State Historical Society of Iowa

Crowds Outside of the New York Stock Exchange, 1929

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Black and white photograph of a crowd of people standing outside of the New York Stock Exchange after the stock market crash of 1929.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, 1929

Description 

The black and white photograph shows a massive crowd of people standing outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) after the stock market crash of 1929. It was on "Black Tuesday," October 29, 1929, that investors traded around 16 million shares on the NYSE in a single day that resulted in billions of dollars being lost on the market. This led to America's spiral into what would be known as the Great Depression. 

Source-Dependent Questions

  • Imagine you were in the crowd depicted in the photograph. Describe how you would feel.
  • Select a role or perspective of someone from the time period. How would that individual caption the image?

Citation Information 

"Crowd of people gather outside the New York Stock Exchange following the Crash of 1929," 1929. Courtesy of Library of Congress