Pbs Learning Media: Documenting the Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl and resulting western migration that occurred in the 1930s is explored in this video [5:44] segment from the American Masters film Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning. The agricultural devastation and ensuing migration is documented through the eyes and photographs of documentary photographer Dorothea Lange as she captures the influx on film. The segment discusses the causes and consequences of the Dust Bowl and contrasts the migrant farmers' hopes of finding an "American Dream" in California with the distraught reality of farm life on the west coast during this time. Other related videos and teaching materials are included.