The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl
sights, songs, sound bites
and literature
This
site, posted by About.com, presents a fairly extension collection of
photographs from the era. Out-of-work
men standing in bread-lines and employment lines; idles factories. The stark black and white photography
renders powerful images of the time period. (visit: 02/12/04)
www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_19268_20778---00.html#Great%20Depression
As suggested by the site’s title, the information here is a part of the archives of the Michigan Historical Society. Like most museums, this institution is focused on education. The site offers links to “Teacher’s Stuff” including lessons on “What Was Life Like During The Great Depression” and “Kid’s Stuff” such as activities which allow students to make discoveries about “Then and Now: Prices”. The site also offers a “Tour of The Great Depression Gallery” of pictures. (visit: 02/12/04)
home.sandiego.edu/~chanvey/depression.html
A product of San Diego University, this sight features photographs and an overview of The Great Depression as it particularly impacted the American southwest. (visit: 02/12/04)
www.usd.edu/anth/epa/dust.html
An educational website of the Environmental Protection Agency, the site concentrates on the explaining the “People and Environmental Change on the Northern Great Plains during the Dust Bowl Era. The site contains a brief history and several photographs from the time with links to a short movie and Wind Erosion Research Unit of the U. S. Department of Agriculture at Kansas State University. (visit: 02/12/04)
www.weru.ksu.edu/pics/dust_storms/
Kansas State University, as might be expected of an educational and research institution in a region central to the Dust Bowl experience, operates a unit which studies the “hows and whys” of wind erosion. Here one can see photographs of dust devils, wind erosion, soils drifts and the abandoned farms that resulted from the damage wrought during the Dust Bowl era. (visit: 02/12/04)
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dustbowl
This is a tremendous web site with a wealth of material. The site is a companion to the Public Television film of the same name produced by PBS’s Boston affiliate, WGBH. Here one can access RealAudio of the program and download a transcript. In addition, the site offers maps, a Dust Bowl timeline, transcripts of eyewitness accounts and a teachers guide to the film itself. There is, of course, a direct link to the PBS store where the video/DVD can be purchased. (visit: 02/12/04)
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html
Another “gold mine” of a web site, this one a product of the Library of Congress. The library is, of course, “America’s library” and, as such, houses many of the finest collection of Americana. It’s collection on Dust Bowl archives is no exception. This is the Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection from 1940 to 1941. Contained within are song texts, interviews, and photographs. Much of the material is presented “up-front” for easy access. In addition, an extension catalogue is presented of all the material in the collection, including audio material. This index and accessing the material may seem a bit daunting to the casual researcher. (visit: 02/12/04)
www.humanities-interactive.org/texas/dustbowl
From the University of Texas, this site offers photographs from the Farm Security Administration. The site also offers a brief teacher’s guide to the study of the Dust Bowl and a few examples of student activities to encourage and enhance study. (visit: 02/12/04)
chnm.gmu.edu/courses/hist409/dust/dust.html
Posted by George Mason University in nearby Virginia, this site offers a very brief overview of the Dust Bowl with links to The Discover Channel web site.
(visit: 02/12/04)
www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depression/dustbowl.html
Oddly enough, the sight does not seem to offer anything about poetry related to the Dust Bowl. Instead, one can read a quick, comprehensive overview of the subject with photographs, maps and links to the PBS website American Experience: Surviving the Dust Bowl. (visit: 02/12/04)
edweb.sdsu.edu/t2arp/quest/dustbowl/dust.html
In and of itself, this website is less useful than others. Its primary purpose, perhaps, is its quick links to other websites noted here: Voices From The Dust Bowl, Dust Bowl Museum, Dust Bowl Smithsonian, Weedpatch Camp Report (visit: 02/12/04)
www.lib.csub.edu/special/dustbowl.html
This is a wonderful website for full texts of oral history interviews with Dust Bowl survivors. The site is maintained by California State University at Bakersfield.
(visit: 02/12/04)
www.memory.loc.gov/amem/ndlpedu/features/timeline/depwwii/dustbowl/dustbowl.html
Part of the Library of Congress’ “The Learning Page”, this site is a very accessible pathway to parts of the Library of Congress’ vast collection. Very easy to navigate, visitors can link to photo collages of the era and listen to songs that evoke the time period. (visit: 02/12/04)
www.woodyguthrie.org/home.html
If the Great Depression had a “voice”, it was that of folk singer Woody Guthrie who was born on July 14, 1912. Guthrie devoted himself to chronicling the plight of the migrant workers and those who could not find work during this era. This website offers a biography, access to archives and research paths and a teaching curriculum about Guthrie, his era and his music. (visited: 02/14/04)
www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/guthrie.html
Although a “.com” address with, certainly, links to where one might purchase Guthrie music, the site is actually very thorough in presenting a list of Guthrie’s music. A click of the mouse will take the visitor to the complete lyrics of a vast array of Guthrie tunes. “Dust Bowl Blues” is essential to any study of the Dust Bowl and The Grapes of Wrath as is Guthrie’s ballad of “Tom Joad”. (visited: 02/14/04)
lcweb2.loc.gov/amen/wghtml
Back we go to the Library of Congress. Here the visitor can access, as the title suggests, Guthrie’s letters and writings. Hearing the singer “unplugged” (well, OK, he was never really “plugged”; but here he is has put his guitar down) gives a different slant on his ideas and philosophies. (visited: 02/14/04)
xroads.Virginia.edu/~1930s/RADIO/c_w/Guthrie.html
Posted by the Virginia Department of Education, this site offers a brief biography of the singer. (visited: 02/14/04)
Present at the Creation: The Grapes of Wrath
www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/grapesofwrath
Typical of National Public Radio, this site is a quality product. Easy to navigate, entertaining and informative, the site is a companion to the NPR series Present at the Creation which presents the origins of some of most iconic American art. This material was originally broadcast as a part of NPR’s Morning Edition program back in February of 2002. Included here are the original audio report filed by NPR correspondent Brian Naylor along with songs such as Woody Guthrie’s “Song of Tom Joad” and clips from the 1940 John Ford film starring Henry Fonda. (visit: 02/12/04)
Region 20: Education Service Center: The Grapes of Wrath
www.esc20.net/etprojects/formats/treasure_hunt/misc99/Grapes.html
This site offers a little bit of everything. The site is sprinkled with sample questions on the novel and interspersed with links to Steinbeck’s Nobel acceptance speech, the 1940 film, photos from migrant camps, texts of personal reminiscences, films of the Dust Bowl and a Steinbeck biography. (visit: 02/14/04)
San Diego County Office of Education: Teacher Cyberguide: The Grapes of Wrath
www.dodson-es.davidson.k12.tn.us.GrapesofWrath/teachertemplate.html
The Californian school district offers up this tidy site which includes valuable material for teaching the novel. Historic photographs are offered as are personal histories and even folk songs about the novel’s time period. The student activities offered make up an almost complete unit on the novel.
wrple.net.au/~greg.hub/grapes.html
Oddly enough, this site originates in Brisbane, Australia. Posted by one Greg Smith in 1988/89, the site is actually quite impressive. Smith delivers a teacher program, analysis of themes, scenes from the film, model assessment essays, links to other resources and even a selection of differentiated assessment tasks for advanced students as well as the less able student. (visit: 02/14/04)
The Grapes of Wrath and the Dust Bowl
www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/dust/dusttg.html
This is a supplemental site offered by San Diego County in California for the study of The Grapes of Wrath. A little different, the site offers some very nice lesson plans linking the study of the novel to contemporary issues of refugees around the world, wherever people might be displaced for economic or political reasons. Links to Amnesty International and the U. S. Committee for Refugees help establish the novel’s relevance to modern audiences. (visit: 02/14/04)
California Council for the Humanities: Reading The Grapes of Wrath
www.calhoun.org/programs/grapes_intro.html
Not tremendously useful as a classroom tool, the site is most interesting for its description of the Council’s invitation to all California’s (an invitation evidently answered by “thousands”) to come together and read (or reread) Steinbeck’s classic. Perhaps information on how the Council implemented its program might inspire others elsewhere to urge people to rediscover The Grapes of Wrath. (visit: 02/14/04)