Minnesota During the Great Depression

Collections of Images

WPA Public Works Improvements Photograph Collection
Includes views of various public works projects in seventeen Minnesota towns. Projects include road construction, street lighting, water utilities and towers, and sewage treatment plants.
MNHS call numberDigital Finding Aid

Minnesota Division of Parks and Recreation, Photographs, undated, 1930-1936
Assorted black and white photographs, mainly documenting buildings, scenery, personnel, and construction projects in state parks and related recreational and scenic areas. Many of the projects probably involved the Civilian Conservation Corps programs. 
MNHS call numberDigital finding aid

Sample Images at MNHS

Group of golfers; Rosella Ellis in foreground, Jimmy Slemmons, second from leftStudents working on heating ductwork , Dunwoody Institute, MinneapolisWorks Progress Administration workers from Duluth assigned to fight fire having lunch at camp, Pequaywan Lake regionKitchen, Salvation Army, 49 West Tenth Street, St. PaulIndian Civilian Conservation Corps crew on stockade site at end of first day's work, Grand PortageTwo women putting on show at the MidwayWork Progress Administration art school in attic of Federal Courts BuildingUsing tear gas during truckers' strike, MinneapolisStarving cow and horse were brought by farmers to the State Capitol to dramatize their demands for relief

Sample Artifacts at MNHS

Streetcar signPinn Family doll - Ty, fatherCity Fuel advertising cardHjalmar Petersen campaign window stickerOjibwe jingle dress"Bavarian Man" wall hangingThe Forest Ranger Game

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Search for images and artifacts at MNHS using our Collections Online system. Then filter the results using the options in the system's left-hand column. MNHS has a variety of images and artifacts available from the Great Depression; use the filters to narrow your results to this time period. 

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  • economic depression

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Gale Family Library
Minnesota Historical Society Library

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