Randa Abdelfattah (Host)

But as luck would have it, the Depression would follow her there.

So with that, we give you Four Lives of the Great Depression.

This is from Merida Lessor's essay called Women on the Breadline.

It was published in 1932 in a Marxist publication called New Masses.

What we know about Fong comes from oral history interviews that he gave in San Francisco's Chinatown when he was 67, decades after the Depression ended.

He was a big man.

He wore a windbreaker and an old woolen sailor's cap, navy blue.

He didn't say where he lived or his name.

He just said, call me Fong.

For Henry Wright, the Great Depression was a journey.

Born in Missouri in the early 20th century, Henry grew up in an orphanage.

At age 16, he got kicked out with just $20 and a change of clothes.

So with few options...

He set out to find adventure.

By the mid-1930s, more people were returning to work.

And people like Henry, Dorothy, Meridel, and Fong forged ahead.

But the memories of the Great Depression would continue to linger for years.

And that's it for this week's episode of America in Pursuit.

If you want to hear the full-length episode, check out Lives of the Great Depression.

And be sure to join us next week.