Dr. Marvin Thompson begins with biographical information and goes on to discuss his erperiences in a small town while he was growing up. During the depression, Dr. Thompson spendt a year working in the Civilian Conservation Corps before he went to college at Iowa State University. He was drafted into the Army in 1943. In the three years that Dr. Thompson was in teh Army he never left the U.S. but worked on his degree in radio communications. After the war, Dr. Thompson finished undergraduate and graduate work before coming to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls to teach.

Mrs. Springer speaks extensively about her ancestry, particularly the Doughty family history. She also discusses at length her father and his career as a horse and buggy doctor in west central Wisconsin. She reminisces about the towns of Eau Galle and Elmwood, both in Wisconsin, and remembers "camp meetings", a type of religious revival that was often held at Eau Galle, Wisconsin, during her youth.

Mrs. Springer provides information concerning the changes wrought in her life by the depression of the 1930's, and her husband's difficult position during that period as a banker who had occasionally to foreclose on mortgages. She recalls an incident in Hayward, Wisconsin, when farmers responded to attempts at foreclosure with violence. She also gives her husband's opinion of the New Deal, and her own reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941).

Senator Knowles begins the interview discussing his early life in River Falls, Wisconsin, including his memories of local businesses and Ku Klux Klan activities. He talks about the prohibition, the depression, and life in River Falls during this period. He discusses at length his time at the River Falls State Teacher's College and ends the interview detailing his recollections of World War II, Pearl Harbor, and his time in the Air Force.

Dr. Anderson, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin- River Falls, describes events that occurred between the depression and the end of World War II. He also describes life in a small town in Northern Minnesota and college life in the late 1920s and early 1930's.