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Of course the numbers do not capture what life was like for those who lived and suffered during the Great Depression. I remember my own great-grandmother telling me stories of how my great-grandfather was unable to find work and forced to move back to his father's farm. They were one of the fortunate ones; while they had little money, they had a home and were able to grow their own food and meet their basic needs.
Below are a few firsthand accounts and photographs from the time. As you review these, consider what life might have been like for Americans during the Depression and what hardships they faced.
One of the most iconic images of the Great Depression is of Florence Thompson pictured below. This image has come to symbolize the Depression. Like many families unable to find employment, the Thompsons migrated to find work. The picture was taken were the family of seven children were camped out to pick peas as migrant farm workers (their camp is pictured below). Dorothea Lange the photographer wrote the following about Florence:
"I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was 32. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food." Dorothea Lange, photographer
Florence Thomas
During the Great Depression many families became homeless. Shanty towns or tent cities sprung up in desolate areas outside American cities were hundreds or thousands of shacks were made for temporary residences for those left unemployed. These shantytowns were commonly called Hoovervilles after President Hoover, who many blamed for their condition. A "Hoover blanket" was an old newspaper used as blanketing and a "Hover flag" was an empty pocket turned inside out.
Unable to find work and with savings wiped out by stock losses and bank failures, many Americans struggled to find enough food survive. The following is an excerpt from testimony at Senate Committee Hearing 1932:
One woman said she borrowed 50 cents from a friend and bought stale bread for 3 and a half cents per loaf, and that is all they had for eleven days except for one or two meals. . . . One woman went along the docks and picked up vegetables that fell from the wagons. Sometimes the fish vendors gave her fish at the end of the day. On two different occasions this family was without food for a day and a half. . . . Another family did not have food for two days. Then the husband went out and gathered dandelions and the family lived on them.
Below are pictures of what were called "bread lines", were unemployed people waited in line for food and handouts.
Hooverville Home in Seattle
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