Students will launch the investigation by analyzing local Great Depression evidence, generating initial claims and questions, and identifying how archival research can trace causes, lived experiences, and lasting New Deal effects in their own community.

Students will refine an investigable question, test a source-collection method, and complete a peer-reviewed research plan for a community timeline or digital story map using archival and genealogy records.

Students will present their community Great Depression timeline or digital story map to an authentic audience, defend their historical claims with archival evidence, gather public and peer feedback, and document how New Deal programs still shape life today.