25 vintage photos show how desperate and desolate America looked during the Great Depression, the last time the unemployment rate was as high as it is today

Natalie ColarossiMay 9, 2020, 16:38 IST

Thousands of unemployed people are gathered in a food line in Times Square during the Great Depression.AP Photo

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the US economy, and unemployment levels have spiked to the highest levels since the Great Depression.
The April jobs report showed the unemployment rate spiked to 14.7%. Over the last 7 weeks, more than 33 million people have filed jobless claims.
Americans haven't felt this level of economic tragedy in nearly a century. These photos reveal what life looked like during the worst economic crisis in US history.
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During the Great Depression, the most tragic economic collapse in US history, more than 15 million Americans were left jobless and desperate for an income.

By 1932, nearly one in four Americans were out of a job, and by 1933, unemployment levels reached an estimated 25%.

Though today's unemployment rate has yet to spike that high, the coronavirus pandemic has left the US economy in its most vulnerable state in almost a century.

The jobs report the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday found that the unemployment rate spiked to 14.7% in April. Over the past seven weeks, more than 33 million Americans have filed jobless claims.

These photos reveal how desolate the country looked during the Great Depression, when food and job lines stretched for blocks.

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Today's coronavirus pandemic has led to the highest levels of unemployment since the Great Depression. So far, more than 33 million Americans have lost their jobs.

Residents line up to receive food distributed by the National Guard at Chelsea City Hall on April 17, 2020 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Scott Eisen/Getty Images

Source: Business Insider

But the Great Depression had lasting effects on the US. Its aftermath fundamentally changed the relationship between Americans and government, and led to the development of more government programs, responsibility, and involvement.

Thousands of unemployed people are gathered in a food line in Times Square during the Great Depression. AP Photo

Source: PBS

But the Great Depression had lasting effects on the US. Its aftermath fundamentally changed the relationship between Americans and government, and led to the development of more government programs, responsibility, and involvement.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in 1933, and he shepherded the New Deal through Congress. The set of emergency relief programs, work programs, and large-scale government reforms helped boost the economy, and the US's entrance into World War II in 1941 jumpstarted American manufacturing.

FDR. Library of Congress

Sources:PBS, Library of Congress

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in 1933, and he shepherded the New Deal through Congress. The set of emergency relief programs, work programs, and large-scale government reforms helped boost the economy, and the US's entrance into World War II in 1941 jumpstarted American manufacturing.

Sources:PBS, Library of Congress

Suicide rates increased during the Great Depression, peaking when unemployment levels reached a high point.

A view of men gathered in a common sleeping area during the Great Depression in Cincinnati, ca.1930s. Paul Briol/Cincinnati Museum Center/Getty Images

Source: US National Library of Medicine

The Depression had a significant impact on the psychology of jobless men, who struggled to provide for their families as cultural breadwinners. Some turned to alcohol to cope, while others became abusive or gave up hope altogether.

A down-and-out sleeps rough in the notorious Skid Row area - a street in the Bowery, New York City in 1935. B. Newman/Three Lions/Getty Images

Source: University of Houston

The Depression had a significant impact on the psychology of jobless men, who struggled to provide for their families as cultural breadwinners. Some turned to alcohol to cope, while others became abusive or gave up hope altogether.

At its highest peak, the unemployment rate hit an estimated 25% in 1933.

A man wears a sign on his back outlining his unemployment. Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Source: University of Houston

Over the course of the depression, authorities deported an estimated 400,000 Mexican Americans, over fears of workplace competition. But many of those people were American citizens.

A migrant Mexican field worker's home on the edge of a frozen pea field in California's Imperial Valley CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Source: University of Houston

Over the course of the depression, authorities deported an estimated 400,000 Mexican Americans, over fears of workplace competition. But many of those people were American citizens.

African Americans and Mexican Americans were hit hardest during the depression. In 1930, half of black workers were unemployed. That same year, 70% of the black population in Charleston, South Carolina, was unemployed, and 75% of black workers in Memphis lost their jobs.

An African-American family near Southern Pines, North Carolina. MPI/Getty Images

Source: University of Houston, PBS

African Americans and Mexican Americans were hit hardest during the depression. In 1930, half of black workers were unemployed. That same year, 70% of the black population in Charleston, South Carolina, was unemployed, and 75% of black workers in Memphis lost their jobs.

Source: University of Houston, PBS

Children were adversely affected, as well. An estimated 200,000 vagrant children wandered the streets of America due to the break-up and collapse of their families.

Children carry picket signs at a demonstration for the Workers Alliance during the Great Depression. Minnesota Historical Society/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Source: University of Houston

The Depression also had a negative impact on family life. Many couples delayed their marriage or postponed having children. Throughout the decade, separation rates grew, and by 1940 there were 1.5 million American women living apart from their husbands.

A poor mother of seven children is photographed in California. Library of Congress

Source: University of Houston

The Depression also had a negative impact on family life. Many couples delayed their marriage or postponed having children. Throughout the decade, separation rates grew, and by 1940 there were 1.5 million American women living apart from their husbands.

Desperate Americans threatened with hunger and starvation began organizing marches and labor riots.

Over 10,000 unemployed people join in a "hunger march" as they mass at the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District to listen to the exhortations of Communist speakers, in Los Angeles, Calif., Oct. 4, 1933. AP

Source: Library of Congress

But Americans grew angry, and Hoover became widely blamed for the economic turmoil. Impoverished people living in shantytowns across the country started referring to them as "Hoovervilles," and empty pockets turned inside out were known as "Hoover flags."

A Hooverville in Seattle, Washington. Getty Images

Source: PBS

But Americans grew angry, and Hoover became widely blamed for the economic turmoil. Impoverished people living in shantytowns across the country started referring to them as "Hoovervilles," and empty pockets turned inside out were known as "Hoover flags."

At the beginning of the Depression, President Herbert Hoover largely dismissed the stock market crash as a "passing incident in our national lives." He assured the country that the event would last no longer than 60 days, and did not believe in offering federal aid to the impoverished.

US President Herbert Hoover appeals to the nation as he speaks during a conference of welfare and relief mobilization in Washington, D.C., Sept. 15, 1932. AP

Source: PBS

At the beginning of the Depression, President Herbert Hoover largely dismissed the stock market crash as a "passing incident in our national lives." He assured the country that the event would last no longer than 60 days, and did not believe in offering federal aid to the impoverished.

Food banks become commonplace, and lines for food ration programs and free meals exploded across the country.

In this 1932 file photo, long line of jobless and homeless men wait outside to get free dinner at New York's municipal lodging house during the Great Depression. AP

In an effort to save money, families planted their own gardens, canned foods, bought old bread, sought out soup kitchens, and stopped buying common items like milk. Many also sacrificed medical and dental care because they couldn't afford it.

The line up for free soup distributed by the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen, which was warmly welcomed when it visited Gateshead, 30th January 1934. Staff/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

Source: University of Houston

In an effort to save money, families planted their own gardens, canned foods, bought old bread, sought out soup kitchens, and stopped buying common items like milk. Many also sacrificed medical and dental care because they couldn't afford it.

During the winters of 1932 and 1933, an estimated 1.2 million Americans were homeless. The population of the US at that time was about 125 million.

A war veteran sleeps on the sidewalk as his wife sits wrapped in blankets in Washington D.C. on July 29, 1932 during the Great Depression. AP

Source: University of Houston, US Census Bureau

The struggle for money became so desperate that families across the country often lived in crowded shacks, while some inhabited caves or sewer pipes.

Scene of a group of men and a boy standing outside a shack in a shantytown in the 1930s. American Stock/Getty Images

Source: University of Houston

Families who were unable to pay rent were frequently evicted from their homes, and vagrants looking for work on public trains were kicked to the curb.

Evicted sharecroppers and their possessions along Highway 60 in New Madrid, Missouri, during the Depression Arthur Rothstein/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Source: University of Houston

Those who were fortunate enough to remain working often suffered large pay cuts and decreased hours. By 1932, 75% of all remaining workers were on a part-time schedule.

Hunger and labor marchers from various sections of Massachusetts march through Lancaster, April 26, 1932. AP

Source: University of Houston

By that year, one out of every four US workers were unemployed. Thousands of Americans lost their homes, and hundreds of thousands attempted to travel through the country on foot or by boxcar to find work.

Several vagrants ride a freight car hanging over the side while others lay in the shade behind them during the Great Depression. Getty Images

Source: University of Houston

By that year, one out of every four US workers were unemployed. Thousands of Americans lost their homes, and hundreds of thousands attempted to travel through the country on foot or by boxcar to find work.

The unemployment rate jumped at a shocking speed. From 1929 to 1930, unemployment rose from fewer than 3 million to 4 million. In 1931, it doubled to 8 million, and by 1932, unemployment levels reached a staggering 12.5 million.

This aerial view shows a long line of unemployed people, numbering about 5,000, waiting outside the State Labor Bureau building, which houses the State Temporary Employment Relief administration, in New York City, Nov. 24, 1933. AP

Source: University of Houston

The unemployment rate jumped at a shocking speed. From 1929 to 1930, unemployment rose from fewer than 3 million to 4 million. In 1931, it doubled to 8 million, and by 1932, unemployment levels reached a staggering 12.5 million.

The effects of the Great Depression could be felt into the early 1940s, and over the course of the decade, more than 15 million Americans lost their jobs.

Robley D. Stevens, 30-year-old victim of the Depression, wears a sign that reads: "I am for sale. I must have work or starve," while standing on a sidewalk in Baltimore, Md., in Aug. 1931. AP

Source: PBS

Known as Black Thursday, the 1929 crash was attributed in part to a vast imbalance of wealth between the rich and poor, a fervent production of goods, little to no wage gains, an increase in personal debt, and government mismanagement.

Archive Photo/Getty Images

Source: PBS

Known as Black Thursday, the 1929 crash was attributed in part to a vast imbalance of wealth between the rich and poor, a fervent production of goods, little to no wage gains, an increase in personal debt, and government mismanagement.

Following a period of booming prosperity in the 1920s, the Great Depression began when the US stock market crashed in 1929.

People gather on the sub-treasury building steps across from the New York Stock Exchange in New York on "Black Thursday," Oct. 24, 1929. AP

Source: PBS

The Great Depression was the worst economic tragedy in American history, resulting in skyrocketing rates of unemployment, hunger, and desperation.

A "soup kitchen" in Chicago, opened for the hungry and homeless by gangster Al Capone during the Depression in 1930. Rolls Press/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images

Source: PBS

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25 vintage photos show how desperate and desolate America looked during the Great Depression, the last time the unemployment rate was as high as it is today

Today's coronavirus pandemic has led to the highest levels of unemployment since the Great Depression. So far, more than 33 million Americans have lost their jobs.

But the Great Depression had lasting effects on the US. Its aftermath fundamentally changed the relationship between Americans and government, and led to the development of more government programs, responsibility, and involvement.

Suicide rates increased during the Great Depression, peaking when unemployment levels reached a high point.

The Depression had a significant impact on the psychology of jobless men, who struggled to provide for their families as cultural breadwinners. Some turned to alcohol to cope, while others became abusive or gave up hope altogether.

At its highest peak, the unemployment rate hit an estimated 25% in 1933.

Over the course of the depression, authorities deported an estimated 400,000 Mexican Americans, over fears of workplace competition. But many of those people were American citizens.

African Americans and Mexican Americans were hit hardest during the depression. In 1930, half of black workers were unemployed. That same year, 70% of the black population in Charleston, South Carolina, was unemployed, and 75% of black workers in Memphis lost their jobs.

Children were adversely affected, as well. An estimated 200,000 vagrant children wandered the streets of America due to the break-up and collapse of their families.

The Depression also had a negative impact on family life. Many couples delayed their marriage or postponed having children. Throughout the decade, separation rates grew, and by 1940 there were 1.5 million American women living apart from their husbands.

Desperate Americans threatened with hunger and starvation began organizing marches and labor riots.

But Americans grew angry, and Hoover became widely blamed for the economic turmoil. Impoverished people living in shantytowns across the country started referring to them as "Hoovervilles," and empty pockets turned inside out were known as "Hoover flags."

At the beginning of the Depression, President Herbert Hoover largely dismissed the stock market crash as a "passing incident in our national lives." He assured the country that the event would last no longer than 60 days, and did not believe in offering federal aid to the impoverished.

Food banks become commonplace, and lines for food ration programs and free meals exploded across the country.

In an effort to save money, families planted their own gardens, canned foods, bought old bread, sought out soup kitchens, and stopped buying common items like milk. Many also sacrificed medical and dental care because they couldn't afford it.

During the winters of 1932 and 1933, an estimated 1.2 million Americans were homeless. The population of the US at that time was about 125 million.

The struggle for money became so desperate that families across the country often lived in crowded shacks, while some inhabited caves or sewer pipes.

Families who were unable to pay rent were frequently evicted from their homes, and vagrants looking for work on public trains were kicked to the curb.

Those who were fortunate enough to remain working often suffered large pay cuts and decreased hours. By 1932, 75% of all remaining workers were on a part-time schedule.

By that year, one out of every four US workers were unemployed. Thousands of Americans lost their homes, and hundreds of thousands attempted to travel through the country on foot or by boxcar to find work.

The unemployment rate jumped at a shocking speed. From 1929 to 1930, unemployment rose from fewer than 3 million to 4 million. In 1931, it doubled to 8 million, and by 1932, unemployment levels reached a staggering 12.5 million.

The effects of the Great Depression could be felt into the early 1940s, and over the course of the decade, more than 15 million Americans lost their jobs.

Known as Black Thursday, the 1929 crash was attributed in part to a vast imbalance of wealth between the rich and poor, a fervent production of goods, little to no wage gains, an increase in personal debt, and government mismanagement.

Following a period of booming prosperity in the 1920s, the Great Depression began when the US stock market crashed in 1929.

The Great Depression was the worst economic tragedy in American history, resulting in skyrocketing rates of unemployment, hunger, and desperation.