African American Sites in the Digital Collections

1929-1945: Great Depression and World War II

[Portrait of Zora Neale Hurston]. Carl Van Vechten, photographer. April 3, 1938. Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, Library of Congress. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-79898 DLC

Highlights

Although there were many inequities in the New Deal housing, agricultural and economic programs, blacks had opportunities to obtain employment, some in areas previously closed to them. Black writers, for example, participated in the New Deal's writing projects, while other black Americans interviewed former slaves for the Works Project Administration (WPA). The New Deal programs did not end the Depression. Black-owned newspapers protested segregation, mistreatment, and discrimination.

• African American Odyssey:
  The Depression, The New Deal, and World War II  
  
  
• African American Mosaic:
  Work Projects Administration--WPA
  

People, Places and Events

1. Mary McCleod Bethune (1875-1955) [See second entry]: Educator, leader of women, a distinguished adviser to several American
   presidents, and a powerful champion of racial equality
   
   
2. William Edward Burghardt DuBois (1868-1963): Founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP -- the largest and oldest civil rights organization in America).
   
   Activist, Editor, and Scholar
   
   
3. Zora Neal Hurston (1903-1960): Folklorist and Novelist
   
   Zora Neal Hurston Plays at the Library of Congress