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The Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl

★ 8.0/10•2012•1h 58m•Documentary
Similars

Chronicles the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history, in which the frenzied wheat boom of the Great Plow-Up, followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation.

Ken Burns · Director

Dayton Duncan · Writer

StatusEnded
Runtime1h 58m
LanguageEN
First Air DateNov 18, 2012

Episodes

Episode 1 - The Great Plow UpE1118m

The Great Plow Up

The grasslands of the southern Plains were rapidly turned into wheat fields. Then following the early years of the drought, storms killed crops and livestock and literally rearranged the landscape. The worst storm of them all was on April 14, 1935—Black Sunday—a searing experience for everyone caught in it, including a young songwriter from Pampa, Texas, named Woody Guthrie.

Nov 18, 2012

Episode 2 - Reaping the WhirlwindE2118m

Reaping the Whirlwind

Black Sunday was only halfway through the decade-long crisis. The storms continued. The Great Depression still affected people. Government programs were instituted to help. Learn what FDR’s administration did to try to keep the southern Plains from becoming a North American Sahara desert. Find out why some residents finally decided they had to give up and move somewhere else and how some held on.

Nov 19, 2012

Actors

Patricia Clarkson

Patricia Clarkson

Hazel Lucas Shaw

Peter Coyote

Peter Coyote

Peter Coyote

Carolyn McCormick

Carolyn McCormick

Caroline Henderson

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