MAY 11

During the Great Depression, there was a multiple-year-long drought that occurred in the plains states. The soil that used to be rich in nutrients had turned to a fine sand due to over-farming the land and a lack of rain. Incredible wind storms swept through the area, and large clouds of dust we sent into the air. Farms were covered in dust and crops could no longer grow. Family farmers lost all of their money, and many migrated to western states like California to try to find work. This time period is known as the Dust Bowl.

President Franklin Roosevelt sent photographer Dorothea Lange out west through the Farm Security Administration (part of the New Deal) to document what was going on. Her most famous image is Migrant Mother. Migrant Mother is such an important photograph, it is preserved in the Library of Congress.

There are many causes of drought, and there is a great BrainPop that explains the causes. Director Ken Burns made an excellent mini-series about The Dust Bowl, and it is available to view on PBS. I recommend reading the books What Was the Great Depression? and Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse, for which she won the Newbery Medal in 1998.

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