World War II ironically would revive the American economy. Other Americans did not leave written records and thus their valuable insights are often lost to history. But when historians are dealing with the comparatively recent past, they do have an opportunity to ask questions by using a technique known as oral history. Thus, oral interviews allows us to see the broad picture as well as the lives of everyday people during a period where democracy itself was at risk, the Great Depression. You will be surprised by what you find.
Oral history is then both fascinating and challenging.
It seems easy to do, but it is really rather difficult to do well. Equally possible is that the student may be led away from the subject by the person being interviewed. Others actually forget what happened or are influenced by reading or television. Some older people cannot resist sending a message to younger people by recounting how hard it was in the past, how far they had to walk to school and so forth. Yet oral history, when used carefully and judiciously along with other sources, is an invaluable tool that helps one re-create a sense of our past.