Connecticut & Great Depression - History Day - Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945) - LibGuides Home at Connecticut State Library.

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Connecticut & the Great Depression

These are only a few of the numerous resources at the Connecticut State Library. The examples are based on past research topics.

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Search Primo (Library Catalog)
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CT State Archives Finding Aids
The link to the State Archives Finding Aids will show what original materials we hold.

Digital Collections at CSL
by Anna Newman Last Updated Nov 14, 2025 4300 views this year

Connecticut State Government Publications

These are only a few of the numerous resources at the Connecticut State Library. The examples are based on past research topics.

Measures to Alleviate Unemployment in Connecticut : A Report To Wilber [sic] L. Cross, Governor of the State of Connecticut by Connecticut. Commission to Investigate the Unemployment Situation.
Call Number: Online and Conn Doc Un25 me Item does not circulate.

Publication Date: [1932]

Online in HathiTrust
Schedule Of Various Federal Funds Given To Towns During The CWA & ERA Programs
Call Number: Online and Cage Conn Doc Em73 sch

Publication Date: [193-]

Online access through our catalog.
The Pros and Cons of Unemployment Reserves for Connecticut Employers by Hook, James W. (James William), 1884-1957. ; Connecticut Chamber of Commerce. Annual Meeting. ; Connecticut Unemployment Commission.
Call Number: Conn Doc Un25 prco Item does not circulate.

Publication Date: 1932

Catalog: "An address delivered on May 24, 1932 at the Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Chamber of Commerce ... Hartford, Connecticut."
Public Relief in Connecticut : Report Based on a Study of the Public Welfare Departments in Thirty-Six Towns and Cities by Reeves, Edward H. ; Connecticut Unemployment Commission.
Call Number: Conn Doc Un25 repu Item does not circulate. In-house use only.

Publication Date: 1933
A Sample Plan For Relief Of The Unemployed, Which Outlines Briefly What The Employers In Connecticut Could Do Voluntarily To Assist Their Stable Workers In Times Of Unemployment. by Connecticut Unemployment Commission
Call Number: Conn Doc Un25 sa Item does not circulate.

Publication Date: 1932
Connecticut Veterans' Survey : An Analysis of the Registration and Placement of Veterans and Study of the Unemployment Problem Affecting Connecticut War Veterans by Maloney, Leonard J. ; Connecticut. Emergency Relief Commission. ; Connecticut State Employment Service. ; National Reemployment Service (U.S.). Connecticut.
Call Number: Online and Conn Doc Un25c Item does not circulate

Publication Date: [1934 or 1935]

Catalog: "The creation by the Connecticut Emergency Relief Administration of made work projects ... made possible a study and analysis of the registration cards of 11,348 Connecticut war veterans"--P. 2.
A report on an analysis of card records made in several state employment offices and national reemployment offices in Connecticut.--cf. p. 2.
Includes index.
Report of the Connecticut State Emergency Committee on Employment to His Excellency, Wilbur L. Cross, governor of Connecticut by Connecticut State Emergency Committee on Employment. ; Hook, James W. (James William), 1884-1957. ; Connecticut. Governor (1931-1939 : Cross).
Call Number: Online and Conn Doc Em73 Item does not circulate

Publication Date: 1931

Online in Hathi Trust
Report of the Commission on Employment of Men Over 45 Years of Age
Call Number: Online and Cage Conn Doc Em738 rep

Publication Date: [1939]

Online access through our catalog.
Reprinted from: Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Connecticut, Wednesday, May 17, 1939
Relief For Individuals Other Than Farmers by Connecticut. Coordination Office.
Call Number: Conn Doc Co70 c no.2 Item does not circulate

Publication Date: [1938]
Relief Problems Of Transiency : A Survey Of Methods Of Providing Relief For Transient And Local Homeless Men In Connecticut, January - June, 1936
Call Number: Online and Conn Doc Em73 re

Publication Date: 1936

Online access through our catalog.
Relief Without Politics
Call Number: Online and Conn Doc Em73 Lire

Publication Date: [1937?]

Online access through our catalog.

Emergency Relief Commission

Here are a few possible resources besides the Archives record group. A link to the Archives Finding Aid is included.

Emergency Relief Commission (RG032)
Archives finding aid.
Archive: "The General Assembly created the Emergency Relief Commission in 1933 (1933 Public Acts, Chapter 276). It was the successor to the Connecticut State Emergency Committee on Employment and the Connecticut Unemployment Commission. The ERC had two functions: approval of local municipal bonds for relief purposes and supervision of emergency unemployment relief projects. Records include files pertaining to projects funded under the Federal Emergency Relief Act and its successor, the Civil Works Administration, both in 1933. In 1935, funding for relief projects was transferred to the new Works Progress Administration. The Commission went out of business on February 1, 1937."

Experience of the Emergency Relief Commission With Relief Administration in Connecticut, Period of the Commission Created by Public Acts 1933, Chapter 32A, July 1, 1933 to February 1, 1935, Continued by Public Acts 1935, Chapter 1, to February 1, 1937. by Connecticut. Emergency Relief Commission ; Connecticut. Governor (1931-1939 : Cross)
Call Number: Conn Doc Em73r 1937 Does not circulate

Publication Date: 1937

Online in Hathi Trust
Report of the Emergency Relief Commission to the Governor, January, 1933-December, 1934 by Emergency Relief Commission
Call Number: Conn Doc Em73r 1934 Does not circulate

Publication Date: [1935]

Online in Hathi Trust
General Letter by Connecticut. Emergency Relief Commission
Call Number: Online and Conn Doc Em73 pr Does not circulate

Publication Date: ERA no. 1 – no. 217 (Apr. 2, 1934-Dec. 17, 1935)

Online access through our library catalog.
Great Depression and New Deal

Local - Great Depression

Also look at Town/Municipal reports and publications.

The New Deal in Norwalk, CT : A Case Study of a Small City in America During the Great Depression by Dwyer, Courtney
Call Number: Stacks F104.N9 D89 2003b Item does not circulate. In-house use only.

Publication Date: 2003

Thesis (M.S.)--Southern Connecticut State University, 2003
Schedule Of Various Federal Funds Given To Towns During The CWA & ERA Programs
Call Number: Online and Cage Conn Doc Em73 sch

Publication Date: [193-]

Online access through our catalog.
Public Relief in Connecticut : Report Based on a Study of the Public Welfare Departments in Thirty-Six Towns and Cities by Reeves, Edward H. ; Connecticut Unemployment Commission.
Call Number: Conn Doc Un25 repu Item does not circulate. In-house use only.

Publication Date: 1933