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American History

30 Eye-Opening Facts About Average Life During The Great Depression

Migrant Mother - Dorothea Lange

Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California, centering on Florence Owens Thompson, age 32, a mother of seven children, in Nipomo, California, March 1936. Dorothea Lange/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.

26. Someone You Knew Committed Suicide

Immediately following the stock market crash, there were so many suicides in New York’s financial district that reportedly, one hotel clerk would ask patrons if they needed a room for sleeping or jumping. All across the country, suicide rates skyrocketed as people lost their homes, farms, jobs, savings, everything.

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