Utah Centennial County History Series - Salt Lake County 1996

T h e alignment Salt Lake County found with national concerns and trends during the first decades of the twentieth century only strengthened with the cataclysmic events of the 1930s and 1940s. The Great Depression and World War I1 each solidified the county's identity as a center for both public programs and private enterprise; each also mobilized county residents on a large scale to survive-and help others survive-hard economic times and to promote the war effort.

On a deeper level, each challenge rallied Salt Lakers not only as a county but as Americans with Washington, D.C., acting as both nurturing parent and commander-at-arms. The differences in employment and lifestyle long proscribed by gender and by racial and ethnic background also shifted with the national fortunes, and the opportunities and expectations of each group altered as well.

The Depression struck few states harder than Utah, which staggered under the blow. Quickly, hardhit Salt Lake County became the focus for aid throughout the state and region as various government programs developed or moved in. In the process, the valley's peoples leaned on the generous, if fallible, arm of the federal government