The Great Depression showed us: Even when the American Dream is challenged, this countrys spirit is resilient

The Great Depression always seems to play out to us in black and white. Images are seared in our collective history — from the migrant farm families to crowds huddled during a bank run to long food lines in major cities and tattered Hoover towns. They are dark, depressing, distressing. Those black-and-white photos reflect a somber reality: 25% of the workforce couldn’t find a job, a third of all banks failed, and the US GDP contracted 30%. Hundreds of thousands of farms were foreclosed upon. For those who could find a job, wages fell over 40%.Unlike other crises, the Great Depression lasted over a decade. Part of the pain of this era was simply how long it lasted.And its impact was woven into the culture of the 1930s. Al Capone, who “couldn’t stand it to see those poor devils starving,” set up a soup kitchen serving 2,200 Chicagoans daily with a sign that read “Free Soup Donuts and Coffee for the Unemployed” — and, in turn, enhanced his Robin Hood reputation.

Three years into the struggle, in 1932, Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee were crooning “Brother, Can you Spare A Dime?” Even the Monopoly makers chose to represent the Great Depression with a worn-out boot token. But from a historical standpoint, the Great Depression also represents something else: the resilient American spirit even when the American Dream is challenged. Ours is a story of financial ups and downs.From the panics of the 1700s to the depressions and recessions throughout the 1800s and 1900s to the crises of the 2000s, volatility is woven into the fabric of who we are.Juxtaposed against this darkness, the American drive and ambition were still there.

Dance contests played across the country, with contestants hoping they would be the one to dance the longest and win a cash prize.The game of Monopoly became the rage with the dream that one could make and achieve wealth. And Americans were caught up in the idea that a superhero like the Green Hornet could take on ev...