DUST BOWL AND GRAPES OF WRATH Mr Goddard

DUST BOWL AND GRAPES OF WRATH Mr. Goddard | PLUSH | March 2009

WHAT YOU ARE STUDYING • California Content Standard 11. 6. 3 • “Describe the human toll of the Depression, natural disasters, and unwise agricultural practices and their effect on the depopulation of rural regions and on political movements of the left and right, with particular attention to the Dust Bowl refugees and their social and economic impacts in California. ”

STOCK MARKET CRASH OF 1929 • “Black Thursday”, October 24, 1929 • “Black Tuesday”, October 29, 1929

STRUCTURE OF AMERICAN SOCIETY DISINTEGRATES • Factories and mines close • Banks are worthless • Consumer buying comes to a standstill “Brother can you spare a dime? ”

1932 – AMERICAN DREAMS ARE SHATTERED • 14 million Americans are jobless (almost 1/3 the workforce) • Banks foreclose on houses and farms • No food, no clothes, no jobs • Recycled lifestyle

IN THE CITIES - HOOVERVILLE, 1933 A squatter settlement built by Seattle, Washington’s homeless.

DUST BOWL REVIEW PART 1 • To Grow more crops, farmers removed grass and trees from huge areas of the Great Plains fro Canada to Mexico. The land was quickly exhausted and because useless for much farming. • A drought for several years in the 1930 s turned soil to dust. High winds blew dust for hundreds of miles.

DROUGHT BEGINS TO PLAGUE THE MIDWEST • 1931 - Severe drought hits the midwestern and southern plains. As the crops die, the 'black blizzards" begin. Dust from the over-plowed and over-grazed land begins to blow. • 1932 The number of dust storms is increasing. Fourteen are reported this year; next year there will be 38.

1934 – THE DROUGHT WORSENS • 1934 May Great dust storms spread from the Dust Bowl area. The drought is the worst ever in U. S. history, covering more than 75 percent of the country and affecting 27 states severely.

DUST BOWL (DUST STORMS) OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS 1934 -1935

BLACK SUNDAY APRIL 14, 1935 • 24 hours of a blinding dust storm • Dreaded blackblizzard covers entire disaster area • Drought adds further devastation

MAP OF EROSION AND DUST ON THE PLAINS The "Yearbook of Agriculture" for 1934 announces, "Approximately 35 million acres of formerly cultivated land have essentially been destroyed for crop production. . 100 million acres now in crops have lost all or most of the topsoil; 125 million acres of land now in crops are rapidly losing topsoil.

THE VICTIMS OF THE DUST BOWL • • • Colorado Kansas Oklahoma New Mexico Texas • Devastation of their cropland • Respiratory health issues • Unsanitary living • Rampant crime • Debt-ridden families

DUST BOWL REVIEW PART 2 • Many Farmers lost farms because of low crop prices and huge debts. • Hundreds of THOUSANDs of people packed their belongings and left for California to look for work. • Lets look at some pictures….

DUST BOWL ORPHANS • Mass exodus to California • Migrant workers become source of cheap labor

TRAVELING FROM SOUTH TEXAS TO THE ARKANSAS DELTA, 1936

Slept in a bed all my life long, till now-sleeping on the ground. " Near Redding California, May 1935

Drought refugees hoping for cotton work, Blythe CA, 1936

Mother and children on the road, Tulelake, Siskiyou County, California, 1939.

DUST BOWL REVIEW PART 3 • The influx of workers drove wages down and strained social services in the states. • Migrants had little experience mixing with the minorities in California. • In addition, many Californians looked down on the migrants, calling them “Okies”.

JOHN STEINBECK, THE GRAPES OF WRATH • To better understand this, we are going to watch a movie based upon John Steinbeck’s book “The Grapes of Wrath” • Novel was published in 1939, Steinbeck said it took him a hundred days to write the book but 10 years to get the story. • Film in 1940 (closely follows the novel) • Reinforced the belief that migrants fled the dust storms but in fact, they fled for varied reasons, including drought, falling agricultural prices, and mechanization of agriculture

John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath • Key Themes to watch for: – How were the Okies viewed on their journey? – How are people that drive nice cars viewed in the movie? – How intense was the suffering of the people migrating? – How many people moved and what was their impact on the state of California? – How hard was it for people to figure out who to blame for their suffering? – How did people help each other during the movie?