The Dust Bowl (2012-Ken Burns)

[moira finnie]

Last night I saw the first part of The Dust Bowl, the two part PBS documentary put together by Ken Burns and written by Dayton Duncan. Has anyone else seen this?

Using some films and photographs that haven't been seen since the 1930s, Burns brought this bit of history to life through the on-camera presence of many individuals who lived through the period. Most of them had been children at the time, but their memories are still fresh and the facts that they tell are heart-rending and infuriating, particularly when discussing the abuse of the land during the development of what is best described as an economic bubble in the wheat industry.

Here's a taste of this series:
[youtube][/youtube]

[Rita Hayworth]

Moira ... thanks for reminding me ... I recorded off of my DVR and will be watching it later tonight and I'm a big fan of his documentaries. My grandparents were young adults at the time of the DUST BOWL and I heard many stories from them of how its impact the wheat industry and all.

My Dad, can recall some of those stories and he often reminded us of how devastating it was back in the time when his parents was alive. Right Now, he can't remember any of those stories but my older brother can. He did a history report on this and with the help of my Dad and my Grandparents.

I will ask him during Thanksgiving about it and I will ask him if he still have that history report of it.

[moira finnie]

Thanks, kingme. It would be so interesting to know of your family's connection to this period. I really hope that schools from the elementary level to college are using this doc to make sure kids know about this time. The people telling the real life stories are the ones who really make this worth watching. There are so many everyday events that give it considerable poignancy and urgency, since we are just beginning to get a small idea of what is happening to our world in terms of climate. A few things that stand out:

--There was so much static electricity in the air when these dust storms were imminent and occurring that people had to have a chain hanging off their car to ground it by dragging on the road. Otherwise, the electrical charge would build up and blow out your car's electrical system. Also, when going near a car around the time of a storm, an arc of electricity could jump from the car to you and knock you on your tail.

--People would try so hard to get all the dirt out of their homes, even though it was often fruitless. One person's mother used to wash her curtains, rehang them and find them covered with soot again the next day. When setting the table for breakfast the night before, many people turned the dishes upside down to try to keep the dirt off the plate, (which sometimes had to be washed anyway). One man said that to this day, whenever he takes a glass from the cupboard to have a drink, he still washes the glass due to a habit he learned during The Dust Bowl.

--There was one storm during 1934 that went from the Midwest covering Chicago, Buffalo and even Washington DC with dirt. The dust was so pervasive in New York Harbor that ships stayed away from the docks, since the men piloting the ships couldn't see clearly enough to come into their berth. This storm was the one that finally got the attention of the average American, though they still had no idea of the scope of this problem. The Roosevelt Administration recognized the extent of damage and the hardships involved and were trying to find a way to help, but, as FDR told desperate farmers in the Dakotas when they came out to greet him on a visit, they didn't know what the solution might be, but they would keep trying to figure it out until something helped them. I suspect that this kind of honesty and commitment earned Roosevelt enormous good will, even among the people who were literally losing everything.

[MissGoddess]

i really wanted to see this and i missed it! drat!

[moira finnie]

i really wanted to see this and i missed it! drat!

It is being aired about 4 times on my local PBS stations throughout this week. Part 2 debuts tonight on PBS here. Perhaps that is true in NYC too?

I think much of it, (including online extras) are available here:http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/

[MissGoddess]

Thank you for the link! I'm hoping they do repeat it. I'll look into the listings. I was so moved by Burns' civil war documentary, I know I'll like this one.

[Lzcutter]

I haven't seen the Burns documentary yet, I hope MrCutter and I will get the chance over the holiday weekend but there is a terrific book, The Worst Hard Time, about the Dust Bowl as told by those who lived to tell the story that I think Ken Burns utilized for his documentary.

Here's the link to Amazon:



The son of the man who was featured in The Plow That Broke the Plains is one of those interviewed.

I became interested in the book when I was watching the HBO series Carnivale about seven years ago.

It's a great read and I highly recommend it!

[moira finnie]

Cool, Lynn. I'll look for that book.

I think that once you have seen The Dust Bowl you will be touched by the responses of the people to the experience and especially to those who saw Pare Lorentz's film in their local theaters while they were still living through those days. Many were not entirely pleased, hurt by their loss of dignity and independence, though some found it honest and others (esp. Chamber of Commerce types) found newsreels that presented the level of desperation even more disheartening.

One of the aspects of the Burns doc that was most illuminating was the fact that many of the farmers were unable to grasp that their own farming practices had led to creating their ecological disaster. Some believed it was the wrath of God at work. Woody Guthrie's song "So Long, It's Been Good To Know You" was inspired by the religiously minded telling others that one ghastly storm in '35 was "the end of the world." Being a bit of a wise guy as well as a poet, Guthrie just wrote this as a wry elegy with a tragic twist on these attitudes.

Another thing that was so interesting was the documentation of how a combination of mechanized tractors and the economic pressure had led farmers during the 1920s and early 30s to plow more and more grassland for planting. In the process, they removed the native buffalo grass that had become a native plant on the relatively dry prairies, with roots that could go five feet down to the moist clay under the turf. This buffalo grass had been ideal for grazing herds of buffalo supporting relatively sparse Native American tribes. Yet, the "beef bonanza" that developed on the plains in the 1880s and went bust after drought and blizzards wiped out the massive cattle herds that over-grazed on the land left things pretty sparse. Then, the mechanization of the farm with the new types of plows that pulverized the soil came along just at the time of the loss of worldwide access to the wheat that had been provided by Russia once WWI & the Revolution eliminated them. The money to be made by unscrupulous speculators with no commitment to their community or the land and hard-working farmers as well in wheat, created a "perfect storm" of conditions out in the area around the Oklahoma panhandle.

For those who would like to see this film made by Pare Lorentz for the Resettlement Administration during the Roosevelt Administration, it is on youtube. The narration is by actor Thomas Chalmers and features a score by Virgil Thomson:
[youtube][/youtube]

[MissGoddess]

Another thing that was so interesting was the documentation of how a combination of mechanized tractors and the economic pressure had led farmers during the 1920s and early 30s to plow more and more grassland for planting. In the process, they removed the native buffalo grass that had become a native plant on the relatively dry prairies, with roots that could go five feet down to the moist clay under the turf. This buffalo grass had been ideal for grazing herds of buffalo supporting relatively sparse Native American tribes. Yet, the "beef bonanza" that developed on the plains in the 1880s and went bust after drought and blizzards wiped out the massive cattle herds that over-grazed on the land left things pretty sparse. Then, the mechanization of the farm with the new types of plows that pulverized the soil came along just at the time of the loss of worldwide access to the wheat that had been provided by Russia once WWI & the Revolution eliminated them. The money to be made by unscrupulous speculators with no commitment to their community or the land and hard-working farmers as well in wheat, created a "perfect storm" of conditions out in the area around the Oklahoma panhandle.

Gee...all that has an awfully familiar ring to it...

[moira finnie]

I know what you mean, Miss G.

Unfortunately, there is a note of worry at the end of the doc about the current usage of the Ogallala aquifer to irrigate the farms that have been thriving there since the '50s. Guess what? That's finite too, though it doesn't seem to worry enough people today. It will in decades to come, unless something happens.

I don't mean to emphasize the negative aspects of this show--so much of it is inspiring, esp. the eyewitness accounts and the story of the New Deal's soil conservationist Henry Howard Finnell, who was able to introduce better plowing methods to desperate farmers (some of whom hadn't had any income in 6 years).

The documentary really knocks it out of the park profiling the everyday people, as I've mentioned before, but when FDR shows up, it's so exciting--his optimism is still infectious 80+ years after his rise. He is very moving when he is shown speaking to thousands of farmers, encouraging them and telling some plain truths. He is seen on the back of a train "standing" (striking a jaunty pose while on the arm of his son FDR, Jr.) and leaning out of his car speaking calmly and directly with one farmer in overalls and his wife and kids after another.

Roosevelt had to rely on others' accounts of so much due to his polio, but he was determined to NOT forget these people, despite the advice of some in his admin. (Sec'y of the Interior Harold Ickes in particular) and the indifference of people to this cataclysm in other parts of the country (in part because they had enough troubles with the economy keeping them preoccupied). Roosevelt took the train and drove thousands of miles to meet the people all over the Dust Bowl area, finding out what they were facing and talking to field reps in the forefront the Soil Conservation Admin. Finally Finnell, the Soil Conservation Svc head Hugh Hammond Bennett and Sec'y of Agriculture Henry Wallace's implemented ideas began to reclaim the land, in one county bringing back 50% of the land as arable in one year's time. Here's more about the two guys who are unsung heroes in this effort:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperie ... l-bennett/

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/bi ... d-finnell/

[MissGoddess]

So fascinating. I really look forward to seeing and reading it all.

Why am I thinking of John Wayne in THREE FACES WEST?

[RedRiver]

I'm embarrassed. I thought The Dust Bowl was a football game!

[moira finnie]

So fascinating. I really look forward to seeing and reading it all.

Why am I thinking of John Wayne in THREE FACES WEST?

I was thinking about that film and The Grapes of Wrath (which is featured, but was really about people from just east of The Dust Bowl).

I'm embarrassed. I thought The Dust Bowl was a football game!

Oh, Red, poor Red! Have you been playing football without your helmet again?

[RedRiver]

FDR told desperate farmers in the Dakotas when they came out to greet him on a visit, they didn't know what the solution might be, but they would keep trying to figure it out until something helped them

We could use some of that humility today. Nobody really says anything anymore. I didn't know that cute little song was a Guthrie composition. Obviously, I had never heard it all the way through. Most of us just know the chorus! I actually watched a Will Rogers documentary last night. It was on the PBS channel in my area. I don't know if it played in other regions.

[MissGoddess]

Interesting you brought up Will, because he did a lot of touring and fund raising for victims of the DB. I wish I'd seen that doc, too. Boy, I really need to get with the program! I'm stuck in my three-channel rut!