Documentation, video and audio from meetings organized by Blackside before the production of "The Great Depression." These meetings, called "school" by Blackside,  included talks by historians, scholars and participants in the events that were to be covered in the series.

From Senior Producer Terry Kay Rockefeller's note of December, 1993:

"When the production staff of THE GREAT DEPRESSION was first assembled, in the summer of 1991, we began our work together with an intensive six-day "school" on the history, culture and economics of the Great Depression. School sessions altemated between those focussed on topics of general concern to the producers of the programs -- "The Depression Presidency" or "Doing Multicultural History"-- and sessions designed specifically to examine the personalities and issues of the films we would be making.

"In preparation for school, producers read several general works on the Depression and the New Deal as well as an anthology of readings specially assembled for the project.

"Most of the presenters at school were academic scholars and professors, though we aimed to include one person in each session who was a witness-participant in the history ·· a member of the Detroit Unemployed Councils, or a joumalist whose beat had been Washington in the 1930s, for example. We also tried to screen relevant archival film at each session so that producers, witnesses and academic advisers together could discuss the kinds of material available to recreate the history of the 1930s on television. One evening session included dinner and a 1930s sing·a-long led by a folk singer-music historian.

"Blackside did not originate the idea of holding production school. At least as early as the production of VIETNAM: A TELEVISION HISTORY, major historical series on PBS have begun production with formal schools. At Blackside, school is crucial to establishing a foundation for producers' working relationships with academic advisers. For us it is particularly important this relationship be open and lively because, unlike in some historical documentaries, in Blackside's series EYES ON THE PRIZE and THE GREAT DEPRESSION we did not film historians, preferring to rely soley on the testimony of witness-participants and their descendants."

From the final School Schedule for "The Great Depression"

Blackslde, Inc.
August 3 through 8, 1991

Day One: Saturday August 3

AM: Overview and Introduction to the Thirties

Alan Brinkley - the 1930s
Vincent Harding - the advance of democracy and the salient issues from the 30's
Leo Seltzer - cameraman for the Film and Photo League, being a media activist in the 30s

PM: Show One: 'Perilous Joumey"

Michael McGerr - the prosperity decade
David Lewis - Ford's business and labor policies
Zaragosa Vargas - Mexican-American workers at the Ford Motor Co.
Dave Moore - Ford worker, Detroit Unemployed Councils

Day Two: Sunday, August 4

AM: The Depression Presidency

Joan Hoff - Hoover as President and as critic of the New Deal
Frank Freidl - Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Joseph Harsch -- Washington Bureau, "Christian Science Monitor,"  in the 30's

PM: Show Three: "New Deal/New York"

Arthur Schlesinger - the coming of the New Deal
Tom Kessner - LaGuardia
Gerald Gill - African-American popular culture, NYC and Washington
Ralph Fasanella - artist, images of Depression era NYC
Screenings: excerpt from 'This Was Harlem", La Guardia newsreels

Day Three: Monday, August 5

 AM: Show Four: 'Challenglng the New Deal/California'

James Gregory -  EPIC and Sinclair
Vicki Ruiz - Mexican·Americans in California
Clayton Koppes - Hollywood and its films in the 30's

PM: Doing Multicultural History

Nell Painter - a history of the 30's for the 90's
Susan Ware - women's history issues of the 30's
Arthur M. Schlesinger - multiculturalism's challenge to the American ideal.

Day Four: Tuesday, August 6

AM: Show Five: "The Dispossessed"

Nan Woodruff - collapse of the plantation system, New Deal agricultural Policy, and the STFU
James Gregory - Dust Bowl migration
Robin Kelley - the CP-USA; agrarian and employment issues

PM: Show Six: 'The Rise of Labor"

Games Green - the labor movement in the 30's
Steve Frazier - the conservative reaction to labor
William Harris - Black workers and A. Philip Randolph [unable to attend]
Tom Juravich ·- labor songs of the 30's - an evening of music with dinner

Day Five: Wednesday,  August 7

AM: Show Seven: "To Be Somebody"

William Wiggins - Joe Louis, American hero
Gerald Gill - Foreign Policy context
Ruth and Henry Morgenthau - Eleanor Roosevelt

PM: Economics

Peter Temin - causes of the Depression
John Garraty - the international economic perspective

Day 6: Thursday,  August 8

AM: Show Elght: "Taking Stock"

Alan Trachtenburg - 30's photography
Maren Stange - 30's photography
Helen Harrison - 30's murals and art

PM: "Taking Stock" and sources

Robert McElvaine - the voices of the 30's