Death Valley in the 1930s

Road Workers & Guidebook Writers put the National Monument on the Map
by Cheri Rae

While many readers may be familiar with America during the 1930's—from first-hand knowledge or from reading historical accounts—a short explanation may be in order. The darkest days of the Great Depression hit every class, every occupation. Plumbers and poets, waitresses and writers, bankers and railroad workers—all suffered anxiety over impending poverty and worse.  Some ended up on breadlines; many lost not only their livelihoods, but their homes and families, their hopes and dreams.

“Hoovervilles” camps of homeless people, sprung up on the outskirts of many cities; hunger became a reality in what had always been the land of plenty. When fully one-third of the workforce was unemployed, a sense of hopelessness settled on the populace.

At lease tome relief began when President Franklin Roosevelt initiated the New Deal, a series of bold Federal programs designed to promote economic recovery and improve social conditions. While many New Deal programs had wide-ranging effects throughout the nation, two of them—the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Projects Administration (WPA) were to have great impact on the development of Death Valley.