Studies in American Literature and the Great Depression
Supplemental and Background Materials

There are several comprehensive sites with information directly related to this class. I've culled some specific pages from them and linked to them below, but you might be interested in exploring what they have to offer:
America in the 1930s
Modern American Poetry and the Great Depression
Radical Responses to the Great Depression
New York Times Archive on the Great Depression
The Great Depression - The Stock Market Crash and Beyond (thanks to Natalie for this link)

Section 1: Backgrounds

T Aug 25 First day of class. HANDOUT and in Heath Anthology: Olson’s “I Want You Women Up North To Know” (1241-44).

Th Aug 27 Looking Backward. Selections from Course Website and excerpt from Mike Gold’s Jews Without Money (1658-66).
Overview materials
Read: The Depression in the United States: An Overview
View: A Photo Essay on the Great Depression (image heavy, may take time to load)

Now and Then
Are We What We Search?
Depression Cooking with Clara (pasta with peas) (video capability needed)
Scottsdale economist sees parallels to Great Depression (Sept. 2008)
The end is not near (Oct. 2008)
The Great Depression 1928 or 2008 (optional video)

T Sept 1 Political poetry (Heath 1235-67).
Background (read about items with which you are not familiar BEFORE READING THE POETRY):

Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
The Dust Bowl
The New Masses
Sacco and Vanzetti
Scottsboro Boys
Tom Mooney

Th Sept 3 Selected short fiction (Heath, LeSueur, “Women on the Breadlines,” 1726-32; Maltz, “The Happiest Man on Earth,” 1687-96; DiDonato, “Christ in Concrete,” 1855-65) and Course Website.
Barbara Foley's article, "Writing Up the Working Class: The Proletarian Novel in the U. S."

T Oct 13Wikipedia Intro, Sample Author Page, Sample Novel Page

Gangsters and Chorus Girls: Hollywood in the 1930s

Hollywood Gangsters and Public Enemy
Read: "Crime Pays" Introduction and page on Public Enemy
View: Clips of "Opening","The Grapefruit Scene", and Part 7

Depression Musicals and Gold Diggers of 1933
Read: "Hollywood in the Depression" (click on title on left) and Gold Diggers of 1933 Wikipedia page
View: Clips of "We're in the Money" and "Remember My Forgotten Men"

Optional: Hollywood and the Current Recession