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The United States in Depression and World War, 1930 to 1945

 

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The New Deal Network  Maintained by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, this site offers a comprehensive set of materials on FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt, the New Deal, and the Depression and the lives of agricultural and industrial workers, New Deal art, children’s experiences, the TVA, etc.  The site also includes lesson plans on the New Deal for teachers in grades 9-12.

 
 
America from the Great Depression to WWII  This Library of Congress website contains a rich set of images of agricultural and industrial sites, the laborers who worked in these areas, housing, every day activities and efforts to support the war from the Farm Security Administration and other sources.

 
 
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum Extensive collection of sources on the Depression, the New Deal, World War II, Democratic Party politics, the atomic bomb and personal reflections. Excellent links to teacher development workshops and curriculum guides. 

 
 
Internment and the Supreme Court  FindLaw site: Korematsu v United States In this 6-3 decision handed down in 1944 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government and against Fred Korematsu. Korematsu was previously tried and convicted for refusing to report to an Assembly Center and had appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. This case affirmed that the government's need to combat espionage outweighed Korematsu's civil rights. 

 
 
NARA: WWII Propaganda Posters  The National Archives on-line exhibit, "Powers of Persuasion," contains a rich collection of posters from WWII. 

 
 
San Francisco Exhibition  This site contains The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco's Japanese Internment Exhibition.  There are primary source images of life in Japanese internment camps, several editions of the San Francisco News that give accounts of Japanese internment efforts in March and April 1942 and official documents from military officials.

 
 
The Internment of Japanese Children  This PBS site, based on the PBS documentary, “Children of the Camps,” contains historical documents, such as Executive Order 9066, and information on the children of the Japanese Internment Camps.

 
 
Truman Presidential Library, World War II Covers a number of topics with sources, including letters, presidential addresses and the decision to use atomic weapons.  If teachers click on the Education option in the menu at the top of the page, they will find lesson plans on topics such as the Berlin Airlift, etc.