True Stories From People Who Lived In The Dust Bowl
We lived in Newkirk and on a farm nearby. Lots of dust storms. I remember stuffing rags along the windows and doors to keep dust out. Also, of my mother (three sons) making our underwear and shirts from feed sacks and flour sacks. At least they were not rags. -Orlan R. McClung
In late 1938 my husband was offered regular employment with the Forest Service: work on the Shelterbelt Project in the Dust Bowl. I was near delivery of our first child. When our daughter was born, my husband left California for Kansas the next day. At the hospital, there was much concern, since I would be taking a new baby into a truly hazardous area. The dust storms were causing respiratory problems & a strange kind of pneumonia. When she was 3 weeks old, we started east. Anthony Kansas was at the eastern edge of the Dust Bowl. In the season when winds were lifting the soil into the sky, I could see clouds of dust coming from miles away. If there were clothes on the line,I hurried to get them in, & quickly closed all doors & windows. Then the wind came, & fine dust sifted into, through, & over everything. The air was never really calm, & that is where I learned to have the wind at my back when I was hanging washing on the line. Otherwise, I got slapped in the face by wet clothes.
One day I set up a camera on the front porch. By snapping pictures at intervals, I could show how dust gradually blotted out landmarks. When the developed film came back, it had been whacked into irregular lengths. The developer did not appreciate my sequence of blurred scenes & had made no prints. It is in my memory as a moving picture, but real & ominous. I remember the rolling clouds scouring the ground & rising high, the sound of wind, & a strange light. (from Sampler of the Early Years, by Forest Service Wives, 1980, Marjorie McCulley)
— Kathleen McCulley Puffer
These stories illustrate the daily lives of survivors of the dust bowl. Not only were farms destroyed, but people had to breath in the dust and suffered health issues for years. The human condition suffered in this ecological devastation. These stories depict families trying to protect their children.
In late 1938 my husband was offered regular employment with the Forest Service: work on the Shelterbelt Project in the Dust Bowl. I was near delivery of our first child. When our daughter was born, my husband left California for Kansas the next day. At the hospital, there was much concern, since I would be taking a new baby into a truly hazardous area. The dust storms were causing respiratory problems & a strange kind of pneumonia. When she was 3 weeks old, we started east. Anthony Kansas was at the eastern edge of the Dust Bowl. In the season when winds were lifting the soil into the sky, I could see clouds of dust coming from miles away. If there were clothes on the line,I hurried to get them in, & quickly closed all doors & windows. Then the wind came, & fine dust sifted into, through, & over everything. The air was never really calm, & that is where I learned to have the wind at my back when I was hanging washing on the line. Otherwise, I got slapped in the face by wet clothes.
One day I set up a camera on the front porch. By snapping pictures at intervals, I could show how dust gradually blotted out landmarks. When the developed film came back, it had been whacked into irregular lengths. The developer did not appreciate my sequence of blurred scenes & had made no prints. It is in my memory as a moving picture, but real & ominous. I remember the rolling clouds scouring the ground & rising high, the sound of wind, & a strange light. (from Sampler of the Early Years, by Forest Service Wives, 1980, Marjorie McCulley)
— Kathleen McCulley Puffer
These stories illustrate the daily lives of survivors of the dust bowl. Not only were farms destroyed, but people had to breath in the dust and suffered health issues for years. The human condition suffered in this ecological devastation. These stories depict families trying to protect their children.