The Dust Bowl and Migrant Farm Workers
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Below:  The map shows the "Dust Bowl" area that was most
affected by a severe drought (lack of rain) in the 1930s.  Many thousands
of farms in the area went bankrupt when they could not produce a crop to sell.









Below:  A farm in Texas with all its crops ruined for lack of rain,
and wind-blown dirt piled up against the house.

 










The migrant farm workers


Below:  Hundreds of thousands of people from the Dust Bowl area headed to California
with their belongings to try to find work harvesting crops on farms there.













Below:  Migrant families often formed campgrounds near farms in California that
they hoped would hire them at harvest time.  Desperate for work, they would
take whatever wages were offered, just to earn enough money to buy food.











Many of the migrant farm families that went to California to find work, like the one
shown below, were from Oklahoma.  As a result, the nickname "Okies" was given to
many of the migrant workers.  










Rain returns to the Dust Bowl - 1939


In 1939 and 1940 rain began returning to normal levels on the Great Plains.
  Families like the one shown below could finally plant and harvest crops. 
The photo shows the family harvesting beets on their farm in Kansas.












Map by David Burns.  All photos are from the
Library of Congress.  Some have been edited or resized for this page.





Copyright Notice

   Copyright 2009, 2016 by David Burns.  All rights reserved.  As a guide to the Virginia Standards of Learning, some pages necessarily include phrases or sentences from that document, which is available online from the Virginia Department of Education.  The author's copyright extends to the original text and graphics, unique design and layout, and related material.