An abandoned farm north of Dalhart, Texas, 1938
Dorothea Lange, The Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

One Book Documentary: The Dust Bowl I

Tuesday, October 2, 2018 - 6:30pm to 8:30pm
  • Library Hall
Part One of a two-part documentary film by Ken Burns chronicling the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history.

Part One of a two-part documentary film by Ken Burns: The Dust Bowl 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.

The film chronicles the environmental catastrophe that destroyed the farmlands of the Great Plains, turned prairies into deserts, and unleashed a pattern of massive, deadly dust storms that for many seemed to herald the end of the world. Vivid interviews with 26 survivors of those hard times, combined with dramatic photographs and seldom seen movie footage, bring to life stories of incredible human suffering and equally incredible human perseverance. It is also a morality tale about our relationship to the land that sustains us — a lesson we ignore at our peril.

Part Two of The Dust Bowl screens on Tuesday, Oct. 9

Run Time: 

2 hours

This is a featured event in the 2018 ONE BOOK STEAMBOAT community read of John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath.