95 results for: Great Depression
Photograph
Inside a powerhouse at Grand Coulee Dam, August 1941
When Grand Coulee Dam was completed in 1943, its huge generators were the largest in the world, and the dam itself was one of the world's largest power plants. During World War II, the cheap electric power from Grand Coulee and Bonneville Dams stimulated the growth of the Pacific Northwest's aluminum, aircraft and shipbuilding industries and lit the homes of…
ID Number:PI22065
Date:1941
Photograph
Demonstrators with signs outside Seattle Chamber of Commerce during WPA strike, Seattle, 1937
In 1936, the federal Works Progress Administration hired some 9,000 unemployed King County residents on 271 different projects ranging from improving roads and parks to serving school lunches. Congress reduced funding for the WPA in 1937, causing nationwide layoffs. In Seattle, some workers stormed the WPA offices to protest the layoffs. Others staged sitdown strikes or picketed on downtown sidewalks.This…
ID Number:PI22387
Date:1937
Photograph
Woman serving soup to WPA strikers, Seattle, 1937
In 1936, the federal Works Progress Administration hired some 9,000 unemployed King County residents on 271 different projects ranging from improving roads and parks to serving school lunches. Congress reduced funding for the WPA in 1937, causing nationwide layoffs. In Seattle, some workers stormed the WPA offices to protest the layoffs. Others staged sitdown strikes or picketed on downtown sidewalks.…
ID Number:PI22389
Date:1937
Photograph
Migrant family in makeshift housing, September 22, 1940
On September 22, 1940, a King County deputy sheriff found a family camped by the side of West Marginal Way. Harry Cooper had left North Dakota with his seven children, hoping to find a job in the Pacific Northwest. When found, the family had had nothing to eat for three days but some vegetables brought by neighbors.This photo shows the…
ID Number:PI22392
Date:1940
Photograph
Edwin Hill repairing roof of shack in Hooverville, Seattle, November 1939
During the Depression of the 1930s, over 600 unemployed and homeless people lived in shacks on vacant land just south of downtown Seattle. They built their homes from scrap lumber and other materials which they found along the waterfront. This area, and similar places throughout the United States, were called Hoovervilles after President Herbert Hoover whom many people blamed for…
ID Number:PI22393
Date:1939
Photograph
Naval officers watching Hooverville shack burn, June 6, 1942
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, many unemployed and homeless people throughout the United States built shantytowns on vacant lots. The settlements were called Hoovervilles, after President Herbert Hoover whom many blamed for the depression. In Seattle, shantytowns grew in the waterfront areas south of downtown Seattle and north near Smith Cove. When the United States entered World War…
ID Number:PI22395
Date:1942
Photograph
Trout rearing ponds at Seward Park, Seattle, 1948
In 1935, during the Great Depression, a Washington Emergency Relief Act work crew built fish rearing ponds at Seattle's Seward Park. The Washington State Department of Game supervised the fish hatchery and, in May 1948, delivered 250,000 young rainbow trout to the Cedar River and other area streams. Handwritten on image: Seward Park Rearing ponds.Handwritten on sleeve: Fish - Trout…
ID Number:PI23041
Date:1948
Photograph
Man dumping fish into stream, May 1948
In 1935, during the Great Depression, a Washington Emergency Relief Act work crew built fish rearing ponds at Seattle's Seward Park. The Washington State Department of Game supervised the fish hatchery and, in May 1948, delivered 250,000 young rainbow trout to the Cedar River and other area streams.In this photo, taken around May 21, 1948, Washington State Department of Game…
ID Number:PI23045
Date:1948
Photograph
Men sandbagging during Green River flood, Kent, April 1938
In mid-April 1938, heavy rains caused flooding throughout western Washington state. Near Kent and Auburn, and throughout the Green River Valley, road crews worked hard to pile sandbags in the worst trouble spots. These road crews included workers from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal relief agency set up to hire the unemployed during the Great Depression.In this photo,…
ID Number:PI23107
Date:1938
Photograph
Girls with swans at Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, 1937
In 1899, Seattle bought Woodland Park and its small zoo from the Phinney family. Most of the animals were kept in cages with bars and concrete floors. Visitors could go right up to the cages and feed the animals. During the economic depression of the 1930s, workers with the federal government's Works Projects Administration (WPA) built several animal habitats at…
ID Number:PI24721
Date:1937