Modern History Sourcebook

This site, maintained at Fordham University, include manuscripts from the Federal Writers's Project (1936-1940) and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inaugural address. This site provides a good overview to the era.

FDR Fireside Chats

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library contains the full-text transcripts of 30 radio addresses made by FDR from the White House between 1933 and 1944.

FDR Public Speeches

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library has a digital speech collection of FDR's speeches.

Social Security Administration History

Part of the official website of the US Social Security Administration, this site contains an extensive collection of materials regarding the Social Security Administration's institutional and policy history.

New Deal Virginia

“The Ground Beneath Our Feet,” a series of documentary films and websites, explores the history of Virginia since the Civil War. This site contains materials relating to New Deal programs in Virginia, particularly rural electrification and the creation of Shenandoah National Park.

Work Progress Administration (WPA) in Georgia

This image database documents the numerous projects undertaken by the Works Progress Administration in Georgia.

Images from the Dust Bowl

The Wind Erosion Research Unit of the U.S.D.A. maintains this website devoted to the study and prevention of soil erosion. See the most famous images from the Dust Bowl and a map of effected areas. For an explanatory article visit EH.net, an economic history resource.

Newspaper Ads, 1911-1955

The Ad*Access Project, funded by the Duke Endowment “Library 2000” Fund, organized a database of over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines. The database categories include Beauty and Hygiene, Transportation, Radio, Television, and World War II.

Photos from Great Depression to World War II

The Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Photography Collection shows Americans across the nation during the Great Depression and WWII and focuses first on rural life and the impacts of the Great Depression, farm mechanization, and the Dust Bowl, and the mobilization effort for World War II.

American Life Histories, 1936-1940

The Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress holds nearly 3000 documents written and compiled by the Folklore Project staff of the Federal Writers' Project. Over three hundred writers collected the life histories of Depression Era Americans.

Voices from the Dust Bowl

The American Folklore Center holds an online presentation of a multi-format ethnographic field collection documenting the everyday life of residents in Farm Security Administration (FSA) migrant work camps in central California, 1940-1941. This collection consists of audio recordings, photographs, manuscript materials, publications, and ephemera.

Built in America: American Building from 1933 to present

The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) collections of the Library of Congress documents American achievements in architecture, engineering, and design -- including examples as diverse as the Pueblo of Acoma, houses, windmills, one-room schools, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Frank Lloyd Wright's designs.

The New Deal Stage: Selections from the Federal Theater Project, 1935-1939

This collection contains over 13,000 images of stage and costume designs, still photographs, posters, and scripts for productions from the Federal Theatre Project, one of five arts-related projects established during FDR's first term under the Works Progress Administration.

The Southern States Recording Trip, 1939

From the American Folklore Center at the Library of Congress, The John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip holds a multi-format ethnographic field collection, including nearly 700 sound recordings, fieldnotes, dust jackets, and other manuscripts documenting a three-month, 6,502-mile trip through the southern United States.

California Gold: Northern California Folk Music From the 1930s

The WPA California Folk Music Project is a multi-format ethnographic field collection that includes sound recordings, still photographs, drawings, and written documents from a variety of communities in Northern California. The collection comprises 35 hours of folk music recorded in twelve languages representing numerous ethnic groups and 185 musicians.

Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943

By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943 collection consists of 908 original silkscreen, lithograph, and woodcut posters designed to publicize health and safety programs, cultural programs including art exhibitions, theatrical, and musical performances, travel and tourism, and educational programs.