Article+notes

2nd hour


 * The Dust Bowl**
 * The Great Plains were over worked
 * by the 1930's the land was torn up and there was nothing to hold the soil
 * a dought caused the land to be "blown away"
 * 200,000 people migrated to California
 * became migrant workers
 * ill paid
 * The first incident where people realized they could affect nature
 * The WPA**
 * Works Projects Administration
 * established to offset unemployment
 * employed both blue & white collar workers
 * emphasized the arts - hired artists and authors
 * created 200,000 works of art; murals and decorate buildings
 * Photographers documented the Great Depression
 * Federal Writers' Project
 * created guidebooks
 * historical reflections
 * interviews with former slaves
 * extensive folklore research
 * Migrant Farm Workers**
 * paid by bushel to do "stoop labor"
 * due to labor shortage from WWII, 5 million workers in 1942 were brought from Mexico
 * many different groups
 * whites
 * African American
 * native American
 * Asian American
 * Latino
 * lincome well below poverty line
 * average education stops at 6th grade
 * lifespan is lower than the norm
 * currently 2 million in US, 100,000 are children
 * John Steinbeck**
 * Born in California
 * worked as a field hand
 * attended Stanford University, never graduated
 * wasn't recognized as an author until his 4th book, Tortilla Flat
 * 1939-40 two novels made into movies
 * Grapes of Wrath
 * Of Mice and Men
 * spent years researching The Grapes of Wrath
 * worked as a migrant
 * won Pulitzer Prize of Grapes of Wrath
 * won the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1962
 * died in 1968 with little fanfare


 * 3rd hour**
 * The Dust Bowl**
 * 1920's 100 million acres of the Great Plains
 * repeated harvest and livestock caused the soil to loosen
 * worst drought in American history caused the Plains to become like a desert
 * "black blizzards", the soil was blown away
 * 2 million people left the land, 200,000 went to California to labor
 * Gov't worked to restore the land
 * The WPA**
 * Work Projects Administration
 * largest gov''t agency established to fight unemployment during the Great Depression
 * employed over 8 million people
 * responsible for fixing roads, buildings & bridges.
 * supporting the arts
 * giving an honest wage the broken American economy
 * Agency employed both blue & white collar workers
 * Federal Writers' Project
 * guidebooks
 * record of former slaves
 * extensive folklore research
 * Federal Art Project
 * decorate federal buildings
 * murals
 * 200,000 works of art
 * part of FDR's New Deal program
 * Migrant workers**
 * travel to farms
 * get paid by the bushel
 * many ethnic groups
 * white
 * African American
 * Native American
 * Asian American
 * Latino
 * labor shortage of WWII created a program in 1942 bringing 2 million Mexicans to US to work
 * ended two decades later
 * Cesar Chaves organizes the United Farm Workers
 * led protests
 * over 2 million migrant workers in US
 * 100,000 children
 * paid well below poverty line
 * average level of education: 6th grade
 * lifespan lower than the average
 * large but invisible part of the population
 * John Steinbeck**
 * born & raised in a small farm town in California 1902
 * strong work ethic
 * Tortilla Flat made his name as a writer
 * Grapes of Wrath written in 1939
 * won the Pulitzer Prize
 * made into a movie
 * won the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature in 1962
 * Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964
 * died in 1968

4th hour
 * The Dust Bowl**
 * The Great Plains 1920's - 30's
 * overplowed soil, livestock overgrazed
 * drought for 3 years
 * environmental catastrophe - soil blown away
 * "black blizzard"
 * early 1940's gov't began recovery of the farmland
 * resulted in 2 million people losing their land
 * 200,000 ended up in California
 * became migrant workers
 * hard times
 * The WPA**
 * Work Projects Administration
 * largest gov't agency established to fight unemployment during the Depression
 * responsible for refurbishing roads and infrastructure, bridges, buildings
 * gave Americans a working wage and a job in a broken economy
 * part of FDR's New Deal
 * Federal Writers Project
 * guidebooks
 * essays
 * interviews with slaves
 * extensive research on folklore
 * Federal Art Project
 * created 200,000 works of art
 * painted murals & decorated buildings
 * documentation of the time period
 * Migrant Workers**
 * cheap migrant labor has been in constant demand since the turn of the century
 * many ethnic groups
 * white
 * African American
 * Asian American
 * Native American
 * Latino
 * during the Depression, many American's desperate for work did most of the migrant labor
 * Labor shortage caused by WWII, brought 5 million Mexican workers to US for farm labor
 * Cesar Chavez organized the United Farm Workers in 1960's
 * boycott of grapes in 1970's
 * wanted working condition of migrants brought to Americans attention
 * estimated that 2 million in US
 * 100,000 are children
 * average education is 6th grade
 * 1/3 are citizens
 * below poverty line
 * lifespan is significantly lower than average