Digging Out of the Great Depression: Federal Programs at Work in and Around Birmingham

“Hard times come here first and stay longest.”That’s how those in Birmingham speak of the Great Depression.When hard times came to Birmingham in the 1930s and its industrial engine shut down, so too came more than $1 billion in today’s dollars. Federal programs designed to cut the relief rolls and ameliorate the lives of area residents built housing, hospitals, waterworks, local and state parks, public buildings, and roads.This book provides a visual record of the diverse projects that put skilled and unskilled workers, paupers and professionals, to work in the Birmingham area. More than 200 historic photographs and other materials document work in public health, recreation, beautification, school improvement, reforestation, storm drainage, agricultural advances, the arts, theatre, and archaeology. These images provide a fascinating look at the industrial region as it once was—its mines and mills, urban places, and undeveloped areas.