A New Deal for South Dakota: Drought, Depression, and Relief 1920-1941

In South Dakota, drought, grasshoppers, and low commodity prices were the final blows in a long economic slump that culminated in the Great Depression and brought the state of its knees. Many residents fled; other held on with the aid of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, administered by politicians like the colorful Democratic governor Tom Berry. At the height of the depression, New Deal projects supported nearly half of South Dakota's entire population. The built landscape and economic unde...