Professor Hamilton's Diary: March 3, 1935

Things are getting desperate for the Hamiltons, and other people too

Dr. Boff made a house call today, which was Sunday, and confirmed that Margaret did indeed have tonsilitis. No Sunday school for Gwennie, who was stuck inside most of the day, leaving Professor Hamilton and his mother-in-law busy caring for the sick mom and baby Mary Elizabeth. “Mother and I managed pretty well,” he concluded, “but debated desirability of getting some help.”

The Hamiltons were luckier than many people as the Depression dragged into its sixth year. The photo above of a man in ragged clothes lying on a dock in New York in 1935 is from the collection of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, accessed through Wikimedia Commons.

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