AllMovie

This program is part of an educational series that chronicles the story of the development of social, cultural, and political trends in America in the 20th century. This segment looks at the 1930s, a period defined by the Great Depression. The program examines the causes and effects of worldwide economic difficulties, and how they played out in the United States. The impact on the American psyche was devastating. Archival film footage and photographs show important images, from the Dust Bowl to bread lines, as well as the inspiring persona of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the hopeful exhibitions at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. The program recounts how his economic reforms, as well as the build up for World War II, ended the economic hard times that characterized life in the '30s. The program was produced for NBC's documentary series Project 20.