Great Depression

The College of William and Mary During the Great Depression

During the Great Depression projects at William & Mary included Mataoka Park (work completed by the CCC, which had a CCC Camp on campus) and loans for the buildings Marshall-Wythe Hall (today's James Blair Hall), Taliaferro Hall, an amphitheater (Zable Stadium). There was also supposed to be a student activities building, but all of the bids exceeded the estimates and it was not constructed. The College received assistance from the Works Progress Administration in beautifying the grounds and constructing walks (a request for assistance to grade the Sunken Garden the previous year was denied). William and Mary's Norfolk Division (predecessor to Old Dominion University) received federal assistance for building construction.

Material in the SCRC

• The College of William and Mary : a history, Godson, Susan H., Johnson, Ludwell H., Sherman, Richard B., Tate, Thad W., Walker, Helen C. (Helen Cam), (1993), volumes 1-2 (check Swem's online catalog for availability).

Need help?

To search for further material, see Finding Materials in the SCRC for an introduction to the SCRC Collections Database, card catalogs, Flat Hat-William & Mary News-Alumni Gazette index, etc.

Questions? Contact the SCRC at spcoll@wm.edu or 221-3090, or come into the Special Collections Research Center (hours).

A note about the information in this wiki

Unfortunately, many of the early original records of the College of William and Mary were destroyed by fire, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. The information available here is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in the SCRC's collections and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the SCRC's access tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.