Lessons from the Great Depression for Today

Activists concerned about pandemic-related homelessness are seeking rent relief. In the 1930s, tenants banded together against evictions.

“The idea that the federal government would be providing emergency relief and emergency work was extraordinary,” one sociologist said. “And people liked it.”

In the 1930s, Americans responded to economic calamity by creating a richer and more equitable society. We can do it again.