Great Depression Research - Mrs. Hart and Mr. Coffill

You are getting ready to read Bud, Not Buddy and, in order to learn more about the times in which it takes place,  you're selecting something interesting to research.  Here are some places to look for information that will impress even Mrs. Hart and Mr. Coffill:


*First of all, try an ENCYCLOPEDIA.  You know.....those sets of books that make a picture when they're put on the shelf correctly.  Look up your subject and you be amazed at what you'll find!  This is a great starting place and will give you some names, places, and terms to look up.


*BOOKS....Look!  There's a cart FULL of books!  Some have even come over from the high school, so there are quite a few.  Hint:  if it's a general book on the 1930s, use the INDEX.  It's in the back and lists the topics and the page numbers where you can find information about the topic.


MEL - Hurray for MEL (Michigan Electronic Library)!  This is the VERY best place to go for research.  There are resources for everyone from preschool through college!  There are many databases to choose from, but here are direct links to a couple that will really help with research for this project (bonus: if you use MEL database articles, the citation is included at the end....just copy and paste!):


          InfoTrac Junior :  Lots of articles, books, magazines, and multimedia 
        resources!


        Kids InfoBits : Although this looks like it's for little kids, there is some
        really excellent information here, including copyright-free pictures.

        ELibrary : OK, OK, we know the graphics are a little weird, but this is  
        an EXCELLENT resource!




WEB SITES:  Here are some Mrs-McCaffrey-Approved Web sites. Believe me when I tell you that THESE are good web sites, with accurate and reliable information. To go directly to the site, just click on the first part of each entry (different color):


American Experience - The Great Depression:  This is a PBS site, with links to many articles, lots of pictures, and firsthand accounts of life during the 1930s Depression.  Here are links to more specific topics:
     *Surviving the Dust Bowl
     *Stock Market Crash of 1929
     *Riding the Rails (rail riding)
      *Orphan Train
     
Great Depression from the FDR Presidential Museum (good information on the New Deal here)


Stock Market Crash from PBS Series "The First Measured Century."


1930s Dust Bowl from the Cimaron Heritage Center in Oklahoma.


The Migrant Experience - From the Library of Congress


Foster Care History from the Adoption History Project


Hoovervilles in Washington State (although this focuses on Washington, there is some good general information here about Hoovervilles).


Overview of Great Depression : Good article with information about several topics, including unemployment and labor unions.


Jazz Roots - Extensive amount of information about the history of jazz.


American Cultural History 1930-1939 : Good links to many different topics.  This is a "pathfinder" from Lone Star College, so there are lists of books from their library that we do not have access to, but there are very good links to Internets sources, too.


Labor Union History:  Wow!  Brand new resource from MEL!  The Walter Reuther Collection has a lot of information about the history of labor unions, which were really important in Michigan, where Bud, Not Buddy takes place.