Greatest Generation Grows Up

Kriste Lindenmeyer shows that the experiences of depression-era children help us understand the course of the 1930s as well as the history of American childhood. For the first time she notes federal policy extended childhood dependence through the teen years while cultural changes reinforced this ideal of modern childhood. In all the thirties experience worked to confer greater identity on American children and Ms. Lindenmeyer's story provides essential background for understanding the legacy of those men and women whom Tom Brokaw has called America's greatest generation.