History

The Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl chronicles the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history, in which the frenzied wheat boom of the Great Plow-Up, followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation.

Reaping the Whirlwind

1h 55m

Black Sunday was only halfway through the decade-long crisis. The storms continued. The Great Depression still affected people. Government programs were instituted to help. Learn what FDR’s administration did to try to keep the southern Plains from becoming a North American Sahara desert. Find out why some residents finally decided they had to give up and move somewhere else and how some held on.

Episodes

  • Reaping the Whirlwind: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Reaping the Whirlwind

    S1 E2 - 1h 55m

    Black Sunday was only halfway through the decade-long crisis. The storms continued. The Great Depression still affected people. Government programs were instituted to help. Learn what FDR’s administration did to try to keep the southern Plains from becoming a North American Sahara desert. Find out why some residents finally decided they had to give up and move somewhere else and how some held on.

  • The Great Plow-Up: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Great Plow-Up

    S1 E1 - 1h 55m

    The grasslands of the southern Plains were rapidly turned into wheat fields. Then following the early years of the drought, storms killed crops and livestock and literally rearranged the landscape. The worst storm of them all was on April 14, 1935—Black Sunday—a searing experience for everyone caught in it, including a young songwriter from Pampa, Texas, named Woody Guthrie.

Extras + Features

  • Modern Machinery: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Modern Machinery

    S1 - 4m 9s

    Modern machinery made farming more profitable and changed the structure of the land for growing wheat. The result was more land speculation, more acreage turned over to wheat farming, and a blind faith that the good times wouldn’t end, but warning signs were evident.

  • Modern Machinery: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Modern Machinery

    S1 - 47s

    Learn how modern machinery made farming more efficient.

  • Black Blizzards: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Black Blizzards

    S1 - 2m 42s

    Hear from Donald Worster about the increasing number of dust storms the area faced.

  • Hugh Bennett: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Hugh Bennett

    S1 - 1m 50s

    Hugh Bennett went on a fact finding trip through the Great Plains in search of a solution.

  • Snowstorm: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Snowstorm

    S1 - 24s

    More hope came to the dust bowl after a snowstorm hit the Great Plains.

  • Recollection: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Recollection

    S1 - 7m 54s

    Meet some of the people who lived in the Great Plains and learn a little about the area. The Dust Bowl airs on PBS Nov 18 & 19, 2012.

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