Students today have experienced the first recession of the 21st century, but they may not be able to compare their emotions and the daily consequences of this economic event to those of the people who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The first lesson in the unit provides a method for students to understand the Depression through the eyes of those who lived through it by examining the perspectives of a Philadelphia bank director, the bank's depositors and the bank's employees. The second lesson allows students to continue to understand the impact of bank failures on the public during the Depression while also allowing them to practice important ELA skills. The sources for the unit are drawn from the collections of HSP's Albert M. Greenfield Papers and Philadelphia Record collection.