by Miriam Bamberger
Special Projects Reporter

Throughout the 1920s, the United States experienced unprecedented prosperity after victory in World War I. As the troops came home, college enrollment skyrocketed, and the economy bounced back from its wartime hardships. In late October 1929, economist and Yale University professor Irving Fisher noted, "The nation is marching along a permanently high plateau of prosperity." This confident statement proved mere wishful thinking when the New York Stock Exchange collapsed less than a week later on October 24, 1929, the day that would be forever remembered as Black Thursday.

The stock market crash came as a shock, but the economy did exhibit some warning signs. In September 1929, market prices gradually began to fluctuate, but many considered the minor instability to be temporary. However, when thousands of people began to sell their stocks in panic, the market reached an unforeseen low on October 24, which only caused other investors to sell their shares as well. Economists tried to remain optimistic, but The New York Times reported that the paper loss on Black Thursday exceeded $4 billion. By November 13, the market reached an all-time low; more than $30 billion had been lost.

The far-reaching effects of the Depression left over one third of the population unemployed by 1933. The number of high school dropouts rose to nearly four million, and suicide rates increased dramatically. Devastated farmers were forced off their land, and as the Dust Bowl wiped out crops, the economic problems in the Midwest intensified. Homelessness plagued thousands and "Hoovervilles," named for the newly unpopular President Herbert Hoover, popped up in areas around the nation where those in abject poverty lived in cardboard shacks.

The Depression had a profound effect on education. While former businessmen were reduced to peddlers, many tried to remain in school to avoid the realities of economic hardship. At GW, President Cloyd Heck Marvin used his background as an economics professor to maintain financial stability at the University. To cut corners in administrative costs, Marvin requested that all deans and directors make no appointments to fill vacant positions unless absolutely necessary. As a result, no salaries of faculty members were cut during these years, although there was a cap on faculty expansion.

In cooperation with agencies such as the Federal Educational Relief Organization and the National Youth Administration, GW assisted students in need during the Depression, granting 20 scholarships to recent high school graduates in the Washington area who could not afford to finance their education.

Nonetheless, in 1929 The Hatchet reported a decrease in registration at GW and other universities around the country, compared to the enrollment boom experienced at the end of World War I.

Continued donations from private benefactors allowed GW to expand despite the poor economy, but on a more prudent level. During the Depression, campus buildings were constructed with more economically-efficient designs. Gilbert Stuart, Strong, and Bell halls are all examples of Depression-era buildings; simple floor plan, painted brick exteriors and hollow walls helped cut costs. To make maintenance easier and less expensive, pipes and wiring were left exposed inside the buildings.

The lasting legacy of the Great Depression at GW is a rise of political activism on campus. Prior to the 1930s, students were primarily involved in campus activities in Foggy Bottom. During the Depression, however, students gained a greater awareness of the federal government, creating the politically-minded atmosphere that continues to define GW student life today.