The New Deal was a collection of public projects and resources started by the Franklin Roosevelt administration that helped bring America out of the Great Depression. He first mentioned the New Deal in his 1933 inaugural address. This is also where Roosevelt spoke his famous quote, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself".

The WPA was one program that put Americans to work, as was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), that put men to work in over 800 parks. Many of the pathways and shelters in our National Parks, including the Grand Canyon National Park, were built during this program. Programs that still exist today like Social Security, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDCI), were started thanks to the New Deal.

Thanks to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the arts were included in the WPA projects with the program Federal Project Number One. Over 100 community arts centers were developed, and budding artists like Mark Rothko, Diego Rivera, Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, and her husband Jackson Pollock, were supported as they created public murals and sculptures throughout the country.

The Great Depression coincided with the Dust Bowl, a years long drought in the American farming states. Crops were not able to grow, and the fertile soil turned to dust. You can watch the Ken Burns documentary The Dust Bowl, and look at the photographs of Dorothea Lange ,who documented the people who migrated during the Dust Bowl. Her most famous photograph is of a migrant mother holding her three children. I highly recommend the book Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, it's a story about a girl who lives through the Dust Bowl. The What Was The Great Depression does a great job explaining all of the elements of the Great Depression, including the Dust Bowl.

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