![A bread line at Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street, New York City, during the Great Depression](/-/media/images/great_depression_1_720x450.jpg)
![Men wearing sandwich boards reading "I voted for ham and eggs" and "I believed the banks" walk down a Los Angeles street, Oct. 24, 1938. ](/-/media/images/recession_of_1937_38_1_720x450.jpg)
Recession of 1937-38
America’s third-worst downturn of the 20th century
![President Roosevelt chats with various politicians and administration officials as he signs the Banking Act of 1935.](/-/media/images/banking_act_1935_720x450.jpg)
Banking Act of 1935
This legislation restructured the Fed in both cosmetic and consequential ways
![President Roosevelt signs the Gold Reserve Act](/-/media/images/gold_reserve_act_1_720x450.jpg)
Gold Reserve Act
The 1934 law was the culmination of FDR’s controversial gold program
![President Roosevelt signs the Glass-Steagall Act alongside the bill's co-sponsors, Senator Carter Glass and Representative Henry Steagall, and others.](/-/media/images/glass_steagall_720x450.jpg)
Banking Act of 1933
Commonly called Glass-Steagall, the Act was widely debated before its enactment
![Roy A. Young of the Boston Fed tells the Senate banking committee on January 19, 1933 that President Roosevelts gold plan would be helpful in reaching currency stabilization.](/-/media/images/roosevelt_gold_program_3_720x450.jpg)
Roosevelt’s Gold Program
The controversial and consequential policies of FDR regarding gold and dollars
![President Franklin Roosevelt signing the Emergency Banking Act](/-/media/images/emergency_banking_act_1_720x450.jpg)
Emergency Banking Act
The 1933 law was aimed at restoring public confidence in the nation’s financial system
![Crowds gather on Wall Street as banks reopened on March 13, 1933, after the Bank Holiday.](/-/media/images/bank_holiday_declared_720x450.jpg)
Bank Holiday of 1933
For an entire week in March 1933, all banking transactions were suspended
![<p>Closed bank, northern Minnesota town</p>](/-/media/images/emergency-lending_720x450.jpg)
Emergency Lending to Nonbank Borrowers
The Emergency Relief and Construction Act of 1932 expanded the Fed's ability to make certain loans under "unusual and exigent circumstances."
![President Herbert Hoover and reconstruction leaders meet in Washington on February 6, 1932, to discuss the president's contemplated campaign against national hoarding](/-/media/images/banking_act_of_1932_1_720x450.jpg)
Banking Act of 1932
The Banking Act of 1932 reformed the Federal Reserve’s role providing credit during economic downturns.
![<p>Clerks at the Reconstruction Finance Corporation computing interest on RFC loans, c. 1937</p>](/-/media/images/rfc-1932-720x450.jpg)
Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act
During the years 1932 and 1933, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation effectively served as the discount lending arm of the Federal Reserve Board.
![The crowd outside of the East New York Savings Bank during the run on that bank, November 24, 1933](/-/media/images/banking_panics_1931_33_1_720x450.jpg)
Banking Panics of 1931-33
Earlier regional banking panics turned into a nationwide financial crisis in fall 1931
![<p>John Poole, president of the Federal American National Bank in Washington, D.C., stands on a narrow ledge outside the building and declares to the crowd that the institution was sound, February 5, 1931. </p>](/-/media/images/banking_panic_1930_31_3_720x450.jpg)
Banking Panics of 1930-31
The U.S. appeared to be poised for economic recovery when a series of bank panics began in fall 1930
![Crowd in front of the New York Stock Exchange, October 1929](/-/media/images/crash_of_1929_1_720x450.jpg)
Crash of 1929
On October 28, 1929, the Dow declined nearly 13 percent