When the Dust Settled
Black Sunday
Courtesy, Wikipedia
On April 14, 1935, known as “Black Sunday,” a dark cloud roiled the Great Plains. The dust storm carried 300 million tons of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas east to the Atlantic Ocean. A decade-long drought, overgrazing and poor farming practices dried up 100 million acres of prairie, rendered a half million people homeless and ultimately displaced two and a half million people. It was the largest migration in American history. The New Deal’s response—stabilizing crop prices, making loans to help farmers pay their bills, planting trees as wind breaks, teaching farming methods to conserve soil and water—and eventually, rain—brought relief to the land and hope to those who stayed.
WATCH: Woody Guthrie, Dust Bowl Blues