primary source.
• The Great Depression: America in the 1930s [E806 .W34 1993]
• The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941 [E806 .M43 1984]
• Hard Times; an Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel [E806 .T45]
• Harlem Photographs, 1932-1940 [F128.68.H3 S57 1990]
- Primary source. Text from Federal Writers' Project
• The Invisible Scar [HC106.3 .B5]
• Middletown in Transition; a Study in Cultural Conflicts [HN57 .L84 ]
• Since Yesterday: the Nineteen-thirties in America, September 3, 1929-September 3, 1939 [E741 .A66 1965]
• Such as Us: Southern Voices of the Thirties [HN79.A13 S87] - Primary source.

Don't hesitate to ask a reference librarian for help in locating books and media in the TC3 Library Catalog. Material not owned by our library can be located and borrowed through the SUNY Union Catalog, a single search interface for 62 SUNY library catalogs and WorldCat, a wordwide database of library books and materials.

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)

Try these suggested subject headings to find books on The Great Depression in the TC3 Library Catalog, the SUNY Union Catalog and WorldCat.

• Depression, 1933, United States
• Depression, 1929, United States
• United States, Economic conditions, 1918-1945
• United States, History, 1933-1945
• United States, History, 1919-1933

Other Media

You can request audio-visual materials from Media Services.

• The Great Depression [sound recording] [Media HB3717 .G7]
  "Outlines the causes for the stock market crash of 1929. Details what occurred, how the United States responded, and how the crash altered economic and social structures."
• Steinbeck's Losers [Filmstrip] [Media PS3537 .T3234].
  "Critically interprets John Steinbeck's depression novels: Of Mice and Men, In Dubious Battle, and Grapes of Wrath. Includes photographs of Steinbeck and scenes of the American depression of the 1930s."

History Journals in Electronic Format

History-related electronic journals are available to TC3 students and staff in our electronic databases and in our list of full-text electronic journals, also listed by subject (History & Archaeology).

Web Resources

• American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940
  A collection of "life histories ... written by the staff of the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers' Project for the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936-1940." The Library of Congress collection includes 2,900 documents representing the work of over 300 writers from 24 states.
• America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
  "Website contains images from the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection...Created by a group of U.S. government photographers, the images show Americans in every part of the nation. In the early years, the project emphasized rural life and the negative impact of the Great Depression, farm mechanization, and the Dust Bowl. In later years, the photographers turned their attention to the mobilization effort for World War II."
• By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943
  This website contains "original posters produced from 1936 to 1943 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal...[the posters] were designed to publicize health and safety programs; cultural programs including art exhibitions, theatrical, and musical performances; travel and tourism; educational programs; and community activities in seventeen states and the District of Columbia."
• Flint Sit-Down Strike
  Website tells the story of the 1936-37 strike inside the General Motors plant at Flint, Michigan. It includes "digitized audio files, which contain the actual voices of former sit-downers reminiscing about their experiences."
• FDR Cartoon Archive
  "The collection ... consists mainly of newspaper clippings and approximately 30,000 political cartoons dating from 1932 to 1943."
• Studs Terkel: Conversations with America: Recordings from Hard Times
  Recordings of personal interviews for Terkel's book on the Great Depression.