1930s Dust Bowl

AKA “The Dirty Thirties”

Pre-1930’s Farming

• Demand rose for wheat during WWI– drove the prices for wheat crops to an all time

high

• At the end of the war, prices began to fall– Farmers had to cultivate more land to

compensate for falling prices (possible due to new technology)

– Larger supply of wheat on the market drove prices even lower

“Sodbusters”

• Sod: thick grasses with deep roots that protected the prairie from wind and rain erosion

• Sodbusters broke the sod up for farming purposes– As a result, wind and soil erosion began to

occur on the prairie

1930’s Weather

• Harsh blizzards winter 1930-1931

• Below average rain– 1930-1933

• Severe drought– 1934, 1935, and 1936 record years for

drought

Erosion

• Top soil, now lacking sod to protect it from wind and rain, blew across the prairie.

• Blowing sand made breathing difficult.

“Black Blizzards”

• Dust rose in enormous black clouds, and became known as black blizzards

Lyrics from a Woody Guthrie song declared, “The storm was as black as tar and as big as an ocean. It looked like we was all done for.”

Video Clips

• http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/himdustbowl.htm

The Aftermath…

How would you describe the scenes in these pictures?

What would you do if this was your farm?

Top soil disintegrated to dust and

drifted. Farms and

homes became

worthless.

Mass Exodus

• People left in droves, looking for food and work elsewhere

Many headed west working as migrant farm workers

Temporary Migrant Camps

Dorothea Lange, Photographer

• Master Photographer from this time period

• Your task: analyze a sampling of Dorothea Lange’s photography

Assignment

• What did farmers learn from the dust bowl?

• What changes did they implement to reverse the damage from the dust bowl?

• Could a Dust Bowl happen again? Why or why not?

• Text pages 430-432, 438-439, 457