The Dust Bowl (2012)

	Peter Coyote	Himself - Narrator
	Carolyn McCormick	Caroline Henderson
	Calvin Crabill	Himself - Resident of Prowers County / CO
	R. Douglas Hurt	Himself - Historian
	Pamela Riney-Kehrberg	Herself - Historian
	Imogene Glover	Herself - Resident of Texas County / OK
	Wayne Lewis	Himself - Resident of Beaver County / OK
	William Forester	Himself - Son of Harry Forester
	Pauline Hodges	Herself - Resident of Beaver County / OK
	Trixie Travis Brown	Herself - Lipscomb County / TX
	Clarence Beck	Himself - Residen of Cimarron County / OK
	Robert Forester	Himself - Son of Harry Forester
	Shirley Forester McKenzie	Herself - Resident of Texas County / OK
	Pauline Durrett Robertson	Herself - Resident of Potter County / TX
	Dorothy Kleffman	Herself - Resident of Texas County / OK
	Lorene White	Herself - Resident of Stanton County / KS
	Sam Arguello	Himself - Resident of Union County / NM
	Don Wells	Himself - Resident of Cimarron County / OK
	Kristy Patterson	Thanks
	Pauline Robertson	Herself - Resident of Union County / NM

Director

Ken Burns

Producer

Ken Burns
Dayton Duncan
Julie Dunfey
Aileen Silverstone

Writer

Dayton Duncan

Cinematography

Buddy Squires
Stephen McCarthy

The Dust Bowl chronicles the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history, when a frenzied wheat boom on the southern Plains, followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s, nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation. Menacing black blizzards killed farmers’ crops and livestock, threatened the lives of their children, and forced thousands of desperate families to pick up and move somewhere else. Vivid interviews with more than two dozen 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. The Dust Bowl, a four-hour, two-episode documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns, is also a morality tale about our relationship to the land that sustains us—a lesson we ignore at our peril.

Seen it: Yes 120 mins 11/18/2012 1. The Great Plow-Up

In the early twentieth century, thousands of homesteaders and "suitcase farmers" converge on the southern Plains, where wet years, rising wheat prices and World War I produce a classic boom. Millions of acres of virgin sod are plowed up. Caroline Henderson stakes her claim in a strip of Oklahoma called No Man's Land, and for a while prosperity seems certain for her and the families of two dozen survivors who provide eyewitness testimony. Then, in 1931, a decade-long drought begins, exacerbated by the Great Depression. Huge dust storms carry off the exposed topsoil and darken the skies at midday, killing crops and livestock. "Dust pneumonia" breaks out, threatening children's lives. And just when it seems things could not get any worse, in 1935 the most catastrophic dust storm in history strikes on "Black Sunday."

Seen it: Yes 120 mins 11/19/2012 2. Dust to Eat

Following "Black Sunday," the crucible of dust, drought and Depression only intensifies. Many people on the southern Plains, including an itinerant songwriter named Woody Guthrie, give up and join a "migration of the defeated" to California. There they are branded as "Okies" and face vicious discrimination. Meanwhile, Caroline Henderson and her neighbors struggle to hang on to their land. Franklin Roosevelt's administration attempts to help them through New Deal programs aimed at preventing the breadbasket of America from becoming a Sahara. Survivors recount their families' desperate times, their joy at the rains' return, and the lessons learned--and sometimes forgotten--from the Dust Bowl.

Seen it: Yes 120 mins 11/19/2012 3. Reaping the Whirlwind

As the Great Depression continued into 1935, the inhabitants of the southern Plains also had to contend with "black blizzards", violent dust storms that wiped out crops and livestock. They felt their plight had been forgotten by President Roosevelt as the drought intensified and many decided the only solution was to leave their homes and head for a land with plentiful water and work.

Director: Ken Burns Writer: Dayton Duncan

Guest starring: Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Conway, Amy Madigan, Carolyn McCormick

Seen it: Yes 120 mins 11/19/2012 4. The Hardy Ones

With the dust storms still ravishing their land, their homes and their family, many of those affected had a tough decision to make; leave in search of a better life or stay and face the seemingly never-ending storms. By 1936, nearly a quarter of the people living in the southern Plains had begun to leave, driven from their homes by the Great Depression and the unrelenting drought. Many headed for California, a land supposedly full of jobs and opportunity. Nevertheless, around 75 per cent of those enduring intense hardship decided to stay put and retain their land even though the drought was already in its fifth year.

Director: Ken Burns Writer: Dayton Duncan

Guest starring: Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Conway, Amy Madigan, Carolyn McCormick