U.S. National Archives Dust Bowl Oklahoma
photo credits: U.S. National Archives
 

The Great Depression:  History 499
A bibliography of selected works at the Western Washington University Libraries



Searching the Library Catalog

Search the Library Catalog to locate books, videos, microforms, and journals held at this library.   

Subject terms
  • united states-history-1933-1945
  • united states-social conditions-1919-1933, or 1933-1945
  • united states-politics and government-1933-1945
  • new deal depressions-1929-united states
  •  
    Keyword Search Terms
  • depression era
  • dust bowl
  • new deal
  • 1930’s and riots, strikes, labor unrest, protest, violence

  • Primary Source Materials

    Once you have identified the appropriate Library of Congress Subject Heading,  you can pair that heading with specific subheadings that identify materials as primary sources.

                                                               correspondence
                                                               diaries
                                                               early works to 1800
                                                               interviews
                                                               oral history
                                                               pamphlets
                                                               periodicals
                                                               personal narratives
                                                               sources
     
    "Primary Source Research at WWU" - Bibliographic guide prepared at the Western Libraries


    Reference Resources as Starting Points

    American Decades (v.4, 1930-1939)
    Reference  E 169.12 A419 v.4
    An encyclopedic look at each decade in American history, this work provides chronologies by year of major events, brief discussions on events, and includes references to primary sources and documents.

    The Annals of America:  v. 15. 1929-1939:  The Great Depression
    E173.A793

    The Depression and New Deal : a history in documents
    Reference  E806.M43 2000

    Encyclopedia of the Great Depression and the New Deal
    Reference  E806.C543 2001

    Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century
    Reference  E740.7.E53 1996  5 vols.

    Great Events From History:  North American Series
    Reference E45.G74 1997 4 vols.

    Harvard Guide to American History
    Reference  E178.H27 1974 2 vols.

    Herbert Hoover: A Bibliography of His Times and Presidency
    Reference   E801.B87 1991

    Historical Dictionary of the 1920s:  From World War I to the New Deal, 1919-1933
    Reference  E784.O44 1988

    Historical Dictionary of the New Deal:  From Inauguration To Preparation For War
    Reference  E806 .H58 1985



    Selected  Works

    The Age of Insecurity: America, 1920-1945; Interpretive Articles and Documentary Sources
    E784.D5

    American Dream in the Great Depression
    E 169.1 H32

    The American Police State: The Government Against the People
    JK 468.I6 W49

    Americans View Their Dust Bowl Experience
    (online access - Netlibrary)

    Angry Voices: Left-of-Center Politics in the New Deal Era
    E 806.M18

    Art For The Millions; Essays From the 1930s By Artists and Administrators of the WPA  Federal Art Project
    N8838.O25

    As We Saw the Thirties:  Essays On Social and Political Movements
    E 806.S553

    A Boyhood in the Dust Bowl, 1926-1934
    Online Access - Netlibrary

    Building Hoover Dam:  An Oral History of the Great Depression
    TC557.5.H6 D86 1993

    Bylines In Despair:  Herbert Hoover, the Great Depression and the U.S. News Media
    E 802.L52

    The Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942; A New Deal Case Study
    SD143.S27

    The Critical Press and the New Deal: The Press Versus Presidential Power, 1933-1938
    E806.B493 1993

    The Depression and the Urban West Coast, 1929-1933:  Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland
    HB37.17.1929. M85 1991

    Depression Decade; From New Era Through New Deal, 1929-1941
    HC103 .E25   v.9

    The Depression in the Southwest
    HB37.17.1929.D45

    Depression, Recovery, and War, 1929-1945 Series Documentary History of American Life
    E173.D58   v.7

    Down & Out in the Great Depression: Letters From the "Forgotten Man"
    E169.D746 1983

    The Dream and the Deal; The Federal Writers' Project, 1935-1943
    E175.4.W9 M3

    The Dust Bowl:  An Agricultural and Social History
    S441.H92

    Economics In the Long Run:  New Deal Theorists and Their Legacies, 1933-1993
    HB87.R67 1997

    Federal Art and National Culture: The Politics of Identity in New Deal America
     N8838.H37 1995

    Franklin D Roosevelt And The Era Of The New Deal /
    Series - search as title in Library Catalog for individual titles & call numbers

    Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932-1940
    E806.L475

    The Great Depression [video recording] 7 vols.
    Video E806 .G73 1993

    The Great Depression and the New Deal:  Legislative Acts In Their Entirety (1932-1933) and Statistical Data (1926-1946)
    KF 6011.A3

    Hammer and Hoe:  Alabama Communists During the Great Depression
    HX 91.A2 K45

    Hard Times; An Oral History of the Great Depression
    E806.T45

    Historical Materials in the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
    Gov. Doc. Haggard 2   AE 1.102:H 62/5

    Hitting Home: The Great Depression In Town and Country
    E 801.S7

    Main Street In Crisis: The Great Depression and the Old Middle Class on the Northern Plains
    E 801.S7

    A Nation In Torment:  The Great American Depression
    E 801.E7

    The New Deal; A Documentary History
     E806.L478 1968b

    The New Deal: America's Response to the Great Depression
     E806 .E456 2000

    The New Deal and World Affairs; A Chronicle of International Affairs, 1933-1945
    E806 .N365

    The New Deal Fine Arts Projects: A Bibliography, 1933-1992
    Ref. N8837 .K35 1994

    New Deal Thought
    E806.Z5

    Official Images:  New Deal Photography
    TR820.5.O33 1987

    Portraits from the New Deal,  published for the National Portrait Gallery by the Smithsonian Institution Press
    Gov. Doc. Haggard  SI 11.2:P 83

    Posters of the WPA
    Oversize NC1807.U5 D46 1987

    The Shattered Dream: Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression
    E 801.S6

    Strike Songs of the Depression
    ML3780 .L96 2001

    Voices of Protest:  Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression
    E 806.B75

    WPA Artwork in Non-federal Repositories.
    Gov Information  GS 6.2:W 89x

    The WPA Historical Records Survey: A Guide to the Unpublished Inventories, Indexes, and Transcripts
    E173.H543 1980



    Locating Biographical Information
    There are several methods you can use to locate biographical information.

         1. Search the Library Catalog

  • If you need to find a person to research:
  •   2. Use Biographical Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
  • American National Biography / Reference CT213.A68 1999    24 vols.
  • Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774-1977 / Reference E176.B576
  • Dictionary of American Biography / Reference E176.D56
  •      3.  Biographical Indexes
         4.  Biographical Anthologies
    These are often indexed by biographical indexes such as the BGMI, or through the Library Catalog, and include brief paragraphs or short essays on many personalities, usually arranged alphabetically by name, by time period, or by career.
         5.  Web Resources Return to top


    Search Databases
    From the Library homepage, select Search Databases, then Browse Indexes & Databases Alphabetically.

    America: History & Life  (1964 - )
    A bibliographic database indexing scholarly literature on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistoric times to the present. The scope includes citations and abstracts of journal articles, dissertations, as well as book and media reviews.

    Biography & Genealogy Master Index (BGMI) (campus access)
    Indexes current and retrospective biographical dictionaries. Check our Library Catalog for holdings of books cited.

    Index to Book Reviews in Historical Periodicals   Reference  D 1.I5, 1972-1977

    JSTOR
    Digitized, complete full-text backfiles of core scholarly journals across the disciplines.

    New York Times Index (1851 to Present)   Wilson 2W  Microform Index  AI21.N48

    PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) (1972-)
    Contains over 400,000 citations and  abstracts of journal articles, books, book chapters, conference proceedings, government documents, and statistical directories. Includes the PAIS Bulletin (1976-90), PAIS Foreign Language Index (1972-90). PAIS International In Print (1915-), the Directory of Periodicals/Publishers (1990), are located in the library,  Reference HB1.A1 P823.

    Poole’s Index to Periodical Literature   Reference  AI3.P7.1958  1802-1906.

    Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890 -1982) contains comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America.

    Readers Guide to Periodical Literature  Reference  AI3.R4, 1900 to date.
    Provides retrospective coverage with print edition.

    Sociological Abstracts (1963- )
    The electronic version of Sociological Abstracts and Social Planning, Policy, and Development Abstracts (SOPODA), this indexes and abstracts the world's literature in sociology and related disciplines.  In print, the Library holds Sociological Abstracts, Wilson 1 East, 1953-1993.

    Writings on American History , 1902; 1903; 1912; 1918-1937; 1943; 1948-1961; 1962/73- Ref. E178 .W955

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    Web Sites

    New Deal Network "On-Line Resources on the Great Depression and New Deal"  - meta site
         "The New Deal Network is an educational web site sponsored by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and the Institute for Learning Technologies at Teachers College/Columbia University.

    America From the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs  From the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945.

    America in the 1930s
          "America in the 1930s was created in June 1998 for the American Studies Program at the University of Virginia. The project views the 1930s through the lenses of its films, radio programs, literature, journalism, museums, exhibitions, architecture, art, and other forms of cultural expression."

    American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940.

    "Been Here So Long": Selections from the WPA American Slave Narratives

    Center for New Deal Studies
          Roosevelt University,  contains a book collection on the Roosevelt's and the New Deal, photographs, videotapes, oral histories, manuscript collections, and ephemera.

    Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
         "The Avalon Project (Yale Law School) contains digital documents (pre-eighteenth century to the modern period) relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government, linking to supporting documents expressly referred to in the body of the text.  Inclusion of controversial documents does not indicate endorsement of their contents nor sympathy with the ideology, doctrines, or means employed by their authors. They are included for balance and because in some cases they are by our definition a supporting document."

    "The Library of Congress  - AMERICAN MEMORY: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library"

    The Making of America
         "A digital library of primary sources in American social history from the Antebellum Period through Reconstruction."

    National Archives and Records Administration
         "Includes documents of our government -- the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation, and other important documents."

    "A New Deal for the Arts," Online Exhibit of the National Archives

    Voices From The Dust Bowl - American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

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    Page Updated: 02.12.2006
    Margaret Fast / Robyn Adcox
    WWU Libraries
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