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

  • Wheat Will Win the War: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Wheat Will Win the War

    S1 -

    Learn about what caused "The Great Plow Up" and the slogan "Wheat Will Win the War."

  • Suicides: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Suicides

    S1 -

    Multiple suicides took place during the Dust Bowl in the southern Great Plains.

  • Heading West: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Heading West

    S1 -

    Some people packed up their families and headed west.

  • 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 -

    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.

  • Psychological: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Psychological

    S1 -

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

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