Third Thursday at Hoover's

Meet here at the library to watch or REGISTER HERE to watch from home.

Iowa and the Great Depression

Sometimes called “the worst hard time,” the Great Depression touched every American community and citizen. This talk focuses on how Iowans experienced the 1930s. The presentation will discuss the ways that Iowans survived hard times, and how some residents turned to radical action in response to the ordeal.

The role of government programs, such as the Works Progress Administration the Civilian Conservation Corps, Rural Electric Association, and the Agricultural Adjustment Act, in combatting the Depression in Iowa will also be evaluated. Other aspects of Iowa’s cultural life during this period, such as the flowering of the regionalist school of art, will also be highlighted.  

About the Speaker: Park Ranger Peter Hoehnle is a National Park Service guide at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and holds a doctorate in history. He enjoys doing historical research and has been widely published on American communal societies, including volumes on Amana and the Shakers.