State Historical Society of Iowa

Crowds Outside of the New York Stock Exchange, 1929

    Download Image Resource

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

Description

A 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

  • Why would such a large crowd be gathered outside the New York Stock Exchange on "Black Tuesday"?
  • Look at the expressions on the people's faces? What might they be thinking or feeling?

Citation Information 

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