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

  • Reaping the Whirlwind | Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Reaping the Whirlwind | Preview

    S1 E2 - 30s

    Experience the conservation efforts to bring farms back to life, with dangers of another Dust Bowl in the future.

  • Psychological: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Psychological

    S1 - 1m 39s

    Dorthy Williamson discusses working in the southern Great Plains during the dust bowl.

  • Government Photography: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Government Photography

    S1 - 1m 12s

    The government hired photographers to capture the movement of immigrants to CA.

  • Extended Look: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Extended Look

    S1 - 1m 43s

    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..

  • Caroline Henderson: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Caroline Henderson

    S1 - 2m 35s

    From the time she was a young girl, Caroline Henderson dreamed of having a piece of land she could call her own.

  • Government Reform Programs: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Government Reform Programs

    S1 - 5m 16s

    By 1937, the Dust Bowl farmers are asking for government help in regulating the land by forcing other farmers to take better care of their soil. They even consider declaring martial law. For many farmers who had previously demonstrated independence and suspicion of government, this is a substantial ideological turnaround.

  • Jack Rabbits: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Jack Rabbits

    S1 - 33s

    Plagues of jack rabbits swarmed the great plains destroying everything in their path.

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