Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu
“The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library is the first of the presidential libraries. It was conceived and built under President Roosevelt's direction during 1939-40 on 16 acres of land in Hyde Park, New York, donated by the President and his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt. The library resulted from the President's decision that a separate facility was needed to house the vast quantity of historical papers, books, and memorabilia he had accumulated during a lifetime of public service and private collecting.”
For scholars and students studying the New Deal and Great Depression, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library is a treasure trove of primary sources. As one can see from the excerpt, FDR was largely responsible for establishing this institution. Since its inception, it has grown in scope and accessibility. Today, researchers can access material from the library on-line. Speeches concerning the bank closures, primary sources covering the FDR administration’s attempts to end the Dust Bowl crisis, and many other sources about crucial events are available to the public. Also, students and academics desiring to place faces with events have access to a number of images and videos from the time period. When using the internet site, browsers do not have to hassle with a problematic website. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Marist College, and IBM work together to maintain a user friendly website to provide information quickly to visitors.

Voices from the Dust Bowl:
The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html
“Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection is an online presentation of a multi-format ethnographic field collection documenting the everyday life of residents of Farm Security Administration (FSA) migrant work camps in central California in 1940 and 1941.”
John Steinbeck’s famous novel The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of a dramatic scene in American history. During the 1930’s, many migrant worker families fled to California seeking refuge from the Dust Bowl of the Great Plains. Caused by one of the greatest agricultural disasters of the 20th century, this migration of families looking for a new start in the West creates the backdrop for a dramatic scene. The contents of this Library of Congress site help give personality and flavor to this important historical event. The site contains audio recordings of folk songs and interviews of migrant workers as well as photographs. These audio recordings and songs, for which the lyrical texts are provided, would be a great supplement to a lesson plan on the Dust Bowl and California migration. (BR)