A photo by Dorthea Lange shows lines of men inside a division office of the State Employment Service office at San Francisco, California, waiting to register for benefits on one of the first days the office was open.

photo from: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection

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At the time Dorthea Lange took this photograph around 1938, people were eligible for $6-$16 dollars per week for up to 16 weeks. Nearly 10 million people were out of work. With population at the time around 130 million – that is about an 8% unemployment rate. The August 2008 U.S. unemployment rate increased to 6.1%.

Search over 165,000 BW and color photos from the Great Depression in the Library of Congress archives. Bit of irony that the collection is so close to the bailout debate.

If you’ve seen great local coverage, human face on crisis moments – add a comment with a link.