SONYA MARGERUM introduced Susan Curtis, Prof of History and American Studies, whose topic was “The First Great Depression: A Cautionary Tale from the U.S. 1890’s”. 
We think of the 1890’s as the “gay ‘90’s”, which was a saying invented in the 1920’s by Richard Coulter, a man who grew up in a wealthy family in Peoria, IL. His version washed away the reality experienced by most of the population. At a time when there were no regulations or guarantees in the banking system, the country fell into depression, with the stock market crash in 1893. What followed was 18 months of a terrible economic situation, for which there was no federal help. One million people were homeless; many early deaths. And to make matters worse, states and community passed vagrancy laws that criminalized poverty. The situation for farmers between 1891 and 1895 was very traumatic.
Prof. Curtis has studied this era for many years, finding that she has to rely on original materials because the book has not been written. She has charged her students with the exciting task of discovering the stories of that time. Among them are hard times parties, organized by both rich and poor and sometimes as fund raisers by churches. Another finding is that Purdue had a prep school (high school) from the time it opened until 1894 when it was quietly discontinued due to lack of funds. We look forward to the book written by Prof. Curtis to tell this cautionary tale.
