Reaping the Whirlwind
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
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
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
S1 E2 - 30s
Experience the conservation efforts to bring farms back to life, with dangers of another Dust Bowl in the future.
-
Modern Machinery
S1 -
Learn how modern machinery made farming more efficient.
-
Black Blizzards
S1 -
Hear from Donald Worster about the increasing number of dust storms the area faced.
-
Hugh Bennett
S1 -
Hugh Bennett went on a fact finding trip through the Great Plains in search of a solution.
-
Snowstorm
S1 -
More hope came to the dust bowl after a snowstorm hit the Great Plains.
-
Robert Boots McCoy Talks About The Southern Great Plains
S1 -
Robert Boots McCoy talks about the southern Great Plains
-
Mechanized Agriculture
S1 -
Modern machinery made wheat farming more efficient and profitable.
-
The Coen Brothers Talk About Jack Rabbits
S1 -
The Coen Brothers talk about jack rabbits.
-
Recollection
S1 -
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.
-
First Look | A Storm is Coming
S1 - 20s
The Dust Bowl was the worst man made ecological disaster in American History.
-
Recovery
S1 -
In 1935, 850 million acres of topsoil are swept off the Great Plains, with more dust storms to come. President Franklin Roosevelt’s inner circle does not want the area to turn into an “Arabian Desert.”
-
Okies
S1 -
Woody Guthrie sings “I Ain’t Got No Home” and talks of how the migrant families traveling to California inspired him. The immigrant population explodes in California as thousands of people move there to find work and a better life. Those from the Dust Bowl, whether they are from Oklahoma or not, are called “Okies.”
WETA Passport
Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA Passport whenever and wherever you want. Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV.
Similar Shows


American Experience
History


The Hidden Map
History

Rogue History
History

East Lake Meadows
History



