1. THE GREAT DEPRESSION and the GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE Photos by photographer Dorothea Lange

5. Any dam questions?

11. Hoover had little chance to be re-elected in 1932

12. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Elected President, 1932 on promise of getting the economy back on its feet. In 1933, after only a few weeks in office, he proposes a plan called The New Deal.

13. “ The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” In his first inaugural address, FDR soothed U.S. citizens with these words. FDR’s New Deal plan offered new federal programs to improve the economy and help those in need. He also begins a series of radio talks called the “Fireside Chats.” He spoke on the air about conditions in the nation and what the gov’t. was doing about them. These informal talks help make people feel more hopeful.

16. Social Security Act: - Gave benefits to the elderly and orphaned and to people injured in industrial accidents. Social Security is currently estimated to keep roughly 40% of all Americans age 65 or older out of poverty Most women and minorities were initially excluded from the benefits of unemployment insurance and old age pensions. Employment definitions reflected typical white male categories and patterns. Nearly two-thirds of all African Americans in the labor force, 70 to 80% in some areas in the South, and just over half of all women employed were not covered by Social Security. ] Amendments over the years have changed that.