Research Methods

To research the Dust Bowl I used a variety of credible sources. For example, I used two primary sources which are very credible because the authors of these sources, Caroline Henderson and Ann Marie Low, lived through and experienced the troubling events of the Dust Bowl. I also used a book as a source. This book is credible because in order to write and publish his book the author, Jerry Stanley, had to a lot of research from credible sources. I also used a lot of secondary sources in my research. For my secondary sources I used a variety of different sources from different organization, including the government. In my research I used articles from the library of Congress and from Iowa.culture.gov. For my secondary sources that did not come from the government I choose well known and credible sources such as Brittania.com and History.com. I used my sources to answer my essential questions by reading my sources and picking out evidence in each sources I read that answered one of my essential questions. The sources I used are shown below along with a description of each source.

Primary Sources

Henderson, C. A., & Turner, A. O. (2003). Letters from the Dust Bowl. University of Oklahoma Press.

This book is a collection of Caroline Henderson’s letters and articles written within the time frame of 1908 to 1966. Henderson lived in the Oklahoma panhandle during the Dust Bowl. Henderson’s articles and letters were collected and organized into a book by Alvin Turner. Because the book is a collection of Henderson’s letters and articles during the time of the Dust Bowl this book is a primary source.

Low, A. M. (1984). Dust bowl diary. Univ. of Nebraska Pr.

This book is written by Ann Marie Low. It is a collection of her diary entries before and during the Dust Bowl. In the book Low includes her diary entries from the time of the Dust Bowl as well as her accounts of what happened during that time period. Because this book was written by some who lived through the Dust Bowl, and it is their first hand accounts of the time, this book is a primary source.

Secondary Sources

The Dust Bowl . The dust bowl. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2021, from https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1583.html.

This article comes from u-s-history.com. In this article which is titled "The Dust Bowl" the causes of the Dust Bowl are discussed as well as the effects the Dust Bowl had on the land and the families on the Plains. This article also describes the Dust Bowl and its storms as well as the steps the government took to mitigate the problem. This is a secondary source because it was not written by someone who lived through or experienced the Dust Bowl firsthand.

The dust bowl : great depression and World War II, 1929-1945 : U.S. history primary source timeline : classroom materials at the Library of Congress : library of Congress. The Library of Congress. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2021, from https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/great-depression-and-world-war-ii-1929-1945/dust-bowl/.

This article comes from the Library of Congress. It is a secondary source because it was not written by a person who lived through and has first hand experience of the Dust Bowl, instead it was written by someone who would have used facts and first hand accounts from that time to write the article. The article provides a basic overview of the Dust Bowl including the events that helped lead to it

Dust bowl. IDCA. (2020, September 18). Retrieved October 17, 2021, from https://iowaculture.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/dust-bowl.

This article comes from iowaculture.gov. This article is a secondary source because it was not written by someone who lived during the events of the Dust Bowl. This article gives a basic overview of the Dust Bowl including the region it affected, what caused it, and how it related to the Great Depression. This article also includes pictures of the Dust Bowl.

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Dust bowl. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 17, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Dust-Bowl.

This article comes from Britanna.com and is a secondary source because it was not written by someone who experienced the Dust Bowl first hand. This article talks about the Dust Bowl, including what it was, the area it affected and what was done afterward to prevent it from happening again.

History.com Editors. (2009, October 27). Dust bowl. History.com. Retrieved October 17, 2021, from https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/dust-bowl.

This article comes from History.com and is titled "Dust Bowl". This article is a secondary source as it was not written by someone who lived through the Dust Bowl, but instead did research on the topic in order to write the article. In the article the causes of the Dust Bowl all the way back to the Homestead Act in the 1860's are discussed. The article also describes the Black Blizzards ( what the dust storms came to be known as) that struck the Plains in the 1930's and the effects that these dust storms had on the people living in the Plains region. The article also examines and discusses the ways the government tried to solve the Dust Bowl and the migration of the plain's families out of the Great Plains region to California.

Klein, C. (2012, August 24). 10 things you may not know about the Dust Bowl. History.com. Retrieved October 17, 2021, from https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl.

This article comes from History.com. This article discusses facts about the dust bowl that are not as well known, like crazy ideas people had to solve the problem or that most families did not flee the dust bowl. This is a secondary source because it was written by someone who did not actually experience the Dust Bowl and does not have first hand knowledge and experience of the event.

Public Broadcasting Service. (n.d.). Timeline: The dust bowl. PBS. Retrieved October 17, 2021, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/dust-bowl-surviving-dust-bowl/.

This article comes from Pbs.org. This article lays out a timeline of what happened during the dust bowl. The timeline starts in 1931 with the drought and first blizzards and ends in 1939 when the drought ended. This article is a secondary source because it was not written by someone who lived through the dust bowl, instead it was written by a person who likely used historical facts and primary sources to write the timeline.

Book Source

Stanley, J. (2009). Children of the Dust Bowl: The true story of the school at Weedpatch Camp. Yearling.

This book is written by Jerry Stanley. The book is about the Dust Bowl and the migrants who moved to California to escape the dust bowl. More specifically the story is about the migrant children and the school they created and the community created in Weedpatch camp.

Works Sited