The Dust BowlThe Dust Bowl

Mrs. Janiak U.S. History

• 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.

• May 12 1933 The Emergency Farm Mortgage Act allots $200 million for refinancing mortgages to help farmers facing foreclosure. The Farm Credit Act of 1933 establishes a local bank and sets up local credit associations.

• June 18 1933 The Civilian Conservation Corps opens the first soil erosion control camp in Clayton County, Alabama. By September there will be 161 soil erosion camps

• May 1934 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.

• December 1934 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….”

• April 14 1934 Black Sunday. The worst “black blizzard” of the Dust Bowl occurs, causing extensive damage.

Surviving the Dust Bowl video notes

• Take notes while watching the video-

–Describe how the Dust Bowl affected survivors according to the various people in the video.

Exodus Exodus (exit)• ¼ of the Plains population would

flee • Abandoning S. Plains= tight-knit

communities began to unravel

Businesses failed, schools & churches closed

• Families packed up their few belongings, heading west

Route 66 to California

Migrants Experience• People were led to believe that California

was the Eden or Paradise of farming with plenty of work

• Fliers advertised workers needed• When they arrived in CA- many couldn’t

get a job and searched the state looking endlessly for a job, staying in migrant camps

• Californian locals often were cruel or stereotyped the migrants, calling them “Okies”- a negative term for all migrants.

Grapes of Wrath Grapes of Wrath (novel)(novel)• Written by John Steinbeck in 1938

• The title of the film was taken from the Battle Hymn of the Republic, by Julia Ward Howe ("Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword, His truth is marching on")

• Won the 1940 Pulitzer Prize.

• The major reason for Steinbeck's 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature.

• Translated into nearly every language of the world. Is an accepted masterpiece of world literature. Considered one of the most enduring works of fiction by an American author.

• 200,000 words.

• In the past 50 years, the novel has sold more than 14 million copies. It still sells 100,000 paperback copies a year.

• Manuscript of the book was written in the house on Greenwood Lane, Monte Sereno, a suburb of Los Gatos, CA. June-October, 1938. Carol, Steinbeck's first wife, did the typing and came up with the title.

Grapes of WrathGrapes of Wrath (movie) (movie)•Came out in 1940•There were a total of seven Academy Award nominations for the film - with two wins: Best Supporting Actress (Jane Darwell) and Best Director (John Ford)

Song analysis- “Do Re Mi”

- Woody Guthrie

What do you think “Do Re Mi” means according to the song?