This collection uses primary sources to explore John Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

History holds many economic lessons. The Great Depression, in particular, is an event that provides the opportunity to teach and learn a great deal about economics-whether you're studying the economic reasons that the Depression took place, the factors that helped it come to an end or the impact on Americans who lived through it. This curriculum is designed to provide teachers with economic lessons that they can share with their students to help them understand this significant experience in U.S. history.

This site is a compilation of the captions that appear in the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. What results is a thorough look at Hoover's life. Divided into nine parts to make navigation easier. Also includes fact sheet for general overview. Provides information on his wife, Lou Henry Hoover.

[Free Registration/Login Required] Johnathan Halloway presents a long lecture covering civil rights from the 1920's and 1930's in the United States. Within this presentation, Halloway identifies the historical events and the national climate leading up to and during the era featured. [2:13:47]

[Free Registration/Login Required] A very interesting essay showing how the Great Depression affected women as housewives and as employees. See how many New Deal programs discriminated against women, and find out who supported women's issues.

This 14-minute video lesson gives a basic overview of U.S. history from reconstruction to the Great Depression. [History playlist: Lesson 3 of 26]

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

Offers a concise overview of life during the Great Depression and the living conditions of Hoovervilles.

How do historians analyze sources from the past? Khan Academy's historian Kim Kutz Elliott and grammarian David Rheinstrom continue their conversation about how to interpret Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address. [13:48]

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

What's the difference between a primary source and a secondary source? Khan Academy's historian Kim Kutz Elliott and grammarian David Rheinstrom discuss reading sources by examining Franklin Delano Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address. [12:34]

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

Students align original FSA photographs from the 1930s and the author's own journal entries, to trace parallel elements John Steinbeck then incorporated into passages in The Grapes of Wrath.

In this lesson, students gain a sense of the dramatic effect of FDR's voice on his audience, see the scope of what he was proposing in these first two "Fireside Chats," and make an overall analysis of why the series of speeches were so successful.

This lesson engages students in the debate over the Social Security Act that engrossed the nation during the 1930s.

The Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal recovery and relief program provided more than a quarter of a million young black men with jobs during the Depression. By examining primary source documents students analyze the impact of this program on race relations in America and assess the role played by the New Deal in changing them.

This lesson shows students how broadly the Lend-Lease Act of March 1941 empowered the federal government"”particularly the President"”and asks students to investigate how FDR promoted the program in speeches and then in photographs.

A collection of American prints and drawings from 1912-1948 indicating a sympathy for the condition of working people.

Excellent information on the textile mills of the 1920s and 30s. Problems such as production and demand, strikes, and the General Strike of 1934 are discussed. Included are first person accounts.

A site for reading all about the National Industrial Recovery Act and view the complete transcript of the original text.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the New Deal. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Companion website to the PBS documentary on Jesse H. Jones, real estate mogul, activist for the Red Cross, head of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and Secretary of Commerce. Read about how he served his nation under President Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt to help bring the United States out of the Great Depression.

This video [6:19] from American Masters: "The Day Carl Sandburg Died" examines Carl Sandburg's epic poem, "The People, Yes." Published at the height of the Great Depression, Sandburg was inspired to write "The People, Yes" for those hit hardest by unemployment and poverty. In this video, literary figures, friends, family, and Sandburg himself discuss the importance of this poem when it was published in 1936, and why it still matters today. Discussion questions are included.