[colleeng47]

Hey all,

Next April, 2010, is the 75th anniversary of "Black Sunday." My employer, the State of OK, Department of Libraries/Archives has assigned a co-worker and myself the task of writing and putting together a presentation and/or series of articles about the Dust Bowl.

Aside from all the research we're doing, I would like to hear any personal stories about Black Sunday and the Dust Bowl. If anyone has stories they've heard from family members or friends, I would like to hear them. You can DM me, or better yet, post them here so everyone can share them.

Thanks, fellow Okies.

[BornToFly]

I obviously can't be of much help, unless I make friends sometime before then with some people who might have stories like that, or grandparents with stories like that, but... that sounds like SUCH a cool job!!

[_redbird_]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

Hey all,

Next April, 2010, is the 75th anniversary of "Black Sunday." My employer, the State of OK, Department of Libraries/Archives has assigned a co-worker and myself the task of writing and putting together a presentation and/or series of articles about the Dust Bowl.

That sounds like a great task. Why don't you get out and start shaking the bushes? There are probably plenty of seniors in rest homes who would love to share a story or two.





Pics from Oklahoma Historical Society Home

[colleeng47]

That's a great idea, RB. I'll present it to my sup tomorrow.

[Goodpasture]

There were several stories from my grandparents in Kingfisher County.

Several cousins moved to Oregon during the dust bowl......on both the Goodpasture and Norris side of my family.....it might be interesting to see what contributions our cousins and brothers and sisters that moved west made on that part of the country.

I recall one great uncle that finally got his wheat crop in just before a major dust storm hit. This would be west of Hennessy in the Lacy area. After several days of constant wind, he went to check his field and bring his equipment home. He told me it looked about the same as before so he let it go........that fall the wheat began poling its shoots above the ground........but in the windbreak woods adjacent to the field. His entire crop was lost that year.

then there was uncle Norris who was turned down by the bank for money for a crop. He had always been good for it. But being turned down made him mad. So he robbed it that same day. No mask, no hiding his face. He was a straight up kind of guy. But he robbed it that day. family history has it that he robbed it three times that day. I met has daughter (dad's cousin) 20 years ago in Wichita. When he finally got out of prison he was a good citizen till he passed

[LadyRobyn]

Sweet Assignment!!! Here is all I have to contribute from another thread: http://www.city-data.com/forum/8586136-post16.html

[_redbird_]

LINK

Memories of the dust bowl: for people of the Southern Plains, the 1930s were hard and bitter. When the land turned to dust, so did their dreams. - Free Online Library

excerpt:

"The Dust Got So Bad"

[i]In 1933, Alvin Bryan Laird started his own farm in Oklahoma, growing cotton. Times were hard--but soon turned much worse. Looking back, Laird said:

made a little money in 1933--had a good crop.... Then in 1934 I farmed again, but had a drought. If you never lived in that country, you don't know what a drought means. We got hall in June. It hailed the cotton out, and we had to plant it over and didn't see another drop of rain--not a sprinkle--until in September.

When Oklahoman Clara Beddo Davis was 12, her father's savings were wiped out in the Depression. They were penniless, and there were 12 children to feed. Then, Davis remembered, came the dust storms.

That dust came in from Kansas through northern Oklahoma and the sky was just as red as it could be.... The dust got so bad that you couldn't even see the houses across the street, and it would come in through the windows and everywhere.

The worst dust storm was the massive "black blizzard" of April 14, 1935. It swept across the Plains with dust clouds so dense, they blotted out the sun. Many people in stricken areas got "dust pneumonia" from inhaling windblown soil. Some people and livestock suffocated to death. Survivors, including Viola Lillian Maxwell Mitchell, found ways to protect themselves.

I put a wet rag over my face to keep from breathing it down my lungs. The rag would be muddy on top,' just like you put mud on it. It was terrible. And all the crops would blow out, and dirt would pile real high up against your house.

[colleeng47]

Thanks y'all for the stories and links. Keep 'em coming.

[crazyworld]

About a month or two ago they did a segment on that on The History Channel......it was very interesting. Maybe you could look it up through there.

[_redbird_]

I wonder if OETA has something in it's archives. But I bet if they did a special on the dust bowl, they raked through the archives of colleeng's workplace.