The Dust Bowl

1h 58min

Documentary

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.

Episodes

Cast

The Great Plow Up

1. The Great Plow Up

1h 58min

18th Nov 2012

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.

Reaping the Whirlwind

2. Reaping the Whirlwind

1h 58min

19th Nov 2012

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.

First air date

18th Nov 2012

Last air date

19th Nov 2012

Status

Ended

Type

Miniseries

Original language

en

Networks