To start off let me tell you a little bit about me. My name is Mary Elizabeth. I was born in October of 1913. I am currently 16 years old. I live with my mom, dad, and two brothers. We live in a small house in New York. My mom stays home and takes care of us while my dad works a full time job at a local bank.

My brothers and I were all very spoiled. Anything we wanted we pretty much received from our parents. They wanted to give us the world but all of this would soon come to an end.

Everything started to go down hill when Herbert Hoover got elected president. In 1929 the stock market reached it's ultimate low and it crashed. This was not good news at all for anyone.

Lots of people started to lose their jobs and as a result they also lost their homes. My father was one of those people that lost their jobs. Many of my neighbors were forced to move out of their houses as well. Poverty started to spread fast and we soon lost our house. We were forced to pack up and move in with my grandparents.

This didn't just come up out of the blue though. Lots of things led up to this point. For one lots of banks started to fail months prior to the crash. My dad used to come home and talk to my mom about it all the time. Another big reason is the dust bowl. Dust bowl pushed many farmers our of business. Last but not least the roaring 20s was a major part as well. People were living lavish and going deeper and deeper into debt.