Great Depression and Dustbowl Overview
Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother”
Internet Researcher: __Emily Craig_____
1. Read the two first paragraph of the Website http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/great-depression.htm According to the author, by the time Franklin D. Roosevelt took office:
the unemployment rose from 8 to 15 million;
the Gross National Product fell from $103.8 billion to $55.7 billion;
and 40% of the farms in Mississippi were in foreclosure.
2. How did the economic crisis impact schools?
• budgets sunk and school days and school years were shortened
3. In the fourth paragraph the authors describe two approaches to local protest. Select one of the protests and describe what the protest involved.
• Dearborn hunger march- became violent and 4 members were shot and killed, 1,000 soldiers, with “tanks and machine guns evicted verteans living in the Bonus Army camp in Washington, D.C.
4. This Site briefly mentions the Dustbowl. Go to http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/dustbowl.htm to learn more. Scroll down and use the map to identify which states were affected.
• Denver, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico
5. Read the fourth paragraph (one before timeline). Describe what caused the Dustbowl.
• Poor farming skills (planting the same crops over and over causes minerals to be unable to have time to reproduce), drought, wind
6. Think about what you’ve read on each Site. In your opinion, how did the Dustbowl make the economic crisis (The Great Depression) even worse?
• Farming was not an option for a job because there was no water and the soil was no longer good for it. Homes would be covered in dust and people were most likely breathing in the dust causing it to get in their lungs; this could have cause lung infections.
7. Find something, which interests you on either Website to share with your class.
• I knew there were dust storms, but I had no clue that they would darken in skies for days.
Land by Cynthia Rylant
A poem, read by Emily Craig
Double Entry Journal of
Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp by Jerry Stanley
Chapter 2
“The Okies drew strength from the winds that blew them out of the Panhandle.” (page 11, paragraph 1)
The Okies had hopes of a better life in California.
“The Okies sold what few valuable possessions they still had…” (page 12, paragraph 2)
Still-That word really sticks out. This tells me that they didn’t have much. Those few valuables they still had must have been the most important possessions to them, and they had to give them up in hopes of finding a better life somewhere else.
“… if they were lucky, they had a meal of boiled potatoes and carrots.” (page 17, 1st full paragraph)
Boiled potatoes and carrots is not a meal most people want to eat these days. I would get tired of eating the same thing over and over, as I am sure they did, but at least they had something to eat. This makes me realize how lucky I am to be able to eat what I want to.
Chapter 3
“’It was paradise,’ Trice Masters recalled. ‘When we saw the valley we started hollerin’ and yellin’ cause we knew it was Californ’.’” (page 22, paragraph 2)
The Okies were happy to finally be out of the Dust Bowl and to see all the beautiful scenery, but does that mean all is okay?
“Everywhere they went it was the same – too many workers and not enough jobs.” (page 23, paragraph 2)
This shows me that it wasn’t paradise after all. California may have looked like paradise from all the greenery, but they soon found out that everyone was going to California, so finding a job wasn’t all that easy.
Picture on page 27
This shows me that times were not any easier in California. The baby the woman is holding is not healthy by any means. There is a lot of stress in the woman’s eyes.
Song on page 32
This song has very encouraging words. Just because the Okies were still struggling after they moved to a place that was supposed to be paridise, they had not lost their spirit or hope. They knew that they had to keep pushing forward in order to get anywhere.
Chapter 4-5
“ Okie means scum.” “There are more darn Okies in California than white people.” (page 34, paragraph 1) Okies received fierce prejudice in CA because they were taking up space and couldn’t find work. They were considered how many people consider Hispanics now and how Blacks were treated during the time of segregation, which is wrong. Everyone struggles, some just go through a little more to get out of it.
“Okies stood out because of their visible poverty and because they talked in the twang and drawl of the people from the Dust Bowl state.” (page36, paragraph 1) People did not think they were educated due to the way they talked and dressed. Okies were looked down upon because they talked differently than the people who lived in Califonia.
“The Okie children drew strength from one another.” (page 39, last paragraph)
Even though the Okie children were looked down upon and saw that they did not dress the same or eat the same things the children of more fortunate people, they were still strong. They knew that they could succeed, if only someone would give them a chance.
“In 1940, Leo decided that if no one wanted the Okie kids in the public schools, then maybe the Okie children should have their own school.”
(page 44, last paragraph)
Our government has a law that ALL children deserve an equal education. I am not sure if this law was passed during this time or not, but the children were getting little to no education because teachers refused to teach them. Why? Because their parents were having trouble finding jobs (just like everyone else).
Chapter 6-7
Mr. Hart “sought out… the best teachers… teachers whose attitudes indicated that they were really interested in this type of student and wanted to help in the program.” (page 46, top of the page)
Mr. Hart seemed to be the only person who was concerned about the children at that time. For him to want to find the best teachers is wonderful. I feel it is important for the teachers of the Weedpatch School to be interested in teaching the children because that is the only way the children will learn. Teachers who care about their students will be better teachers; therefore, students will actually learn.
“Brick by brick, board by board, the children of the Dust Bowl, eight teachers, and Leo Hart built Weedpatch School.” (page 50, paragraph 2)
By the teachers and children building the school, it made it more special. The children had their own school, which they had built.
“The Okie children learned a dozen different trades.” (page 52, the only partial paragraph )
The Okie children did not just learn the basic subjects that most students learn in schools. They also learned career skills, but the skills were somehow related to the basic subjects; the students just learned the content by doing, not just sitting, listening, and memorizing.
Chapter 8, 9, and afterward
“There were no quantum leaps in knowledge. There were only little victories…” (page 62, paragraph 2)
Due to parents working conditions and weather, classes could not be held every day, and students couldn’t attend every day. What is important about the school is that the students were learning something. There were in a place where they were accepted and had teachers who cared about them.
“Today it is known as Sunset School.” (page 72, beginning partial paragraph)
The School was something wonderful. The Okie children learned so much from this school, but sadly, it was shut down and became a part of the Vineland School District. Even though the school as rebuilt after an earthquake destroyed the majority of the buildings, the school will never be the same or provide the same education the Okie children needed and received.
Weedpatch School, “had a happy ending…” (page 75, 1st paragraph)
Even though the original buildings did not survive, the education the Okie children received did. The students were proud of themselves. They overcame the hardships in their lives and used the skills they learned to be successful in life. Just think, if these children had not been Okies, they would have not gotten the education they received.
Depression Cinquain
Okies
Determined, hopeful
Longing, working, surviving
With precious, untaught children
Fighters
