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
Month: March 2019
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
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