ILLINOIS STATE ARCHIVES Hard Times in Illinois, 1930–1940 A
Selection of Documents from the Illinois State Archives The use
of local events to enhance the study of American history in the
classroom has received considerable attention for the past
several years. Teachers have recognized that their students
often are not excited by traditional instruction in American
history. Chief criticisms have been that textbook treatments
consist of dry narratives of impersonal facts which have little
relevance to students' immediate lives. And this has been the
case despite the fact that one of the principal purposes of the
discipline of history is to provide its students with a sense of
continuity and perspective. The fifty document images provided
in this teaching package are intended to provide direct glimpses
of events that occurred during the Great Depression in Illinois
over 1930-1940. Each offers a picture of a particular
circumstance at a particular time. And each picture asks
provoking questions. All of the event