Recommended Website:
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt
The Great Depression of the 1930’s resulted in an effort to help thousands of Americans in need. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt struck a New Deal for America and encouraged the development of programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Tennessee Valley Authority in an effort to employ people and get them back on their feet again.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, so accessible to the people, received requests for food, clothing, money and assistance from many, many children throughout the country. At this website you can read about the impact of the Great Depression on kids by reading their letters and her replies. There are also lesson plans, photos, links to resources for continued study and much more. This is one of the more unusual and really helpful history sites I’ve seen because it is based on primary source documents and you experience history through the first-hand account of the children living it. Highly recommended to enhance any study of U.S. history.
