The Dust Bowl

Arthur Rothstein, Oklahoma Pandhandle 1936. Found in the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

The infamous Dust Bowl was a natural disaster in the form of a drought, however unlike many past natural disasters, this one was exacerbated by human activity.

With the Homestead Act of 1862 granting land to those who would farm, and the idea that America had to expand west, many settlers moved to the Great Plains area to farm. Following the move, there were several years of unusually wet conditions that tricked the inexperienced farmers into believing that the climate was capable of sustaining huge crops. In the meantime, World War I was raising the prices and demand for wheat, so farmers got even more carried away because business was good. Business was so good for almost everyone during the 1920s and tons of people invested in the stock market. Then stock prices rose beyond their actual value and continued to get worse until the stock market finally crashed on October 24, 1929. As a result of the crash, wheat prices basically jumped off a cliff and plummeted. Farmers plowed up even more land in a desperate attempt to break even. In 1931 an ill-timed drought began across the Great Plains and crops began to fail. When these crops failed there was no longer any vegetation to prevent erosion in these windy areas and soon the topsoil was up in the air and dust storms, also known as ‘Black Blizzards’ were common.

The beginning of a dust storm 'Black Blizzard' in Baca County Colorado. Photographed by D.L. Kernodle. Image taken from the Library of Congress Farmers Security Administration website.

These harsh conditions lasted until the drought came to a close in 1939. One of the really big art mediums during this time was photography. They helped publicize the plight of the Midwesterners and contributed to influencing President Franklin D. Roosevelt to establish the New Deal Programs. These programs were meant to stimulate the economy and provide relief. One of the larger programs, employing somewhere around 8.5 million people throughout its 8 years was the Works Progress Administration (WPA). This was an infrastructure based program that also produced many public works meaning many artists finally had a job. The part of the WPA that employed artists, writers, actors, and musicians, was called Federal One. The art programs sponsored by the WPA eventually led to the creation of the National Foundation of the Arts. The Great Depression was a really rough time that captured the imagination of artists. With the financial support of the WPA, the Great Dust Bowl is rich with all sorts of artwork.

Works Cited:

History.com Editors. “Dust Bowl.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2018, www.history.com/topics/great-depression/dust-bowl.

History.com editors. “Works Progress Administration (WPA).” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 July 2017, www.history.com/topics/great-depression/works-progress-administration.

History.com editors. “Great Depression History.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/great-depression/great-depression-history.

Burns, Ken. “Photo Gallery.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 2012, www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/photos/.