The 100 woodcuts, engravings, and lithographs reproduced in this book were selected from hundreds submitted by artists across the country in response to an announcement by the American Artists' Congress of a nationwide exhibit, held simultaneously in 30 American cities. By December 1936, when this outstanding collection of prints was first exhibited, American graphic art had entered a renaissance of far-reaching artistic and social significance. Graphic artists throughout the nation, becoming more socially concerned, stepped outside their studios to observe and record the impact of the Great Depression. Through these prints we see in fine detail how Americans coped with the economic and ecological disasters of the Depresson. Coal miners, cotton pickers, factory workers, men on park benches, and apple vendors on streetcorners -- these were teh faces of America captured and recorded by the best graphic artists of the decade. Yet within this group portrait of despair, there is hope, and even humor.