We have all heard that desperate times call for desperate measures. During this time the American people needed a miracle. The world suffered a severe economic depression, known as the Great Depression. The Great Depression (1929-1939) preceded the decade before World War II (1939-1945). Although the timing varied among cities across the United States, it was considered the longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century. The Great Depression began with the collapse of US stock market prices. Stock markets crashed on 10/29/1929, marking the day known as “Black Tuesday.” The American people needed help more than ever. Due to the Great Depression and war, many hospitals became obsolete, and more than 40 percent of towns in the country had no hospitals. Fortunately, a new law passed by Congress would solve this problem. After the Great Depression and the war, the Hospital Survey and Construction Act, also known as the Hill-Burton Act, was passed in 1946. The Hill-Burton Act was to provide grants and loans to facilities to build nursing homes, rehabilitation, hospitals and health centers (Health & Human Services, 2000). Facilities receiving these funds had to follow three rules: They could not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, or creed, although some "separate but equal" facilities were allowed to provide a "reasonable volume" of free care each. year for residents in the facility's area who needed care but could not afford to pay, and states and localities were also required to demonstrate the economic viability of the facility in question (Newman, 2004). The Hill-Burton Act was not the only response to economic depression and war. During the period of...... half of the article......on.htmlMitchell, R., & Jr, Jones, W. (1994). Public policies and the black hospital from slavery to segregation to integration. The African American Experience, excerpted from http://goo.gl/cRmzxeNewman, Roger K. "Hill-Burton Act (1946)." Main acts of the Congress. 2004. Retrieved November 16, 2013, from Encyclopedia.com: http://goo.gl/AyF8FIThe Library of Congress. (n.d.). President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal 1933-1945. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/yqGMK1Thomas, Karen K. “The Hill-Burton Act and Civil Rights: Expansion of Hospital Care for Southern Blacks, 1939-1960.” Journal of Southern History 72 (November 2006): 823-70U.S. Embassy. (2008, April). The Great Depression and the New Deal. Retrieved from http://usa.usembassy.de/history-depression.htmWikipedia. (2013, April 13). Hill-Burton Act. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_Burton_Act