Minnesota During the Great Depression

While some newspapers from 1929-1941 are available to search online at the Gale Family Library (see links below), many titles from this time are​ not yet digitized. To dig deeper, you'll need to browse the paper in our microfilm collection. Microfilm copies of MN newspapers are browsable by date.

Key dates related to Minnesota during the Great Depression include:

• Oct. 24, 1929: Beginning of stock market crash
• July 29, 1932: State convention and organization of the Minnesota Farmers' Holiday Association
• Nov. 10, 1933: Hormel Strike begins
• May 16, 1934: Trucker's Strike begins. View Research Guide for more dates and information. 
• July 5, 1939: WPA strike begins in Minnesota
• July 21, 1939: WPA strike ends
• May 12, 1933: Federal Emergency Relief Act passage
• June 16, 1933: National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 signed into law
• May 6, 1935: Works Progress Administration formed
• May 27, 1935: National Industrial Recovery Act declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court

The Minnesota Historical Society holds the world's largest collection of Minnesota newspapers, with dates ranging from 1849 to the present day.

Past issues of most newspaper titles are available on microfilm in the MNHS library, but there is also digital access to select newspapers. 

Use the links to the left to search for newspapers available at MNHS and to search within digitized newspaper collections.