Great Depression
Where can I find information on the Great Depression?
(Years 7-10)
Image: The Causes of The Great Depression / FDR Memorial Site by Tony Fischer on Flickr.
Entry last updated: 3/12/24
Introduction
The Great Depression lasted from 1929 until the mid-1930s. It started with the Wall Street Crash (also known as the Stock Market Crash), and led to people all around the world losing their jobs, their homes, and their savings. It was a time when many people did not have enough money to live comfortably, and were hungry, cold, and unemployed.
EPIC resources
EPIC is a collection of reliable resources covering lots of different topics. It’s put together especially for New Zealand school students and helps to answer questions like this. To access EPIC, you may need a password from your school.
This is part of EPIC, a collection of reliable databases covering lots of different topics. It’s put together especially for New Zealand school students and helps to answer questions like this.
Enter your search term 'Great Depression' in the middle level search box.
Check out the different articles and images.
The first article Great Depression ((1929-1940) economy) is a great introduction to the causes, impact and consequences of the Depression, and can give you lots of other search terms you can look up.
You can change the Article Reading Level at the top of the page to make the information more simple or complex.
Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, eg [Great depression]. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.
Middle School (Gale In Context)
This EPIC resource has information on a range of topics related to cultures, geography, government, science, and history.
Select Browse Topics.
Find Great Depression.
Resources on this page are organised by type such as reference, magazines, news, videos, and primary sources.
To read more of the Overview, select Read more.
See related topics for information about the Stock Market Crash, 1929.
Tips: Many web pages have links to further information or to other recommended sites. Following these links is a great way to find out more. This searching method is called “pearl growing” because you are picking up pieces of sand to make a beautiful pearl!
World History (Gale In Context)
World History in context offers you information about 5,000 years of world history, from ancient times right up to modern history.
Go to Browse Topics.
Select Great Depression.
Resources on this page are organised by type such as reference, audio, academic journals, and websites.
To read more of the Overview, select Read more.
Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.
General websites
There is a lot of information available on the internet about the Great Depression. Here are a few websites to get you started.
This is a section of the official website of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Bitesize has online support for secondary students in England, Northern Island, Scotland and Wales.
Search for 'Great Depression'
Select an article eg The Great Depression, 1929-1933 - CCEA.
This article is about the causes and impacts of the Great Depression in the United States.
Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About the BBC link on this website. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.
New Zealand sites
Here are some websites with information about the Great Depression in New Zealand.
Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Te Ara is a great starting point for all questions about Aotearoa. This website has some information about how the Great Depression impacted New Zealand.
Look down the page to Sections and select Economy and the City.
Next select Economic History and Geography and then Economic History.
From the Contents select Inter-war years and the great depression.
Check out the cartoons on the right-hand side of the page.
Tips: We like sites like this because they’re reliable. You can tell because of their web address – they have either .govt or .ac, meaning they are from government or educational organisations. They’re also New Zealand sites, so relevant for us.
Radio New Zealand is a trusted source of broadcasts, podcasts and series on news and current affairs. It also has some interesting programmes on New Zealand history.
Select the tab Podcasts & Series.
Go to The Aotearoa History Show.
Watch or listen to Boom & Bust.
DigitalNZ is a search site that focuses on New Zealand history and brings together results from different New Zealand libraries, museums, universities and government sites all at once.
Enter your keywords 'Great Depression' into the search bar.
Then select from the range of formats like images, audio, videos, newspapers, articles or research papers.
You can also filter by choosing the tab called Date, then go on to select a range of dates from 1920s to 1930s which covers the period of the Great Depression.
Books
There have been many books written on the Great Depression - check out your local public or school library to see what they have.
Some recommended titles are:
The Great Depression for Kids by Cheryl Mullenbach
Nice Work, Franklin! by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain and Larry Day
Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin
Dust to Eat by Michael L. Cooper
The Great Depression by Kevin Boon
SCIS no: 1881758
Topics covered
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