The Dust Bowl Era 1930’s

In your journals, create a table like this… WhenWhereWhy

Dust Bowl Background…When & Where? When: mid 1930’s during the Great Depression (a.k.a – “The Dirty Thirties”) – Dust even reached New York and Washington D.C. Where: America’s “breadbasket” – the Southern Great Plains (effects were felt nationwide, wheat replaced cattle as “king” in the Southern plains)

Dust Bowl Background…Why Did it Happen? Caused by both humans and nature (poor farming techniques of over-plowing, Homestead Acts in 1862, 1909, & 1916 resulted in too many farmers trying to meet demands for the war effort, several years of severe drought ) Droughts killed the roots of native prairie grasses (the only thing holding the top-soil in place) Effects were compounded by the Great Depression (Unemployment in the east made it harder to sell wheat, price of wheat fell to less than what it cost to produce) Killed livestock and people (dust pneumonia, jackrabbits became a big problem and a part of people’s diet)

Famous Works…

From the Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum "Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty- looking cooking stove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else. When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now.

For each slide that follows, you will do two things… 1)Come up with a title or caption for the photo 2)From your own analysis of the photo write a brief description of what you think is happening for each… Be prepared to share…

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#1 – A car tries to outrun a “Black Blizzard” in the Texas panhandle – March 1936

#2 – Unemployed men outside a store. Undated

#3 – A farmer in North Dakota shows how high his wheat should be…1936

#4 – Abandoned farm north of Dalhart, Texas…1938

#5 – Plowed field that used to produce crops – Panhandle of Texas

#6 – A farmer tries to dig out his fence. Tumbleweeds would blow and get stuck on fences, then catch dust…

#7 – A U.S. government sign promoting land terracing in Texas, 1939

#8 – Migrant boy living out of his family’s car…1940

#9 – Migrant workers waiting for relief checks. California, 1937

After finishing your photo descriptions… On the back of your paper, choose one (or possibly two) photo that you think BEST shows the economic and social effects of the Dust Bowl. Write a short paragraph that explains WHY the photo shows these effects. Be sure to write in COMPLETE SENTENCES Make sure your name is on the front and turn in when you’re finished.