About this item

Behind the unemployment benefits and social security cheques that millions of Americans receive today lies a long series of dramatic actions. This book tells the very human story of these actions and reveals the jobless of past depressions as creators of many important features of today's social landscape. The result of more than fifty years of research, this is the definitive study of the activities of America's unemployed throughout US history up to the outbreak of World War 2. Generously illustrated with rare or hitherto unknown photos, drawings, and cartoon, this is a poignant story about triumph in the face of great obstacles, or creative response to hardships by those who had suddenly been cut loose from society, or penniless human beings who have made history.