Since the late nineteenth century, the western plains had been a haven for those with respiratory ailments. At time when the complex workings of the lungs were not-yet understood, many with breathing issues were often advised that it wasn't a problem with their organs; it was a problem with the air. The solution, therefore, was … Continue reading The Brown Plague
One Photograph, Two Worlds
Dorothea Lange was operating a successful portrait studio in San Francisco, photographing some of the city's most elite, when she walked past a breadline near her office. Moved by the faces of the unemployed and homeless, she began snapping pictures, soon moving from the city streets to the migrant camps popping up in the nearby … Continue reading One Photograph, Two Worlds
So Long, It’s Been Good to Know Yuh…
April 14, 1935. A cold front moving down from Canada clashed with a warm front moving up over the Dakotas. In a matter of hours, the temperature dropped thirty degrees and the wind whipped into a frenzy, throwing up dust and debris from a land aching for rain. The cloud grew into a storm hundred … Continue reading So Long, It’s Been Good to Know Yuh…
Notre Dame: Past, Present, and Uncertain Future
On Monday, one of Paris's most beloved landmarks, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, caught fire. The exact cause and magnitude of the damage is unknown as of this writing, but it appears to be extensive. As a lover of history, my visit to Paris about 10 years ago remains vivid, and I was heartbroken to … Continue reading Notre Dame: Past, Present, and Uncertain Future
Dust Storms: The Shocking Truth
Dust pneumonia. Suffocation. Starvation. Being buried alive. There were hundreds of ways to die during the Dust Bowl, a time in the 1930's when great dust clouds rose into the sky and it seemed as if Mother Nature herself, no longer content to lay back and be abused, was instead rising up to wage a … Continue reading Dust Storms: The Shocking Truth
‘Till Hell Freezes Over
The Dust Bowl invokes images of mass migration: hundreds of poor, desperate farmers packed into over-loaded jalopies, making their way westward with dirty-faced children and bone-thin wives. Fleeing the dust, the drought, the near-starvation, and searching for the promised land. But not everyone left. Many Dust Bowl farmers found the notion of fleeing abhorrent, an … Continue reading ‘Till Hell Freezes Over
The Feast of Immigrants (and St. Patrick, too)
In a few days, Americans all across the country will pin up their shamrocks, clothe themselves in green, and raise a Guinness or two to St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. Most of them have never set foot on the Emerald Isle. Many more haven't even a drop of Irish blood in their bodies. And … Continue reading The Feast of Immigrants (and St. Patrick, too)
Suicide Sal and the Barrow Gang
Beginning with the Stock Market crash of 1929, the Great Depression, as it would later be called, swept across the United States, plunging much of the country into an unprecedented state of poverty. Crop prices fell by 60%. Construction projects and manufacturing ground to a standstill. Unemployment wavered between 25-33%. And, out west, in the … Continue reading Suicide Sal and the Barrow Gang
Blood, Whipping, and Chaucer: The Truth Behind St. Valentine’s Day
The ancient Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia in mid-February, usually from the 13th-15th, in an effort to avert evil spirits and purify the city. The celebration started in a cave known as Lupercal where, tradition said, Roman founders Romulus and Remus were nursed by she-wolf Lupa. Inside the cave lay an altar, where drunk, … Continue reading Blood, Whipping, and Chaucer: The Truth Behind St. Valentine’s Day
Black Sunday
April 14, 1935. Palm Sunday. The start of the holiest week of the year for Christians in Boise City, Oklahoma and all around the world. Dresses and suits were pulled from the closet and wiped free of dust, although years of drought and poverty had left most with frayed cuffs and thin fabric. But it … Continue reading Black Sunday
