| Preface | |
| Acknowledgments | |
| Abbreviations | |
| Introduction | 1 |
| Editorial Commentary and Method | 12 |
| Pt. I | Narrating Experience: Virginia and Virginians in the Decade of the Great Depression | 17 |
| 1 | Narrating Old Ways and Past Times: Of "Infairs" and "Callithumps" | 23 |
| 2 | Narrating Women's Experience: "Living the Life of a Woman" | 60 |
| 3 | Narrating Men's Experience: "We Meet With So Many Changes" | 106 |
| 4 | Narrating the African American Experience: "Democracy Paid For" | 154 |
| Pt. II | Making a Living: From Farm to Factory | 205 |
| 5 | Making a Living from the Land: Paid in "Chips and Whetstones" | 210 |
| 6 | Making a Living on the Water: "Takes a Man with a Good Back An' Strong Arms" | 251 |
| 7 | Making a Living in the Trades and Business: "A High Standard of Output" | 273 |
| 8 | Making a Living in Iron, Steel, and Coal: "Of Every Artificer in Brass and Iron" | 302 |
| 9 | Making a Living in Factory and Mill: "Hurrying to Keep Time With Machines" | 336 |
| Epilogue: Virginia on the Eve of World War II | 360 |
| App. A | Selected Listing of Federal Relief Agencies and Programs | 381 |
| App. B | Supplemental Data on Informants and Selected VWP Interviewers | 383 |
| App. C | RA/FSA Photographs Taken in Virginia | 427 |
| Notes | 429 |
| Bibliography | 465 |
| Index | 475 |