Photos That Capture The Grim Realities of the Great Depression

From 1929 to 1939, America suffered through the longest and most severe hardship in its history. The Great Depression began with the stock market crash of 1929, bringing an end to the prosperous 1920s. Through the 1930s Americans lived through many hardships including the Dust Bowl, which caused 2.5 million people to abandon their farms and head West looking for new jobs. Overall, 15 million Americans (25% of workers) lost their jobs during this time. Amid this, banks did not have the federal protection they have today and 9,000 banks failed, wiping out the savings of millions of Americans. (See what people ate during the great depression.)

24/7 Tempo combed through the photo archives of Getty Images and the Library of Congress to assemble an album of the struggles of the Great Depression captured in haunting images, mostly taken in the United States. Information about the Great Depression came from sources including the New York Times, History, and Britannica. So that you can feel what it was like to live through these desperate times, we added color to iconic photos from the era.

People gathered outside the New York Stock Exchange in downtown Manhattan a few days after the "Black Tuesday" crash, in which investors traded in about 16 million shares, resulting in billions of dollars lost.

The energy of the anxious crowd is clearer with color.

In one of the most iconic Depression-era photos, bankrupt modeling agent Walter Clarence Thornton desperately tries to sell his luxury roadster – a 1928 Chrysler Imperial 75 Roadster – for $100 cash (about $1,735 in today's dollars).

Color shows just how stylish this classic car is.

Several men and a boy stand outside a shack in a shantytown. These homeless camps were known as Hoovervilles, after President Herbert Hoover. who was blamed for the poor economic conditions because he was resistant to government aid and intervention.

In color, the reality of this desperate situation seems more real.

A young telephone operator at the St. Phalle Ltd. club in London marks the plummeting share value of stocks, received from New York via a telephone headset, on a blackboard, while investors watch to know when to buy and sell.

You get a better sense of the anxiety of the scene in color.

Stockbrokers and their clerks rest or sleep in a gym after working into the early hours of Wednesday, Oct. 30, 1929, following the market crash.

The warmth and detail become more apparent in color.

A lineup of unemployed and homeless people, usually men, waiting outside a municipal lodging house for a free dinner.

In color you get a better sense of how many people there are in this line.

In New York, as elsewhere around the country, some people who'd lost their jobs after the market crash tried to make a living by selling apples on the street. Joseph Sicker, chairman of the International Apple Shippers' Association at the time, gave apples to unemployed people to sell.

Color reveals the detail of the hastily-put-together stalls!

More than a year after Black Tuesday, hungry men of all ages have gathered at a Salvation Army soup kitchen. Dolly Gann (left), half-sister of Vice-President Charles Curtis, helps serve the meals.

As color is added. the desperate expressions on the men's faces become clearer.

Unemployed men gather at a dockyard, hoping to get hired, even if only temporarily.

In color it is striking that the men are wearing almost identical outfits.

Women line up on a sidewalk in London, hoping for employment. In the background is the Royalty Theatre – where, ironically, a play called "Money! Money!!" is being performed.

Color reveals their facial expressions and many are looking optimistic.

A crowd of unemployed men waits outside an Emergency Unemployment Relief registration office, city unknown. Sometimes thousands of people gathered, waiting to register, and riots sometimes broke out – explaining the police presence here.

You can feel the energy of this confrontation in color.

Thousands of jobless people gather on a Los Angeles street to protest the lack of employment or relief funds. When the police arrive, they arrest group leaders, alleged to be Communist agitators.

In color you are struck by how many people are on the street

New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt is greeted by a large crowd while campaigning in Indianapolis on Oct. 30. Eight days later, he was to be elected president, using his office to create a plan that became known as The New Deal, which had three goals: relief, recovery, and reform.

Detail and energy are added to this capture by the color.

Police stop members of the Bonus Expeditionary Force, also known as the Bonus Army, a group of some 17,000 World War I unemployed veterans and their families and supporters, who marched on the nation's capital to demand full payment of their war bonuses.

In color it is more obvious that there are very few officers holding back a huge crowd!

Thousands of unemployed men gather in front of the Home Relief Bureau on 23rd Street in New York City waiting to register for city jobs.

Color reveals the detail of the smart outfits.

Workers wait for jobs outside the State Unemployment Office in Memphis. Compared to other big cities in the South, Memphis was spared the worst effects of the Depression, as it had a diversified local economy and was a trading center for the region.

Color adds light to this scene – it looks like a summer's day.

The Civil Works Administration was a short-lived New Deal job creation program offering manual-labor jobs to millions of unemployed workers. These CWA laborers push wheelbarrows full of dirt to fill a gully during the construction of the Lake Merced Parkway Boulevard.

Color highlights the lack of machinery compared to today's construction sites.

Men wave as a train pulls out to take them to jobs with the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of the most famous New Deal initiatives – a work relief program that employed young men in environmental projects, which helped the country's national and state park systems.

In color you can see the joy on their faces as they head off to work.

Impoverished children sit outside an Arkansas rehabilitation clinic. Juvenile malnourishment was common during the Depression, and many young children were orphaned.

In color the scene seems even more desperate.

People wait in a bread line in an unidentified city.

Color adds scale and light to this image.

In another of the most iconic images from the Great Depression, an unemployed man wears his qualifications on a signboard.

In color you can get a better sense of the desperation.

Unemployed men eating a free meal of soup, bread, and coffee at Bernarr Macfadden's Penny Cafeteria, a vegetarian restaurant in Manhattan. Macfadden was an early advocate of bodybuilding and healthy eating and established the Macfadden Foundation, which opened schools, physical training centers, and restaurants for the unemployed.

In color it looks as if these men are on their way home from work.

Men working on a New Deal public works project in an unidentified location take a break for some horseplay.

Color adds movement and energy to the scene.

A homeless man fixes his overcoat, which he hopes to barter, possibly for food. Meeting places where the homeless barter goods were not uncommon during the Great Depression.

In color we can see the detailing on the coat.

Unemployed people live in huts made of salvaged materials in Greenwich Village, some decorated with pictures to make them more like home. The image was taken by Berenice Abbott, one of the most famous American photographers of the 20th century.

In color you can see the pictures hanging from the makeshift homes.

The legendary Dorothea Lange took this image of migrant mother Florence Thompson holding her baby and flanked by two of her seven children at a farm workers' camp in Nipomo, California – not only one of the most famous photos symbolizing the grinding poverty of the Great Depression but also one of the most famous pictures ever taken.

The depth of this mother's despair is accentuated by the color.

Unemployed men in Imperial Valley, California waiting to collect their relief checks. President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized about $5 million in work-relief programs when he signed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act in 1935, still the largest system of public-assistance relief programs in U.S. history.

Color adds atmosphere to this sad scene.

Children in Minnesota carry picket signs at a demonstration for the Workers Alliance of America – a short-lived organization that tried to unionize and represent people working on projects for the Works Progress Administration, another New Deal program.

Color reveals the sunlight shining on these children's faces.

A client of the Farm Security Administration – a New Deal agency that aimed to help poor farmers, sharecroppers, and migrant workers – near Morganza, Louisiana.

You can see the detail of the ground and vegetation in color.

Representatives of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) posted a notice announcing that the New Jersey Title Guarantee and Trust Company in Jersey City has failed. The notice reassures investors that they will lose very little money because all deposits up to $5,000 are protected.

Color adds life to the facial expressions in this scene.

The Great Depression is considered to have ended in 1939, but its effects lingered on, as seen by these squatter shacks under the D Street Bridge in Marysville, California, early in 1940.

In color this capture looks even more pitiful.