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Dancing Through the Great Depression
Introduction
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 Football action from the 1929 Big Thursday game.
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In October of 1929, the stock market crashed, marking the end of the Roaring Twenties and the beginning
of the Great Depression. South Carolinians, preoccupied with the Big Thursday Carolina-Clemson game and the other events of the State Fair, didn’t
really notice at first.
The state’s two main economic resources, textiles mills and agriculture, had already been in a depressed state since around
1920, so the Palmetto State did not suffer the dramatic plunge that the Depression brought to the more prosperous, industrial economic centers in the
nation. The hard times simply continued to worsen.
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Letter from parent asking for extension of tuition deadline.
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The University of South Carolina was dealing with tough times as well. After reaching an appropriations
peak of just over half a million dollars in 1926, Carolina’s state funding began a decline that would continue until 1933, resulting in a cumulative cut
of sixty-nine percent. The institution avoided wholesale layoffs by raising tuition, cutting programs, paying faculty in scrip, and abolishing
scholarships.
Carolina students from all socioeconomic backgrounds sought out jobs to help their parents pay school expenses. Administrators frequently
received letters from students and parents asking for financial aid or extensions to the deadline for payments. However, the grim economic times couldn't
dampen the students' zest for college life. This exhibit highlights the activities of Carolina students during the Great Depression.
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