Life Histories

After reading the life histories from Florida and listening to the class presentations, the collection of interviews provides readers with a window into the lives of the people during the Depression. Based on the presentations, it was interesting to learn about how each state was affected by the Depression. As I read life histories from Florida, I was the most surprised by the fact that some families had to live in condemned homes. For example, to avoid paying rent, one family had to live in a house that leaned to one side and was patched together with lumber scraps and cloth. It was also interesting to note the large number of Floridian squatters that inhabited the state. The nation was filled with great desperation and anxiety as the number of jobs decreased and poverty increased.