A Note Regarding Resources: Items are listed on this page that enhance work with the topic discussed. Some older items, especially, may include dated practices and ideas that are no longer generally accepted. Resources reflecting current practices are noted whenever possible
Student Reading
Glassman, Bruce. The Crash of ’29 And The New Deal. Morristown, New Jersey: Silver Burdett Co., 1986.
This easy-to-read book includes good background information for the Depression and excellent photographs. The index is limited.
Katz, William Loren. An Album of the Great Depression. New York: Franklin Watts, 1978.
Each topic is labeled giving this book an easy-to-use format for young readers. There are numerous photographs to give the reader a visual picture of the time.
Schraff, Anne E. The Great Depression and the New Deal: America’s Economic Collapse And Recovery. New York: Franklin Watts, 1990.
This is an excellent history for advanced and adult readers. The author includes a good bibliography, timeline, footnotes, and index.
General Sources
Garraty, John A. The Great Depression. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986.
This book provides an inquiry into the Great Depression on a worldwide scale. Viewpoints include both contemporaries and present-day historians.
Lane, James B. “City of The Century”: A History of Gary, Indiana. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978.
This book is a general introduction to Gary’s history with special emphasis on individuals, both ordinary and famous, who are a part of Gary’s story.
Lane, James B., and Ronald D. Cohen. Gary, Indiana: A Pictorial History. Norfolk, VA: The Donning Company Publishers, 1983.
This work provides an excellent visual resource of Gary from 1906 to 1981.
McElvaine, Robert S. The Great Depression. New York: Times Books, 1984.
This book concentrates on the Great Depression in the United States. It provides some social and cultural history of the time, and also, provides some comparisons to the 1980s.
Mohl, Raymond A., and Neil Betten. Steel City: Urban and Ethnic Patterns in Gary, Indiana, 1906-1950. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1986.
This is an excellent resource on the ethnic populations of Gary.
Moore, Powell A. The Calumet Region. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1959.
This book provides a history of the Calumet Region from its beginning to the close of 1933, including economic, social, and cultural as well as political affairs.
Riley, Walter J. The Story of Unemployment Relief Work in Lake County, Indiana,1932.
A concise, easy-to-read report on the massive 1932 relief effort in Lake County.
Señoras of Yesteryear. Mexican American Harbor Lights. [Indiana Harbor]: Señoras of Yesteryear, 1992.
This book provides interesting information on Mexicans in the Calumet Region.
Steel Shavings, Vol. 3, 1977.
This issue is titled Families of the Calumet Region During the Depression of the 1930s. This useful periodical is published by Indiana University Northwest, Gary.
Of Special Interest
The Indiana Humanities Council has materials on the Great Depression in their Resource Center. Several are listed below. Call 317-638-1500.
Making a Better Indiana: WPA, Labor and Leisure. 26 minute slide tape.
America Lost and Found. 58 minute video.
Artists at Work: A Film on New Deal Art Projects. 35 minute VHS tape.
“Steelmaker/Steeltown.” Exhibit with 10 minute video.
“Back Home Again: FSA Photographers in Indiana, 1935-1943.” Exhibit.
Entire Issue
Dreams and Despair: The Early Years of the Great Depression in Gary, Indiana