Episode 36: Normalcy in the Dust Bowl

There are many ideas about what the Dust Bowl was like in popular culture. Black blizzards, starvation, and human displacement, all of these are true. But these ideas have commonly over sensationalized the human experience of the Dust Bowl. While it was one of the greatest ecological mistakes in American history, a lack of social history prevents us from understanding the way in which people endured and succeeded during that time. This month on Amplified Oklahoma, we’re exploring the everyday lives of people who persevered in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl. We’ll be examining their ideas of normalcy through their memories of dust, farmwork, and food in an effort to better understand how their lives were impacted by the Dust Bowl. We’ll also hear from Dr. Mary Larson, Associate Dean at the OSU Edmon Low Library, as she discusses how time impacts the way people remember the Dust Bowl.