Crash Evidence Files

The Human Cost of the Economic Collapse

Name:

Date:

The Investigation

The Great Depression wasn't just numbers on a chart—it was a series of choices and catastrophes that changed lives forever. Below are two pieces of evidence from the early 1930s. Analyze each source to understand the shift from prosperity to panic.

SOURCE A

A Survivor's Account of a "Bank Run"

"I remember my father coming home with a look I'd never seen before. He'd been standing in line at the First National for six hours. There were hundreds of people, some shouting, some just crying quietly. When he finally got to the window, the teller just put up a 'Closed' sign and walked away. Every penny he’d saved from twenty years in the mill was gone. Just like that. The bank was a stone building—it looked so safe—but it was empty."

— Oral history excerpt, anonymous textile worker (1931)

1. Based on the text, why were people "shouting" or "crying" in line?

2. What does the author mean when they say the bank "looked so safe—but it was empty"? How does this connect to the banking collapse?

SOURCE B

The Problem of Plenty

"The price of wheat has fallen below the cost of the seed to plant it. Our neighbors are burning corn for fuel because it is cheaper than coal. Meanwhile, in the cities, people are lining up for bread. We have too much food in the country and not enough money to buy it. The machines made us too fast, too efficient, and now we are being buried by our own harvest."

— Letter to the Editor, Kansas Farmer (1932)

3. What is the "irony" (the strange contradiction) described in this letter regarding food and hunger?

4. Which cause of the Great Depression does this source illustrate? Circle one and explain your choice below.

Stock Market Speculation Overproduction Tariffs

Connecting the Dots

Using the sources above and what you learned from the slides, answer the final question:

How did the transition from the "Easy Credit" of the 1920s contribute to the "Bank Runs" described in Source A?

Crash Evidence Worksheet

Crash Evidence Worksheet

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